Taipei Travel

In short, not much to it. Very dissapointed. Don't waste your time, there is so much to see and do in Taipe, I'd skip it.

A view of history, for millenia, through the vision of Chinese artists. The works very between classical simplicity to the incredibly detailed. Restoration is an art in itself, and is performed with amazing attention to details. The multi-story museum is artfully organized. Each of the many rooms tell a story. Large and small objects are presented with care and consideration. Elevators and escalators provide easy wheelchair access. The gift shop is large containing both inexpensive and exquisitely detailed glass and porcelain. The entire facility is wheelchair accessible and that includes western style bathrooms.

We just stumbled upon it in the main lobby. English was being offered twice that day. First was 10:00 am. I'm sure the website will give you detailed info though. You "rented" over the ear headphones (they were free. Just leave ID or cash as collateral) so you could better hear the tour guide. You could bring your own earbuds and just plug into the little receiver if shared headphones aren't your thang. We didn't have a lot of time so the tour really helped us see all the iconic pieces. Guide was very, very knowledgeable and spoke good English. Lasted about 1.5 hours. Covered multiple floors, exhibits. The guide, in her official Museum uniform, seemed to allow us more space within the crowds. Ppl saw her giving and "official" tour and kinda backed away. Nice bonus! Post office with stamps and mailbox on-site if you need to send postcards! NOTE: The museum shuts down during a typhoon WARNING. We arrived first thing in the morning. It was sunny-ish, no rain, light breeze only to find the doors locked and a sign saying typhoon warning closure. The day turned out fine but what a waste of time to get there and back (for us two subways and a bus). So check, check and recheck the weather. It may be nice enough for you but if anything "official" is happening Taipei shuts down!! This goes for lots of other sites and even malls (ie: Taipei 101).

Yesterday, on a Sunday, we spent a good half a day visiting the National Palace Museum and we were not disappointed even though the crowd was large. This is a renowned world class museum 3 story high, laid out efficiently and beautifully, full of artifacts tracing 8000 yrs of Chinese culture (bronzes, ceramics, religious arts, furniture, paintings, calligraphies, etc). Without going to China I gather this is as good as it gets for Chinese museums. Getting to the place was relatively easy with by MRT subway & a short local bus ride with Google map help. There’s a 3-5 minute walk & stairs from the entrance to the admission desk inside the building. Water bottles had to be checked away. We missed the 10am English tour but the English audio was fine.

I was with a tour group with limited time that we did not exactly had the luxury of time to view each and every showcase. The collection was really huge and housed in different floors, It was astounding and the items were well-preserved and chronicled. They also have shops inside where one can purchase souvenir items as memento of your visit to the place..