Taiwan: Treasures of the National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院

The National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院 has the most significant collection of Chinese artifacts in the world, even bigger than the Palace Museum in Beijing. The history of the National Palace Museum in Taipei actually began in 1925 when it was established in the Forbidden City in Beijing. This explains why the word palace is included in the name rather than just National Museum.

In 1931, to protect the collection from the ravages of the Sino-Japanese War, the collection was moved to the hinterlands of China. When civil war erupted between the Nationalist and Communist forces, the collection covering about 600,000 artifacts and works of art, were shipped to Taiwan. This explains why Taiwan has the better and most significant pieces of Chinese works of art and culture.

Unfortunately, we could not take photos inside. But needless to say, the collection was awe-inspiring. And some pieces were so intricate and detailed, one would simply wonder how they were made.

The oldest artifacts are prehistoric pottery that are over 5,000 years old. The collection includes artifacts made from jade and other precious stones, bronze, ivory, porcelain, lacquerware and enamel. There are also works of art, tapestries, priceless documents and books among many others.

Today, the collection has grown to 700,000 artifacts. And for the public to see all of them, exhibits are rotated every three months. With 15,000 different items shown every month, and 60,000 every year, it would take 12 years of constant visits to the museum for you to actually see the entire collection. More photos of day 2 in Ivan About Town FB page.

National Palace Museum
No.221, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin District
Tel. No. +886 (2) 28812021
E-mail: service01@npm.gov.tw

Note: This familiarization tour of Taipei, Taiwan was organized by China Airlines. Book online at the China Airlines website.

Taiwan: Raohe Street Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市 in Taipei

Taipei has several popular night markets. In fact, visiting night markets is a popular pasttime, a subculture even, in Taiwan. For our first night, we visited the Raohe Street Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市, one of the oldest night markets. The market is located on a 600-meter stretch of Raohe Street, in Taipei's Songshan District.


At the entrance I noticed an unusual stress treatment where you get hit constantly on the head, neck, back and arms by a bundle of plastic sticks. I tried it out since I was quite tired. And it felt quite good. There are also a lot of foot massage services inside the market to relieve your tired feet after hours of shopping.



But more than the shopping, it's the street food which makes the night market very exciting. What I like about Asia is the hawker culture where every stall or restaurant has its own specialty. Our guide was adamant to let me try out her favorite snack, dried pigs blood dipped in peanuts and what seemed to be chopped kinchay. It was quite chewy and not bad for a snack.


I tried out different kinds of street food from local sausages to baked pepper buns. If only we weren't full from dinner, I would have wanted to try a lot more. But our time was limited and we had to rush back to the Howard Plaza Hotel. We were leaving quite early to visit more of Taipei's sights. More photos of day 1 in Ivan About Town FB page.

Note: This familiarization tour of Taipei, Taiwan was organized by China Airlines. Book online at the China Airlines website.

Taiwan: 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo

Taiwan hosted to the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo from November 6, 2010 to April 25, 2011. The 2010 Flora Expo is a garden festival recognized by the International Association of Horticultural Producers. We didn't have time to explore the entire site. So we were brought to the Expo Dome where an orchid exhibition was being held.


Orchids are among the most fascinating flowers in the world, and is said to be the second largest family of flowering plants. And the wide range of species and hybrids were very much evident in the massive orchid exhibition at the expo.



We also got to see the Pavilion of New Fashion - FE EcoARK, a structure made of 1.52 million used PET bottles and bamboo as the main structural material supplemented by recycled steel beams. It was in fact featured in National Geographic Channel's Megastructures and is a perfect example of how one can make an energy self-sufficient structure by utilizing the sun, air and water.

Hopefully, this would be the future of construction. In Taiwan alone, several billions of plastic bottles are discarded every year. Given that most of them are non-biodegradable, the accumulation of garbage is a very serious issue and one that was addressed by the FE EcoARK.


After taking photos at some of the outdoor floral exhibits, we proceeded to Taiwan's electronics market to get some great deals. More photos of day 2 in Ivan About Town FB page.

Note: This familiarization tour of Taipei, Taiwan was organized by China Airlines. Book online at the China Airlines website.