Taiwan travellogue, Day 1 Part 2 (Taipei)

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

Our lunch over, we made our way to the first tourist destination in my itinerary. It was a toss-up between the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall or the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. Which should it be? If left to my wife, daughter or son to decide, I suppose they wouldn't have any preference about which one to visit. But I wanted the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall over the other. To me, Chiang Kai Shek has no significance at all. He might have been President of the Republic of China, that is, Taiwan, but he was a failed General. And unlike sun Yat Sen, he had no connection to Penang. 

Capitalising on the substantial Chinese population in Penang, Sun set up his southern headquarters of the Tongmenghui. Here, he formed many of his strategies for toppling the Ching Dynasty. Upon his arrival in Penang with his family in 1910, the Penang Philomatic Union became a secret front for his political party. On 14 November 1910, Sun Yat-sen presided over a meeting of the Nanyang Tongmenghui to start  a fundraising campaign for the Second Kwangtung Uprising and successfully raising Straits Dollars $8000 immediately. By December 1910, the Kwong Wah Yit Poh was launched from 120 Armenian Street. This publication was brought to life by Sun and his supporters, and holds the distinction of being the world's oldest Chinese newspaper beyond the borders of China.

Whereas Chiang Kai Shek? Pfft, no meaning at all to us Penangites. Ultimately, he had to flee the Chinese mainland to the island of Taiwan in 1949 where he had the Americans protect him for the rest of his life. Before the escape, the story goes that he looted China's cultural treasures and plundered much of their gold reserves. So you see why I wanted to visit the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall instead? That man held so much more meaning to us, me especially, from Penang!

 

Taipei 101

Next stop was Taipei 101, once the tallest building in the world for six years from 2004. A height of 1,667 feet (508 metres) above ground, and comprising 101 floors, thus its nickname, Taipei 101. There are also five underground floors with a large upscale shopping mall. The building was designed to resemble a giant bamboo stalk with eight segmented sections of eight floors each. To stabilise the building, the structure has an enormous steel damper ball weighing 660 tons suspended in the middle, that sways to offset movements in the building from wind and earthquake. It boasts the world's fastest elevator and it took about 34 or 35 seconds to zoom up or down between the fifth and 89th floors.

The 89th floor was an indoor observatory which gave an incredible 360-degree view of Taipei: a mesmerising cityscape and the surrounding natural beauty. Large windows overlooked the city on all sides. While it was a sight to behold during the daylight hours, dusk gave another equally exhilarating perspective. As night fell at about six o'clock, the city lighting up was impressive. It was also possible to climb up to the 91st floor where there was an outdoor deck. Standing here, 1,439 feet (438 metres) above ground level, the sense of being on top of the world was overwhelming. The outdoor deck allowed people to feel the wind and get 360-degree views around Taipei 101.

The observatory on these floors, in addition to the spectacular views, features state-of-the-art technology and engaging exhibitions that help visitors better understand the city's history, culture and architecture. No doubt, this educational component had enhanced my visit.

To be continued....