What else can you do at Taipei 101
Taipei 101 is basically the landmark of Taiwan. It's probably a valid comparison to say Taipei 101 is like the Petronas Twin Tower of Malaysia; Taj Mahal of India; and the Empire State Building of The United States. It used to be classified as the world's tallest building and was known to have the fastest elevator until of course, more constructions came about and took those titles away.
Things you can do at Taipei 101 apart from the obvious ie shopping (but in my case, window shop, no money bruhhh), there are a few things that you most definitely should park under your to do list.
Taipei 101 Tuned Mass Damper
This piece of art right here is an absolute engineering wonder.
Tuned mass damper is one of the many methods used by engineers to counter the force that a building will have to bear such as wind load and the more extreme cases, earthquakes. Simply put, if the building is moving to the right, this ball right here will move in the opposite direction to cancel out the movement (up to 40% in the context of Taipei 101). It is extremely heavy, weighing at 660 metric tons (660,000kg) which is almost the weight of 123 asian elephants.
Your admission ticket will entail access to 3 different levels.
89th Floor: Indoor observatory where you get an unobstructed city view. Here you'll be able to learn the design and construction process of Taipei 101; buy refreshments; and have a go at one of those binoculars.
90th Floor: This is where you will get to see the ball up close.
91th Floor: Outdoor observatory. You get to see the view outside as you freeze your balls off. View is sick af.
We bought our admission tickets on the spot. So I guess that means great news! No pre-booking required (but might be ideal to save yourself some waiting time). The ticketing counter is located on the 5F. You'll have to look for an escalator that looks like this (see image below) on the 4F.
Prices are as follow
- Adults NTD600
- Concessions NTD540
- Seniors NTD300
- Express NTD1200
Bring you passport along! They gave us some special discount. I don't know if this promo is only applicable to selected countries or as long as you're a foreigner. *shrug*
Also, note that express tickets are available and there's a designated entry time for the tickets you purchase. This is their method of crowd control by staggering the amount of crowd influx. However, don't frets, they only control the time you're allowed to enter but no restrictions on how long you can stay in there.
If it's just for the city view, I might have given this a pass but the highlight (for me) was the tuned mass damper! You don't get that everywhere.
Din Tai Fung
If you're a fan for 小笼包 soup dumplings, you have to go visit Din Tai Fung. There are franchises all around the world but having it at the very first branch, somewhat seems like a legit to do.
Be very (extremely) prepared for long waiting time. I've heard so much horror stories about people waiting for at least 1-2 hours just to get their table. BUT! The tip is always to go at the off-peak timing. The last visit I went, I was by myself and it was on a weekday around 11.30am, so I pretty much walked straight-in with zero waiting time.
Elephant Mountain
If you're into morning strolls, this is definitely something you can do. It's close to Taipei 101, only about 25 minutes away if you're walking. The path is not difficult at all but do go prepared. Tons of mosquitoes. Wasn't my brightest idea to be there in shorts.
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| Entrance |
The best thing about this "hike" is that you'll get to see this *free* city view with Taipei 101 in the shot!
Summary
For the view, you can choose to be a cheapskate and go straight to Elephant Mountain. However, if you're a part-time engineering geek like me and want to check out the tuned mass damper, definitely opt for the Taipei 101 observatory (and pay for it). And of course, finish up the area with some really yummy soup dumplings to satisfy that belly.
