Taipei 101: Icon of Taiwan
Why is there a massive 660 ton beehive looking obstacle located at the top of Taipei 101, one of world's tallest buildings?
- Why: Most impressive building in Taiwan
- Price: 600 NT ($20 USD)
- Where: No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi, Taipei (map)
- Tips: Visit on a clear sunny day otherwise it is not worth your $20 bucks
Taipei 101 used be the tallest building in the world from 2004 until 2010 with one of the fastest elevator and has an epic observatory deck but keep in mind that the ticket price is steep at 600 NT ~ roughly $20 USD you want to make sure to visit this deck in optimal weather conditions because a cloudy city won't be fun to look at.
The best place to view Taipei 101 and the city of Taipei from is the elephant mountain, a long, tiring and very steep hike up crazy stairways will result in a mesmeriing view. Please do climb the stairs in good physical condition especially on a hot hummid day in summer. There were a few occassions on which I almost fainted due to exhaustion.
mesmerizing views of Taipei 101 from Elephant Mountain
Elephant mountain is quite the tourist spot, everyone loves to take inspiring selfies and photos on this special rock due to the epic views. Sadly, I didn't visit at night but from what I've seen you can make some spectaculer photos with the sun hitting the Taipei 101 tower just before dusk.
The massive beehive in the top of the building is a wind demper which prevends building movement up to 40% during a typhoon or earthquake, the building will sway from side to side during these events but stabilized by the demper, I included a few clips of these events in my video.
Taipei 101 architectural design is very fascinating, some have suggested it looks like bamboo or Chinese pegodas even though the designers claim it to represent a blossoming flower. Taipei 101 is definitely worth to visit but only on a clear and sunny day.