Recommended

When I saw the rather large description of Core Pacific City which is commonly referred to as Living Mall in the Taipei Lonely Planet Guide I put an asterisk next to it.  The Lonely Planet explained that the oddly shaped shopping mall was designed by “the Picasso of architecture” Jon Jerde a famous and highly successful American architect.  Since it was predominantly listed in the Lonely Planet and was very close to Taipei 101 I made it a priority to visit.

I was relatively excited to visit Core Pacific City until I asked the lady at the hotel front desk about it and she told me, “nobody goes there anymore.”   Her lack of interest was kind of a buzz kill as her description pretty much contradicted the author of the Lonely Planet.  This contradiction actually made me want to go there even more to see who was right.

I made sure to have the front desk lady write directions in Chinese so I could get there with minimal hassle.  After my visit to the Taipei 101 observation deck I got in a cab for the less than 10 minute ride to Core Pacific City.

Entrance to the Core

When I first arrived at Core Pacific City it was apparent that front desk lady was spot on in her assessment of Core Pacific City.   As opposed to Taipei 101 which was packed with people, Core Pacific City seemed to be deserted.  I was there at around 9pm and the mall was open 24 hours a day so I can’t speak for “prime time” hours but it seemed that there were very few people there.

The Lonely Planet author was at least right about the layout of Core Pacific City.  The bizarre layout of the mall was interesting enough to warrant a visit from a traveler.  I had a chance to snap a few photos as I browsed the overpriced shops and restaurants, some of which were closed.  As I arrived on one of the basement floors to find the food court I also found a lot more people.

The large variety of cheap food in the food court was on par with most other mall food courts I had ever been to.  I had an authentic Taiwanese noodle dish which was brought to me in a small steaming cauldron.  After I ate I really did not feel the need to explore Living Mall any further so I decided to leave.  I exited out of the opposite side I came in next to the cinema and I had a chance to snap a couple more pictures then it was back to my hotel.

24 Hour Shopping

Overall Impression

From my brief visit to Core Pacific City I would agree with the front desk lady at the hotel.  It seemed like Core Pacific City was a ‘has been’ type of attraction where Taipei 101 and New York, New York (the adjacent shopping center to Taipei 101) was now the happening shopping and tourist attraction.  I definitely do not regret going as Living Mall was pretty cool looking but the shopping and food was the type of run-of-the-mill experience you can get at any mall in your home country or anywhere else in the globe.

Saying Goodbye to the Core