The first floor observation deck was very well laid out and spacious.  They offered a free cell phone which played information when you punched in numbers.  The observation deck had sections clearly marked with a large number and when you punched that in the phone, it would play information about what you were looking at in Taipei which included buildings, mountains, tunnels and rivers.

There was no rush as everyone was allowed all the photo opportunities that the clouds permitted.  I snapped many pictures and the picture (above) which isn’t great was the best I could do through the glass and clouds.  I’m sure on a clear day photos would be better.  I managed to bring my tripod up to the observation deck which I think was not allowed because I noticed many people get theirs taken from line but I guess they didn’t see mine.  It was no use as I had to put the camera lens against the glass in a corner of the window to avoid any inside reflections.

There is a single exit on the first observation deck which leads to a staircase.  You have the option to go up or down and I chose down which lead to the giant ball which is actually a weight damper.  It is basically a counter balance which helps the building not get blown over by a typhoon or earthquake.  It was pretty cool to look at along with the little characters but I didn’t realize at the time how much it weighed.  I actually thought about pushing it to see if it would move which is pretty stupid in hindsight because it weighs 660 metric tons or 1,452,000 pounds!

To put that in perspective the mass damper weighs as much as either 7,260 people weighing 200 pounds, 907 African elephants, 10 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks or 5 blue whales of the largest animals to ever live on this earth.

1,452,000 pounds of Insurance Taipei 101 won't Fall Over

Outdoor Observation Deck

After viewing the giant ball I walked up to the 91st floor which included the outdoor observation deck.  The ticket counter warned access to the outdoor observation deck was ‘weather permitting’ and once I stepped outside I could see why.  Typhoons are prevalent in Taiwan but the day I went it was just cloudy and misty and the outdoor observation deck was in the midst of the wind blown clouds and one half was completely closed down.

I could hear a high pitched howling as the wind whipping around the corner as two security guards stood watch.  The security guard on the left had a huge jacket as he was in the middle of the wind.  I write about this because every 10 minutes the guards would switch from right to left and exchange the jacket for the guard on the cold side.  I was wearing jeans and a button up shirt and I wasn’t cold as it felt like a day in the summer in San Francisco.  I took the following little video which will give you the feel of what is like on the observation deck.

More Shopping

A recurring theme in and around Taipei 101 was shopping.  I’m not the biggest shopper and didn’t see anything that interested me but it still looked like they were simply trying to make back the close to 2 billion US dollars which the building cost.  Before getting in the elevator to return to the bottom, there is a shopping area with art, jewelery and some fashion.  There is also little cafe which I got a hot milk tea with pearls which was delicious.

Souvenir Shopping on 91st floor of Taipei 101

Overall Impression

Being a fan of skyscrapers and photography Taipei 101 was everything I could ask for.  Getting up the the observation deck was a small headache but once there it was a pleasurable experience.  Once up on the observation deck there was no hurry or time limit which allowed me to go at my own pace taking photographs, listening/reading about the history of the building and the city of Taipei and of course waiting for the clouds to clear so I could get a decent picture.

Besides all the things that you would expect in huge tourist attraction like this skyscraper there are a few surprises which I will let you find out for yourself if you make it to Taipei 101 in the Taiwan capital.   I would recommend Taipei 101 for anyone who spends even a day in Taipei and would probably head back there if there is a next time to take a chance that I’d get better weather to take better photos.

Taipei 101 History Movie (New Years Fireworks) before Going Back Down

Taipei 101 was designed specifically to be the tallest building in the world.  In a few months from now it will be trumped by almost 1,000 feet by Dubai’s extremely ridiculous 160 floor ‘Burj’ officially in a month (January 2010) but when I went it was still considered officially the “tallest building in the world.”

I didn’t know much about Taipei before I went but I figured it to be similar to the large Asian cities I’ve been to such as Bangkok, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong but it seemed very different.   I don’t know if it was just because Taipei 101 was so tall or ont but it seemed like Taipei only had 2 buildings over 50 stories, one being 101 and the other being on the other side of the city.

I thought it was a cool way to bring tourists into the city but an expat I talked to on the plane likened Taipei 101 to a giant unnecessary phallus of Taipei.  I was just on a weekend trip so the only thing I cared about was to see it, take a few pictures of it and from the top floor with my Nikon D90.

Getting Close: Walking to Cloud Shrouded Taipei 101 on Xinyi Road

Getting Taipei 101

You may be surprised to know that even though Taipei 101 is probably the city and country’s biggest tourist attraction, many taxi drivers still didn’t understand me when I asked them to take me there.  Like I said in the excerpt for this post, Taipei 101 sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the Taipei skyline so pointing may be the best way to tell a cab driver to take you there.

Luckily for me, there was no need to bust through the language barrier to find Taipei 101 or even use any form of public transit.  I got lucky because it is on the same street (Xinyi Road) and is comfortable walking distance from the very likable hotel I was staying Dolamanco Hotel.

The straight walk from the hotel to Taipei 101 passed by numerous bakeries and I stopped at a street stand to get a couple random buns.  I tried to order pork buns but of course I was not understood and they just gave me a bunch of various item filled buns.  Needless to say the hot steamy snacks were nice on a misty Taiwan day.  I bought a timer remote for my camera in Taipei’s ‘Camera District’ earlier in the day and I had a chance to take my first time lapse sequence (below) which in hindsight I should have done the math and took more pictures, but I still got a pretty cool 10 seconds nonetheless.

Shopping

Upon entering Taipei 101 from the ground floor all you can do is shop and it’s not cheap.  You will find every high end store you can think of from Emporio Armani to Gucci to Prada.  You will also find Diesel, Calvin Klein, Nike and less expensive options but NOTHING in Taipei 101 would be considered bargain shopping.

On the bottom floor there is a food court which looked pretty good.  I say looked pretty good because I skipped it and went straight to the bakery.  There is a bakery which you will see as soon as you go down the escalator from the Nike store which I found everything I ate and drank to be delicious and fairly priced.  Since I didn’t want to overpay for stuff I didn’t need, after filling up on delicious baked goods and freshly brewed coffee I decided to make my way to the observation deck.

Looking up to Tower from inside Shopping Area

Line Wait and Fastest Elevator in the World

Taipei 101 boasts the fastest elevator in the world which gets all the way from the 5th to the 89th floor observation deck in only 39 seconds.  The elevator was very cool with space graphics and sound effects as well as a graphic readout of the speed which whizzed to the top very quick which was nice as I was stuffed in there like a sardine.

Before I could get up to the fastest elevator in the world I had to get through what maybe was the rudest line in the world.  They told me as I purchased the ticket which cost 400 TWD  ($13 USD) that there was a 30 minute wait which wasn’t bad until I got in line.  As I stood patiently in line at least 2 dozen people rudely pushed past me, or went under the barricade to get in front of me.  I don’t know if they were all together or something but I was getting pretty agitated.  After around 30 minutes of getting pushed around waiting in line, it was finally my turn to get up to the 89th floor observation deck.

Continue… Taipei 101 Part II