Now it is time to reveal the ultimate goal of my Asian trip - Taipei! Taipei is a very nice city. I particularly appreciated its great metro network that allows travelers to move around the city smoothly.
Taipei is best know for its tallest building (actually it is now the second tallest building in the world) called Taipei 101. "101" is a reference to the number of floors above the ground.
Taipei 101 includes offices and a shopping mall. But the best part of it is of course the Observatory.
You will need to wait in the queue for some time but when you finally reach the lift, it will take you to the 89 floor where you will be able to admire the panorama of the city. You will see the buildings ...
... and also the green hills surrounding Taipei. Actually there is a surprise regarding the hills as well but I will come back to it in due course.
Taipei 101 is nicely illuminated at night. I could not take pictures after dark but I can show you what it would look like.
Those of you who are really brave can take the staircase and go a bit higher.
You will find there the outdoor part of the Observatory.
To be honest the wind there was quite strong so I did not spend much time outside. I wonder how people on top floors feel about this heights.
Speaking of wind. As you surely know, Taipei is in the zone where typhoons happen regularly. To protect the building, the architects have placed between floors 87 and 91 the so-called Tuned Mass Dumper. It has 5.5 meters of diameter and wights around 660 tones. It is suspended on huge steel cables and reduces the movement and vibrations of the buildings during typhoons. It looks like this.
The dumper was the inspiration for the mascots of Taipei 101, the "baby dumpers". You can see them everywhere in the building.
Finally, my last stop - the special post office with boxes designed for different adressees.
Dear friends, watch out for my Greetings from the Sky!
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