Taipei 101

Taipei 101 is a landmark supertall skyscraper in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was officially classified as the world's tallest in 2004, and remained such until the completion of Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2009. In 2011, the building was awarded the LEED platinum certification, the highest award according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, and became the tallest and largest green building in the world.

Taipei 101

The construction of the building started in 1999 and finished five years later in 2004. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition. The tower with its 101 floors is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes.

In New Year's eve, they usually launch fireworks from Taipei 101 to celebrate the event.

Taipei 101 New Year's eve

They also have an observation deck where you can see the beautiful scenery of Taiepi. Taipei 101's elevators sweep visitors from the fifth floor to the 89th-floor observatory in only 37 seconds. The observatories are on the 88th and 89th floor and an Outdoor Observation deck is on the 91st floor. Both offer 360-degree views and attract visitors from around the world.

Taipei 101 observatory

Source: Wikipedia 

Night markets

As you know, in Europe many shops close after 6 PM. But not in Taiwan!

In Taiwan the life starts after work. Taiwanese people love hanging out in night markets, where they can find many different foods and snacks. There are over one hundred night markets in Taiwan..

Feng Chia Night market (photo by: Dale Nolan Jr. )

Most of the markets operate daily and feature a mixture of individual stalls including clothing, consumer goods, snack, and specialty drinks.

Shilin Night market Food

Squid

Variety of food

Taiwan High Speed Rail - THSR

Taiwan has a really convenient public transport service which is called High Speed Rail. It runs approximately 345 km along the west coast of Taiwan, from the national capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. The construction was managed by a private company. They opened the stations in 2007. The trains can reach 300 KM/H speed. 

Taiwan High Speed Rail

If you take a bus from Taichung to Taipei, it could take 2 and a half hours to arrive (unless there's bad traffic jam). If you take the high speed rail, it takes only 50 minutes - 1 hour. The price of course more expensive than taking bus. To take a bus from Taichung to Taipei, it might cost you around 250NT. The High speed rail costs around 700NT. 

In 2012 there were 44 million passangers on the HSR. It is a really convenient way to travel across the Southern and Norther part of Taiwan,

HSR in the station

Carrying an umbrella in a sunny day

Something strange I noticed when I arrived Taiwan is that many girls carry an umbrella in the sun.
First I was like, is it going to rain ? Well, no it's not. In Taiwan, people are obsessed with white skin color not like in Europe where girls rather like to have a tan.

Carrying an umbrella in a sunny day

I found an intreseting post from a user which explains why they are obsessed with white skin color:

Chinese woman equate sun exposure to being lower class. Only farmers in China would get sun when they were working in the fields. So the upper class Chinese woman dont allow any sun on their face or body and thus walk around with umbrellas when it is sunny out.

They even have skin care products which focus on whitening the skin

Nive skin whitening lotion

Scooters

I have to tell I have never seen so many scooters at one place in my life. Taiwan has so many scooters that you can't even imagine. In Taiwan, the traffic is a bit crazy. People tend to ignore the rules, you really have to watch out. There are cars and countless scooters everywhere.

Scooters on a bridge in Taiwan

I think the main reason why people use scooters in Taiwan is the density of the island. Taiwan is not a big country (36,193 km²) but they have more than 23 million people. It's much convenient to use scooter than cars, since scooters don't take up too much space.

Another reason is that in cities like Taichung where I live, there's no MRT like in Taipei. You either stuck with using the bus (which is not really convenient) or you buy a scooter or a car.

Convenience stores

In Asian countries, like Japan or Taiwan, convenience stores are more common because of the higher population density. These store are open 24 hours a day!

7-11 Store in Taiwan

Boasting more than 10,000 convenience stores in an area of 35,980 km² and a population of 23 million, Taiwan has Asia Pacific's and perhaps the world's highest density of convenience stores per person: one store per 2,500 people With 4,665 7-Eleven stores, Taiwan also has the world's highest density of 7-Elevens per person: one store per 4,930 people. In Taipei, it is not unusual to see two 7-Elevens across the street or several of them within a few hundred meters of each other.

Family Mart in Taiwan

Because they are found everywhere, convenience stores in Taiwan provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of city parking fees, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments. Eighty percent of urban household shoppers in Taiwan visit a convenience store each week.

Source: Wikipedia