Exploring Taipei

There has been a settlement in this area for hundreds of tears, but it bas only been in the last 75 years that Taipei has really grown into a force.

It was prompted by the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fleeing mainland China ahead of the communists in 1949 and setting up a provisional government of the Republic of China in Taipei, while Beijing remained the capital of the People’s Republic of China.

For the first few decades of Taiwan’s life the government ruled under martial law. It wasn’t until demonstrations in 1990 led to democracy in 1996.

Today Taipei is an energetic and modern city of about 9 million people. We set out on our first day in Asia to see it and maybe enjoy some dumplings for which Taipei is famous.

As we walked to the closest metro stop we were struck by the utter lack of people on the streets. Very surprising for a city this size, but we thought it might have something to do with the Chinese New Year holiday.

Our first stop was then Chiang Kai-Shek memorial which sits at the top of Liberty Square. It is an assembly of buildings – the National Theatre, National Concert Hall, and the memorial itself are the primary draws.

It also was the site of the mass democracy demonstrations in 1990.

The grounds are immaculate with beautifully maintained gardens flanking the main walkway. There are 89 steps leading up to the memorial which signify the age of Chiang at his death in 1975.

From here we made our way to Taipei 101, which was the tallest building in the world between 2006 and 2009 when it was eclipsed by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is now just the 11th tallest building in the world. The design is reminiscent of a stalk of bamboo.

After some trouble finding the ticket office, we took off for the top in elevators that reach a speed of 37.7mph.

Once at the top you get a bird’s eye view of vastness of Taipei.

Up next was dumplings for lunch. So we headed to the Din Tai Fung located in the food court of the Taipei 101 mall. Wait time: 185 minutes.

Yikes, so we thought lets go to a different location away from the tower. 20 minutes later at a different location that had a wait of 130-160 minutes. By now it was 1:30 and too late to wait 2+ hours.

So we moved again to a dim sum restaurant where we were seated in about 30 minutes of chaos at the hostess desk. it scratched an itch but only just.

At this point we had worn ourselves out and so settled in for a round of cocktails at a place called the Red House which is a tourist attraction for unique and handmade goods.

After dark we made our way to one of Taipei’s famous night markets – the Shilin night market.

It was on this journey that we realized either everyone had just woken up or had just returned from their holidays.

You can buy and eat just about anything you want here.

We tried a few things but the most unique was the grilled mushrooms.

By now we had worn ourselves out and headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow we are taking a day trip out of Taipei to some picturesque villages.