We quickly discovered that Taipei has an exciting mix of western and eastern influences. As a result we found the food to be excellent reminding us of home as we ate at Chili's, Macaroni Grill, TGI Fridays, etc. However the most important western influence, at the great pleasure of Natalie, was our first stop in the city.... Costco! It may sound funny to our friends back in the US, however the ability to find many of the comforts of home in one store was refreshing and exciting for us. After hours in Costco we set to explore the more important eastern influences of the city. In the evening we stopped at the Shilin Night Market. The market contains a centralized street food section and then another large section of stores for clothing. We had a good time randomly exploring the various sections within the market.
For our first full day in the city we began by visiting the National Palace Museum. The museum serves as a collection of over 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artwork (8000 years of Chinese history), making it one of the largest in the world. During the Chinese Civil War the collection was moved from Beijing to Taipei to maintain protection from the Japanese.
After touring the museum we visiting the Zhishan Garden which is in the same location. The kids enjoyed feeding the fish and we enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere.
Next we went to see the second tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101. This completes our viewing of the top three largest buildings in the world now. They had a great audio tour at the top of the building as you walked along the indoor observation deck.
Our next stop was the National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall honoring the former President of the Republic of China (1928 - 1975). Here we explored the grounds and watched the changing of the guards performed with such great precision.
We then headed to see the Longshan Temple, founded in 1738. As a top religious spot symbolizing mercy there are over 100 gods worshiped here. It is always fascinating to see the spirituality of the people from the city as they practice their respects within the temple.
Concluding day two we headed to the Jianguo Holiday Flower and Jade Market located under the overpass of the highway on the weekends. The collection of jewels and flowers were amazing to see and take in.
Our final day was upon us and we started by visiting the Maokong Gondola. Built in 2007 it takes you from the Taipei Zoo for a 25 minute ride through the mountains. Some of the cars had glass bottoms so we of course waiting in the proper line for this and we all got a great view.
The Gondola ride concluding at the Zoo station so we decided to take a very brief walk inside. However when you have actually held Koalas, rode Elephants, held Tigers, and walk with Lions a trip through a zoo in 95 degree heat loses it's appeal ;)
Following our short zoo visit we went to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, commemorating the first President and founder of the Republic of China. His Mausoleum is currently located in our home town of Nanjing, China.
In conclusion of our trip we visited the Taiwan handicraft Market to take home a remembrance of our visit this weekend. We had a great time visiting Taiwan and would encourage anyone to visit in the future if you need a good break from mainland China.
