Taipei 101

After the visit to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, we stopped by at Taipei 101. Located at the Hsin-Yi District, Taipei 101 is presently the world's tallest building, surpassing the height of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur in late August 2003.


Taipei 101 was opened to the public on the New Year's Eve of 2005


The first building in the world to break the half-kilometre mark in height

TAIPEI is mnemonic for Technology, Art, Innovation, People, Environment, and Identity while 101 represents the concept of striving for beyond perfection. With such an enterprising name, it is no wonder that Taipei 101 was chosen as one of the best new skyscrapers of the year 2004.


Entrance tickets

Entrance tickets were priced at 350NT each, which allowed access to the 89th storey where the indoor observatory area is located. An additional 100NT is required if one wants to gain access to the 91st storey where the outdoor observatory area is. Of course, being the adventurous bunch, we decided to go for the outdoor observatory!


With top speeds of 1010 m/min, visitors can whiz to the observatory level in 39 seconds

We went up to the 89th storey via the world's fastest elevator. There are 2 elevators which transport the visitors from the 5th storey to the 89th storey and they are installed by Toshiba!

Upon reaching the indoor observatory area, we were greeted by several tremendous view of the entire city area. The majestic view is unparalleled! We could see the mountains, the valleys, and the rivers.


Everything seemed very "Sim City"


Even the roads appear cute

Since it was such a magnificent structure, much construction expertise was essential. A gigantic mass damper was installed on the 87th storey to help stabilise the tower against typhoons and earthquakes.


The damper is available for public viewing on the 89th storey


The view of the top

All in all, the experience up there was fantastic. It was pleasant to go all the way via the world's fastest elevator. And ogling the entire city area of Taipei was tremendous, the view is excellent. Though it's quite a costly, I think the trip there was rather worthwhile.

At least, I can now say that I walked into the world's tallest building!

(More photos here)