Thoughts from Travelers in Taipei

Travel journalist have been eating, drinking, playing and having fun for more than 10 years, being proud of writing with words, never get tired of it.

Which school you can spend one and a half hour to walk from the east to the west?

From the constant changing of architecture and appearance, you can see the high aesthetic qualities Tunghai University. Ieoh Ming Pei, the designer of the Louvre Pyramid, has his most important work – the Luce Chapel. Surrounded by people and nature, it sits steady in the central of the grass. The Tang dynasty styled architecture is filled with groups shooting weddings. The street is filled with people, from stroller to the crutches, you can certainly find somewhere you belong to.

Arrived at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, what would you think of?

Removing the past of authority, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is more well known for its various dancing club, and two art palaces standing by the side of the road. Every time, the world famous show come to Taiwan, the international standard hardware equipment made the two stages the only choice, which has also attracted people come from central and south Taiwan. How can you say it’s not an important attraction?

As the model of the reactivating and regeneration of the historical monuments – the story of Guling Street and Red House Theater is even more touching. Giving new life to the destroyed architecture, polishing the signboard from the forgotten history, struggling and surviving from the erotic movie and damaged building, reborn from the fire, the whole Taiwan will be generous with the applause to you.

National Artistic Palace – Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and National Theater and Concert Hall

The National Theater and Concert Hall is located by the two sides of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The people who come here for the first time often have difficulty in distinguishing the two exactly same architectures, which is the National Theater and which one is the National Concert Hall? Every night, before the starting of the show, you can always find people in suits or on her high-heels running across the square, who cannot catch up with their breaths. It is super cute.

To be honest, I have done the same thing. Since that I know, the one on the south side that is close to the exit of the metro is the National Theater Hall, the one on the north side that is close to Xinyi Road is the National Concert Hall.

The tour buses come to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the guides will always say “Getting off the bus and taking photo, we will be gathering here after 40 minutes.” This is such a waste. The scenery in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is the most worth seeing. It is not only the bronze statues by the door, but also the performing arts inside the building, which keeps changing. The gathering of the too many brilliant artists and the top performing art stage are the guarantee of high quality performance.

2007 is the 20^th year of National Theater and Concert Hall, they have been holding activities constantly. The shows on the National Theater and Concert Hall in the recently years have won a lot of supporters with high quality.

Looking at the flag flying in the square as if it was waving to you and me “Come here~ Don’t miss it~ Come see a show. The National Theater and Concert Hall is located at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall station. Forget all the things you worried about, you can have a walk on the square and see a show.

Don’t understand it? The art is too hard to comprehend? Ok, don’t be afraid, just look at the surrounding area of the National Theater and Concert Hall. There are students and student societies, who are focused on their rehearsal. No matter it’s street dance, drum performance, cheerleading, folk dance, martial arts, Peking opera, and even the fancy skates, they are all free. You can watch as much as you like, no matter what you wear or how you want to sit. You can enjoy the energy and the sweats of youth.

Reborn from the fire – Red House Theater

It was once in the center of prosperity. The color has been faded with the passing of the generation. The stories of the up and down of the Red House Theater itself is far more interesting than the ones playing inside the theater.

As the model of the reactivation and regeneration of historical monuments, under the dark light inside the Red House, the Baxian table, fresh fruit, Gaiwan Tea, the welcome from the owner, tea served from the waiter, you feel like walking into the Qing Dynasty. Even if you bring your foreign friends here for tour, it is appropriate.

I have seen many shows in the Red House. The shows here are very suitable for the cultural atmosphere here. Others are largely depended on the clever design of stage, which will short the distance between the theater and the audiences. Watching the performance of the actors, you can see everything clearly. This is indeed the charm of the medium-sized theater.

Once you walked out the Red House, you will enter the busy Ximen Walking Street. The Ximen market next to the Red House, you can hear the voices of the vendors on the street. All this feels liking traveling through the time tunnel.

The transformation of the police station – the little theater on the Guling Street

The first impression you have on Guling Street, might be the famous movie “A Brighter Summer Day” of Edward Yang. I wasn’t knowing until then that Guling street is a street with special custom and features.

Guling Street was form the second precinct of Police Station. Back then, parents often threat kids not cry otherwise the police will take you away. The police department is always hiding behand some mysterious and serious veils.

With the relocation of the police station, the older police station became vacant and sit in the dust quietly. If not because the trend of the performing art, the police station is likely to be burred in the dust and forgot by people.

Crowed second floor, it can only hold 80 seats with full capacity. Due to the complexity of certain show, the number of the seats will be reduced. Imaging this, sitting in the police station and watching the show, you are only 50 cm away from the actor. Every breath, and every scent are shown completely. With such a close contact, everyone is fascinated. Right, the police station was used to be the place having the reality shown on stage all the time.