Taipei 101 was on our itinerary on Day 2 right after our visit to the
Taipei Zoo. What is a visit to Taipei and not visit
Taipei 101 (at least once)? It is like not seeing the
Eiffel Tower when in Paris, but I digress. There is a free shuttle bus from the
City Hall MRT Station, but we were too excited that we boarded a paying bus. It only cost NT$7 and took about 5 minutes to reach
Taipei 101, so it was an experience taking public transport other than the MRT.
The price of the tickets increased by NT$50, before July 2012 it was NT$400, now it is NT450. But with our
Youth Travel Card, which gives you a discount for the ticket price, we paid
NT$400 per person. So if you are between 15 to 30 years old, you should definitely get the
Youth Travel Card to enjoy the perks. Ticket counters, which are located on the 5th floor, were efficiently run but the queue was horrendous, there were alot of tour groups that day. All in all it took us about 1 hour to get to the elevator and only a couple of seconds up to the top of
Taipei 101.
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| The growing ticketing queue |
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| An even longer queue for the elevator up |
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| The discounted tickets |
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| Some displays to look at while waiting for the elevator |
While the view was nothing much to rave about (depends on the individual), you do get a panoramic view of Taipei, and the lift that got us up there was super fast! The lift is the world's fastest reportedly taking 37 seconds to go from the 5th to the 88th floor. If weather conditions permit, you can go up to the 90th floor and go out onto the observation deck. The observation was only half-opened the day we were there, but at least we got to see it.
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| View from above |
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| View with clouds |
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| Taipei 101 Observatory Deck |
There are displays and information of the city and the activities that are happening in the city, as well as food and beverages you can enjoy. There was a souvenir shop that sold souvenir snacks, Hello Kitty Bags and other souvenirs (on the pricy side though).
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| Shopping |
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| Hot Springs |
The
Damper Baby is adorablw and its information is written in English and Chinese. This fascinating device is what keeps
Taipei 101 stable in the event of an earthquake. You can also get a headset for an audio tour to accompany the panoramic view from the top. The video for the
Damper Baby is another story, while it was cute, I have no idea what language they were speaking.
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| Damper Baby |
On the way out, you would pass by the coral shop that sells coral products, as well as showcase some displays. It wasn't really our thing, but you might enjoy the intricate designs and dear prices. There was also a long queue for the elevator down.
If you are into luxury brands you could shop here and there is a large foodcourt at the basement, but we were saving our stomachs for dinner at the
Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe. So after having survivied long wait to get out of
Taipei 101, we boarded the free shuttle (finally) back to the
City Hall MRT Station.
I think that it is enough that you have been up
Taipei 101 once, unless you really love it. I think we might visit next time just for a photo opportunity from the outside.
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Good experience 👍
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