Rainy Days in Taipei - A Short Trip to Taiwan

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, for a conference.  During my trip, I learned a lot about the culture and history of both Taiwan and China.

The conference was in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and one of its northernmost cities.  I expected that Taipei would be quite warm, given its location just 2 degrees to the north of the Tropic of Cancer.  But to my surprise, when I arrived, it was rainy and much cooler than I expected.  I nonetheless found the city to be beautiful and interesting.

The city of Taipei has a population of approximately 2.5 million people.  It is therefore a fairly large city by Canadian standards, but a small city in Asia.  It is well organized, and has many trees and green spaces.  There are also a number of mountains in its vicinity, and they are visible from the city.  In addition, its air is very clean.

A view of Taipei, on a rainy day.

A river in Taipei.

A view of Taipei.  The Taipei 101 building is in the background.

There are a number of interesting urban landmarks in Taipei, like the Taipei 101 building, the Grand Hotel, as well as a number of museums containing important Chinese historical artifacts, and shrines commemorating the founders of the Republic of China.

The entrance of the National Palace Museum, in Taipei.

A sculpture resembling a totem pole, at the National Palace Museum.

The Taipei 101 building is unmistakable in the Taipei skyline.  Until 2010, it was the world's tallest building, and it is impressive both for its height and for its architecture.  The view from the top is also amazing.

A view of Taipei at night, from the top of Taipei 101.

A view of Taipei at night, from the top of Taipei 101.

Looking down at 20-story buildings from the top of Taipei 101.

Another view of Taipei from the top of Taipei 101.

In addition to appealing to my aesthetic sense, Taipei 101 also appealed to the scientist in me.  In order to stabilize it, its engineers designed an interesting device for damping the wind-induced oscillations of the building.  The device consists of a large heavy ball (it weighs a few tons, if I remember correctly) that is free to swing, but linked to the building via a number of large shock absorbers.  When the building sways, the ball swings and compresses the shock absorbers.  This attenuates the swaying motion of the building.

The vibration damper of the Taipei 101 building.

As for the history of Taiwan, I knew before visiting Taipei that the the country had been founded by the Kuomintang after the Chinese communists, led by Mao Zedong, defeated them in the Chinese civil war.  However, I did not know that, prior to the civil war, the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party had momentarily set aside their differences in order to overthrow the Japanese Empire in China.  In the mid-1800's, Japan began colonizing parts of Asia and establishing the Empire of Japan.  By the late 1800's, Japan had already attacked China and invaded Taiwan.  In 1931, Japan invaded northeastern China outright.  Prior to this, China had been mostly ruled by its own royal emperors.  The last Chinese emperors, the Qing dynasty, ruled China from Beijing.  Shortly before the Japanese invaded in the 1930's, China had undergone a republican revolution, and the last emperor of China had abdicated.  But there were many artifacts from the imperial period that were still stored in the Forbidden City, the residence of the Chinese emperor in Beijing.  Fearing that these treasures could be stolen or destroyed by the Japanese, the Kuomintang moved a number of them to southern China.  Then, after the fall of Japan and the resumption of the Chinese civil war, the treasures were moved to Taiwan.  And so today, the buildings of the Forbidden City are preserved in Beijing, but many of the imperial treasures are preserved in the National Palace Museum of Taiwan.  Photos of these treasures can be seen on the web-site of the National Palace Museum.  Of particular note is a 17-layered sculpted ivory ball.  It is not featured on the Palace Museum web-site, but a picture of it is available here. 

One of the halls of the National Palace Museum, in Taipei.

I was also interested to learn of ties between France and the Chinese republicans.  In the National Palace museum of China, there is a statue of Sun Yat-Sen.  Sun Yat-sen was involved in the overthrow of the Chinese emperor and the foundation of a republican political system in China in the early 1900's.  It seems that, for a short period, France supported Sun Yat-Sen's efforts to establish a republic in China.  I wonder if France's influence had any significant impacts.  I think that it might have because, at the airport in Taipei, there is a display of Taiwanese postal artifacts.  In one of the displays, mailbags are labelled in French.

The statue of Sun Yat-Sen at the National Palace Museum.

Taiwanese mail bags, labelled in French.

And I was surprised to learn that, prior to the arrival of the Kuomintang, the island of Taiwan was populated by a number of aboriginal occupants.  Taiwan's aboriginal communities interacted with the Chinese as well as with Portuguese and Dutch colonists who arrived on the island in the 1500's.  Today, their relationship with the Taiwanese government appears complex.  It is perhaps similar to the relationship between the Canadian government and the First Nations of Canada.   


Prior to leaving Taiwan, I had the opportunity to visit the Taipei International Flora Expo.  This is a horticultural exposition organized by the city of Taipei.  It features information about the culture of flowers, as well as a number of floral design competitions.  The flowers at the expo were beautiful.

Flowers at the Taipei International Flora Expo.

Flowers at the Taipei International Flora Expo.

Flowers at the Taipei International Flora Expo.

Flowers at the Taipei International Flora Expo.

The Sea of Flowers at the Taipei International Flora Expo.  The Grand Hotel is visible in the background.

Finally, on my last day in Taiwan, the sun came out.  In the shining sun, the lush greens of Taiwan's vegetation were pleasant to the eye.

Greenery beside a highway, southwest of Taipei.

A small rice paddy, southwest of Taipei.

A field and mountains, near Taipei.

A view of the Taipei skyline.

I hope to visit Taiwan again some day, and highly recommend it.  It is a beautiful, culturally rich country.  And Taiwanese people are warm, friendly, and very generous.