30th MAY 2016 ~ The National Palace Museum is one huge building which houses almost 70 000 Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks, making it one of the biggest in the world. There are numerous halls on different levels that are opened to visitors. If you really want to observe all the exhibits on display and read the information displayed, you will definitely need to be there for one whole day, at least.
I was there on Monday and there were A LOT of people, mostly Chinese, in the museum. I think I was the only Malay at that time.Many of them came in big groups with their own guides, and I think they were from the mainland. I was a bit late, if not I could join the guided tour in English provided by the museum.
Visitors have to leave their bags, cameras and bottled drinks in the lockers at the lobby. You would be scanned upon entering and I saw the security checking people's bags at the entrance. There were also museum staff patrolling the halls, making sure people were not taking any photos inside the premise.
As a result, I could only strike a few poses outside the museum and at the lobby. As you can see, there are not many pictures that I could show so I guess you have to be there yourself. The huge collections definitely worth millions of dollars. It is a well-known fact that the Chinese civilization started much earlier and you would be impressed by the workmanship of people in the past, despite the absence of modern technology, from the items put on display.
Too bad I could not stay there for too long as I had booked a place for a Walking Tour at 2:00 p.m. and I had to be at a meeting point situated at the other part of the city.
HOW TO GET TO THE MUSEUM: take the red line MRT and stopped at Jiantan Station. There is an information booth and the staff would tell you which bus to take from there. The bus station is located right behind the information counter and there are a few buses that would get you to the museum. The other option is to stop at Shilin station and you have to walk a bit to the bus stop, which is actually not that far, and this is a better option actually as you it is nearer to the place and you could avoid the delay on the road. There are a lot of traffic lights in Taipei. The museum is not situated at the city centre so you will need some time to get there.
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