Sharon Stephenson is transported by Taipei.
SHARON STEPHENSON SOAKS UP THE SIGHTS OF TAIWAN
Travel is supposed to take you out of your comfort zone. But when you’re on the 91st floor of Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings on the planet, it can be a little disconcerting coming face to face with the clouds that hug the 101-storey building.
But I swallow my fear of heights and step out onto the viewing platform to enjoy amazing 360-degree views over Taiwan’s capital.
Designed to resemble a bamboo stalk, the soaring glass and steel tower looks more like a bunch of takeout containers stacked on top of one another. But I keep that opinion to myself because the locals love the iconic towers.
They’ll never stop reminding visitors that it was the world’s tallest building until 2009, when it was overtaken by Dubai’s
Burj Khalifa.
On the ground floors, it’s all expensive shops and some of the best dumplings I’ve ever tasted, but the higher you go, the better the views across this glittering metropolis of
2.7 million people.
Go early to avoid the crowds, and be prepared for the lift operator to reel off statistics about the tower and its construction in three different languages. But once she hits the go button, it takes only 45 seconds to rise 509m to the 91st floor. While you’re there, check out the massive yellow pendulum on the 88th floor.
The world’s largest and heaviest tuned mass damper – it’s designed to stabilise the tower against movements from tropical winds and earthquakes
– has become a tourist attraction in itself.
A short drive or a 30-minute subway ride from downtown Taipei is Beitou, a district renowned for its Japanese-style hot springs and resorts, which feature a range of outdoor pools of different temperatures.
It’s not as smelly as Rotorua’s hot springs, but the sulphurous waters are beloved by the locals, who swear by its healing powers. Its therapeutic allure dates back a century, when wounded Japanese soldiers took solace in the waters that bubble forth from the tectonic collision of plates.
Everyone is fully clothed, so I roll up my jeans and lower my legs first into a warm pool and then into a scolding one that takes some getting used to. But it’s so relaxing, I only reluctantly get out when my toes start to resemble prunes.
Another thing Taipei does well is night markets. I head to Shilin Night Market, the largest and most famous in Taipei, to eat great food and buy things I don’t really need.
The market’s narrow alleyways are packed with stalls and everywhere I look, food is being fried, barbecued, skewered or scooped into plastic bags.
One of the market’s most famous items is stinky tofu, which our guide Danny suggests I try. It’s basically regular tofu fermented in brine until it reaches a truly horrible smell. Even drowning it in sauce can’t get rid of the smell, so I hold my nose and nibble at this love-it-or-hate-it delicacy. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste too bad, even if the smell lingers on my clothes and in my memory longer than I would like.
Taipei might be one of the most underrated cities in the world, but this shiny metropolis with the dual Chinese and Japanese heritage makes for a fascinating stop en route to Europe, or a refreshing holiday alternative to Shanghai or Bangkok (the traffic isn’t as crazy and there are fewer tourists).
Plus, you’ll get the chance to test your tolerance for heights, dip your toes in hot water and eat stinky tofu!