Taipei 101

Publié par Marie sur 15 Avril 2013, 08:47am

Catégories : #Taiwan

This tower – named Taipei 101 (because of its 101 floors above the ground) is a compulsory stop if you are in town. Of course it is better to choose a clear and cloudy-free day if you are planning to take beautiful pictures of Taipei’s view.

Taipei 101 (5)

Currently this tower is the second tallest skyscraper in the world (until new designers decide to create a new tower in Asia or in the Middle East where a “highest skyscraper-race” seems to be the rule these days).

Taipei 101 was designed to resemble bamboo rising from the earth; today it became a symbol of flexibility and Asian tradition.

Taipei 101 (1)

At the ticketing counter, a very nice lady showed us a little notebook with drawing to warn us that “the weather is not very good today”. We answered we were ok with that! Not sure what to do, she then showed us the next page was “the view might not be that good” with a picture with lots of clouds in front of the view. Just in case we didn’t get it the first time I guess…

Taipei 101 (8)

Before taking the “World Fastest Elevators” (Guinness Record!) to the 89^th floor, the traditional stop for the stupid picture is a very tempting attraction. The pictures looked so funny that I hesitated for more than 10 minutes if I wanted to have it for myself or not. Typical attraction pictures are always so weird, aren’t they? No stupid for us at the end for the one who are trying to guess...

Taipei 101 (2)

So back to the elevator, the cabin is pressurized and we accessed the 89^th floor in 37 seconds only. Being used to the skyscrapers in HK, I didn’t really realize this one was faster than the one in HK to be honest. The lights are turning dark when you are going up and as you are travelling with 20 other tourists in the lift, you don’t really have the time (or space) to enjoy the experience.

Taipei 101 (3)

Taipei 101 (4)

On the way down, you can see he Wind damper which is supposed to ensure stability if the tower especially during typhoons and earthquakes… something Xav was very interested in but I was not that impressed, sorry ;)

Taipei 101 (7)