Taipei 101 and Peking Duck

 Today is the last day that our entire group will be together.  The Wong's will flying back to Singapore the next day.  There are two more places we want to go:  Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial and Taipei 101.  CKS was the leader of China in the early twentieth century.  After his defeat by the communists, led by Mao Zedong, he and his government fled to Taiwan in 1949 and formed the Republic of China or ROC.  Communist China is usually known as the People's Republic of China or PRC.

CKS is a revered figure in Taiwan, and was president for 30 years.  A memorial was built in memory of him.  It is one of the most popular tourist attractions.  It is an outdoor facility.  To get there you have to walk across a park.  It was very hot that day and we decided that we'll skip the CKS Memorial and just go to Taipei 101.  Below is a picture of a statue of CKS at the Memorial from my visit in 2018

Statue of Chiang Kai-shek at the CKS Memorial

Taipei 101, when completed in 2004, was the tallest building in the world for 6 years.  It is now the 10th tallest building in the world.  It is a mix-use building for offices and shops.  It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan.

We took the Blue Line MRT to the Taipei Main Station, then transfer to the Red Line to the Taipei 101 station, and then it was a short walk to the building.  We rode the elevator to the 5th floor where tickets are sold.  Tickets to the 85th floor Observation Deck are about US$20 per person.  Not very expensive, but not cheap either, considering what is offered on the observation deck.  There is a restaurant on the 85th floor and other random display of things.  The decor seems to appealed more to kids.  There is an outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor.

One of the view from the 85th floor

Kids enjoying the play area

The 728-ton damper to provide stability to the building

Posing with a background picture of Taipei 101

Esme sleeping on the "moon"

Other than the views from the top, Taipei 101 is a boring place.  It offers no entertainment, no history, no information about Taiwan or Taipei, and very little food and refreshments.  After about an hour or so the older folks in our group left to go to Taipei Main Station.  

Taipei Main Station is more than a train station.  It houses 3 railway lines:  Taipei Metro, Taiwan High-Speed Rail and the Taiwan Railways Administration.  Each of this railway lines serves a different purpose. Taipei Metro is the Taipei City subway system.  It covers most of Taipei and some of the outlying areas.  Taiwan High Speed Rail is a high-speed railway line running on the west coast, connecting Taipei in the north to Kaohsiung in the south.  The technology is based on Japan's high-speed trains, known as Shinkansen.  Taiwan Railways Administration is a government agency running the country railway network.  The Banqiao train station, near the hotel where we were staying, also has all 3 train networks at the same station.  

Taipei Main Station is more than just a train station.  It is really a train station with several shopping malls within or connected to it.  You can spend days shopping around in the station.  There are also restaurants and food courts scattered around the station.  The four of us elderly adults looked around for a food court.  After aimlessly navigating the building and asking people, we found a food court.  As usual it sells a variety of food.  We all settled for Taiwan's national and most famous dish - beef noodle soup.  This dish is as near and dear to Taiwanese as hamburger is to Americans or  Phở is to Vietnamese.  They sell them almost at every restaurant.  It is Taiwan's comfort food.

Beef Noodle Soup

That evening we have reservations at a famous duck restaurant called Tao Luan Ting Roast Peking Duck Palace.  It was highly recommended by one of Cynthia's good friends.  It is located at 2F, 86 Fuxing North Road, Songshan District, Taipei, 104.  We took the Taipei Metro there and walked about 5-10 minutes to the restaurant, which is located on the 2nd floor.  This is Taiwan's version of Peking Duck, slightly different from the Peking Duck that you get in Beijing or the dish that you get in some Chinese restaurants in the US.  The basics are the same:  you apply some sauce to a rice skin (that looks like a mini tortilla), put some duck skin and scallions, and wrap it.  The flavor in different places are different because it depends on what spices you put on the duck and how your cook it.  Nevertheless, it was a wonderful meal for all of us.

A group picture before starting the dinner

A group picture below the sign for the restaurant

Carving the Duck

The duck beautiful arranged

On the way back to the MRT station we came across a stand that sells boba tea and other local drinks.  Well, I guess we have to stop there.  That's our dessert!

A Gang of Happy People with their favorite desserts

These type of stores are everywhere in Taipei

Taylor enjoying her own drink