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Blogs by Jerome Parisse
Taipei: the city that reads... 11/2/2010 4:59:14 PM
Last weekend I hopped over to Taipei for a short visit. Taiwan's capital city is a large metropolis spreading over kilometres and kilometres. It drizzled on the first day, which gave the buildings in the older part of the city a rather gloomy look. However it was sunny the next day, and things looked much more interesting. You can't miss the 101 Tower, the second tallest building in the world (for how long, though?). It's a beautiful structure from which you have an amazing three hundred and sixty degree view over the sprawling city. Food, of course, is delicious, as it always is in Taiwan, with a strong influence from Japan. In fact, I can't help notice every time I go to Taiwan, that it sits half-way between Japan and China and that it has been influenced by both cultures. People are very friendly, and many speak English in Taipei, unlike in the rest of the country. There are even national radio stations mixing English and Mandarin! What amazed me though was to find a city with hundreds of bookstores. When you come from Hong Kong, which is a real books' no-man's-land, seeing all those beautiful bookstores is a feast for the eyes. There is even an underground street (a shopping mall, really) which is only occupied by bookstores. It's a shame that Taiwan uses traditional characters, so I wasn't able to buy Chinese books, but I did enjoy spending time looking at the shelves, touching and smelling the books... At the moment there is a temporary exhibition called "Finding India" at the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Arts of Taipei), which exhibits works by Indian artists. It's a bit "out there" for my liking, but very interesting nonetheless. I especially liked the hundreds of cockroaches glued to the walls in one of the exhibition rooms!
