Taipei Expo Park and Science Education Center

Summary

• Taiwan also has a massive Expo Park like other countries, and a fine arts museum is located in the middle.
• The area around Taipei 101 is a hub for many skyscrapers and giant shopping malls, with 陶朱隱園 being one of the most beautiful buildings among them.

Highlights

Taipei 101

• This building once held the world record, and we can see it from quite a distance away.

陶朱隱園

• This building has a glass cylinder core and white balconies spiraling around it.
• You can take photos of it from the park next to it, together with Taipei 101.

National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

• Although it was temporarily closed inside, the giant hall reflecting on the pool was beautiful.

Taipei Dome

• Although it isn’t tall, its unique design, which seems to lean towards us, is impressive.

Songshan Cultural and Creative Park

• There was a small museum and some exhibitions which were sometimes free.

Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Legacy in Present

• I’m not sure how to describe this, but I felt that the artworks represent an aging society and how they and their legacy coexist with the modern world.
• I found it beautiful, but I also felt some sadness and loneliness from them.

Baby Carriage Art

• In contrast to the last artwork, this piece focused on newborns but somehow conveyed the same elements. This similarity probably comes from the presence of a guardian and the reliance on support.

Edge on Abstract Art

• I assumed they were trying to express geometry and how it connects. The organic lines probably represent rivers and roads, while the straight lines represent transportation methods like planes.

Legacy Research

• It was a unique exhibition that included elements from animal research and colonial legacy, like a national museum built during the colonial period. The science and colonial legacy might sometimes conjure up difficult memories.
• The components of artifacts and animal specimens looked like they melted together, creating a creepy but interesting unknown object.

Design of New Fine Arts Museum

• Admission was free due to the construction work. Surprisingly, this building looks modern, but it was built 41 years ago. Its rectangular shape seems to represent the ideology of that time.

Lin An Tai Historical House and Museum

• It’s located near the art museum, but it’s difficult to get to due to the highway blocking the way.
• The garden and building are similar to Okinawa style, and the reflection on the lake makes it even more photogenic.
• There is a small museum and a little lecture room inside.

Grand Hotel Taipei

• This is by far the largest Chinese-style building I have ever seen. I recommend taking a photo from the fine arts museum, as the view can be blocked by the forest and highway if you get too close.

Airplane

• The airplane flies at an extremely low altitude in this area to land at the nearby airport. Surprisingly, I didn’t zoom in to take this photo.

Taipei Story House

• This building resembles one from a Ghibli film. There is a small art gallery inside, and I like how light interferes with the artwork.

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine

• This giant shrine was built to enshrine the warriors who fought in the battle between the CCP and ROC.
• The place is sacred and silent, protected by the army. If you are lucky, you might see a performance by the troops.

Shilin Residence Park

• You will see a lot of beautiful gardens on the way to the Shilin residence of Chiang Kai-Shek.

園藝展覽館

• This garden featured beautiful flower arrangements and had much more artistic displays than others.
• I especially liked the one shaped like Taiwan, created using grasses.

  Outdoor Garden

• There was a traditional Chinese cabin and many interesting artworks made from natural materials.
• Some event venues and cultural assets were also there.

Chiang Kai-Shek Shilin Residence

• We cannot take photos in many places, but it is allowed in some areas.
• You can realistically experience the lives of the president and his wife with an audio guide, and I felt their lives were much closer to me.

National Taiwan Science Education Center

• Initially, I expected it to be just like other science museums, but I was surprised by the artistic exhibitions and the semiconductor exhibition.
• The museum is extremely large, and I liked the mechanical architecture and decorations on the first two floors.

History of Semiconductor Manufacturing

• It was a rare opportunity to see actual silicon ingots and wafers.
• The artwork of the city made using old electronic devices was cool and represented how electronic devices support our society.

Human Body

• I was excited to see the real heart of a pig, which is quite similar to that of a human. It’s so rare to see actual animal bodies, and I hope to see more of them as they have incredible details.
• There was also a human body model, and we could learn about its structure by actually assembling it.

Mechanical Art

• This exhibition artistically demonstrated important kinetic mechanisms and how they are applied in real life. I liked that they were suspended in the air.

Physics

• The giant marble coaster with a heavy iron ball was cool.

Medicine

• This was probably artwork inspired by Chinese herbs.

Creatures

• It was my first time seeing artwork made from mold, and I liked the various patterns and colors created by different molds.

Future of Semiconductor

• The artwork representing digital computation was cool.
• The microscopic photo of an electronic board was both informative and artistic.

Other Interesting Exhibitions

• The electronic bolt art was displayed using LED, but I wondered how they were simulated.
• The meat-looking stone looked tasty.
• They even had an interactive sandbox displaying the height of sand with a terrain map.

Dalongdong Baoan Temple

• I think this god is called 媽祖 (Mazu) and is cherished by many people in Taiwan, there is a huge festival where the god walks around Taiwan once a year.

Taipei Confucius Temple

• Located right next to Baoan Temple.

Dihua Street

• Unfortunately, I couldn’t see them clearly at night, but the entire street was filled with traditional buildings.
• For some reason, there were countless dried fruit and herb stores, so I recommend going if you are looking for them.

Ningxia Night Market

• A little small, but a lively night market. It’s very congested since the road was under repair.

Foods

• Aiyu jelly is a unique drink made from fig seeds.
• There were many varieties of noodles, and that one was like “soumen” in Japan.
• Burgers were commonly sold even at stalls, and we could enjoy many unique ones inspired by traditional food.
• Sweet potato balls (QQ balls) were so good, with a crispy crust and a light texture like a ping pong ball.
• I found a cheap fruit drink stand, and the passion fruit and mango drinks were so good with crispy seeds and a sweet smell.

Opinions

• I like artistic buildings, but I don’t know how many times they are expensive, and I want to know how they cut costs while expressing organic shapes.
• It’s surprising that a country with less than one-third of the population has such amazing public facilities. I wonder if they are financially stable after building all those massive parks and buildings, and I want to know how they have improved the productivity of their people. We can only know the return on investment in education a decade later; I worry about Japan’s limited spending on education.
• I hope the academic world can be more playful and artistic, and I think Japanese people are putting too much emphasis on the format. It has to be correct, but I think being creative and experimental is as important as correctness.
• We sometimes perceive computers or machines as artistic, probably because we are amazed by the marvel of their design. For example, the metro map design is dedicated to utility, but its abstraction and meaningfulness can be seen as beautiful, and this can be said for many practical designs.
• Projection mapping on sandboxes has many possibilities since it can convey much greater information than just a touch display. It is still not easy to manipulate 3D objects on computers, and new sensing technology might be able to make it easier or provide new expressions in digital art.