WALKING TOUR IN TAIPEI - 228 PEACE PARK

29TH MAY 2016 ~ I decided to join the free Walking Tour in Taipei after I found out about on the internet and did the online registration. In the e-mail, the participants were told to meet up with the guides at Exit 4 of NTU MRT Station at 2:00 p.m. I was there on time after visiting the National Palace Museum.

Eden in action

We had two young English-speaking guides, Eden and Tracey, who speak good English. There were six people from all over the world. I could remember the lady from Vietnam but is now staying in San Diego and another Pakistani man who also happens to reside in the same city. Then there was this girl whose parents are Indonesian and Dutch - if I am not mistaken (because I was just eavesdropping). I couldn't really remember the origins of the two other men in the group.

The building in the background is National Taiwan Museum. The museum is in a compound of a park, or it could be the other way around. I thought I could drop by the day after but I did not have enough time to do so.

The tour is called "the Old City Tour" (or something like that) as we would see the old part of Taipei and at the same time, learned a bit the history of Taiwan. We started our history lesson at this place called "228 Peace Park". 228 is actually a significant date in the history of Taiwan - 28th February. It had to do with the time when people were unhappy with the government and the anti-government movement started.

There was this Massacre Monument in the park which has its own story related to the unity of the people of Taiwan. Definitely too theoretical and philosophical for me, that was why I could not remember much.

the first group selfie

TO BE CONTINUED...

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THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF TAIWAN

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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THE RED HOUSE OF TAIPEI

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: The Red House was actually the first premise that I visited once arrived in Taipei. It is majestically located in the Ximen area, right beside Exit 1 of the Ximen MRT Station, right across the busy pedestrian crossing at Ximen Pedestrian Walk - there is no way you are going to miss this building. 

Why is this building called the Red House? Obviously, it is red because of the red bricks that are used for construction, unless RED is associated with something else that I do not know.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The Red House was first built in 1903 and used as a public market. After World War ll, the building functioned as an opera house, a performance and movie theatre. Today, it has been transformed into a cultural centre with exhibitions and performances held regularly.

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS: (1) The building consists of two main structures - the Chinese octagonal "bagua" [see photos above] and the Christian's cross/crucifix, which are joined together. The reason is to guard off the building from the demons of the Chinese descent as well as the demons from the west.

There was an exhibition opened to the public at the main octagonal building, something to do with the history of the building. Unfortunately everything was done in Chinese so I had to make my own inference while looking at the exhibits. The building with the crucifix shape was used for promoting the local creative and arts industry where there were shops and outlets selling various kinds of goods which will be reported in my next post.

On weekends, canopies would be erected outside the Red House for people to display more modern arts and indie-related merchandise. It is something like a night market but but the atmosphere.seemed to be more modern and sophisticated. 

(2) Behind the Red House, you could find rows of bars which cater to the city's gay community. Nearby, there are adult shops which I first thought were selling men's swimwear. Luckily, I decided to join the Walking Tour on my second day in Taipei, and then only I was told of these facts by the guides.

As you can see, there were no more canopies outside the Red House. The picture was taken on Monday when I was with the Walking Tour and the guide decided we had to take a selfie in front of the prominent landmark.

NEXT: walking around the crucifix shaped building of the Red House.

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