Galleries atop Taipei 101, the world's tallest building at 1,671 feet, provide views of the capital city and the island of Taiwan.
(FILE 2004/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
TAIPEI -- On a busy city street, a young woman with orange-and-green manga-style hair advertises CDs next to a serene statue of a third-century female courtesan.
Nearby, Taipei 101 rises 1,671 feet over the metropolis. It is the tallest building in the world and is shaped like a stack of eight-story pagodas.
In the train station, an exhibit of elegant, prize-winning calligraphy is displayed next to stylized neon Chinese graphics advertising the next cool cellphone.
Taiwan offers travelers a stunning variety of cultural expressions, all of which seem to find a place on the island.
For modern architectural drama, a trip to the top of Taipei 101 is a must. The elevators are fast and provide a delightful light show as you ascend. At the top viewing galleries offer unmatched perspectives on the city below. The six-story shopping arcade at the base of the building is a multi level array of shops and restaurants, including Wasabi , a handsome Japanese-style eatery where "self service" means picking from some of the most beautiful and delicious seafood and tempura anywhere.
For urban excitement, the streets of Taipei in the evening are a treat in themselves. Several districts, such as West Gate, have pedestrian streets that are alive with shoppers of all ages, performers, and tourists. Advertising signs meld into a kaleidoscopic mosaic. The streets are safe, and everyone extends pleasant greetings, which makes traveling here relaxing.
In the lobby of the Sheraton Taipei , one might see golfers from Japan, wedding guests from the Philippines, and businessmen from Australia. In the enormous atrium, a restaurant is busy all day serving food from India, Japan, China, and the United States with courteous and professional service.
For bargains, try the street markets. The Night Market is an antique pedestrian street with stalls selling everything from traditional calligraphy to fresh snake liver. Although the market is crowded, the pace is leisurely and the friendly shopkeepers will bargain. Another market, the Open Air Jem, sits in an unlikely spot, beneath a six-lane freeway, but is filled with semiprecious jewelry, from $20 bracelets to stunning jade stones costing thousands. It is best to know what you want, as the quality can vary. Freshwater pearls can be bought for as little as $80.
For a wonderful food experience, go to Din Tai Fung restaurant, where dumplings are served in a playful but pleasant atmosphere. As you enter, you will see the kitchen, where a dozen cooks are furiously making dumplings filled with a variety of delicious items, from pork to marinated vegetables.
When Nationalist leader Chiang Kai- shek and his followers were driven from the mainland by the communists in 1949 , he took with him most of the best art treasures, including bronzes, calligraphy, and sculptures. These remained in crates until they were installed at the National Palace Museum in 1965. Today the well-organized museum helps visitors understand both the function and design of the best art of ancient China. The Chiang memorial, built of Vermont marble, is a traditional Chinese-style building with a statue of him at its center.
The Confucius temple is a moving experience in traditional religious architecture. The Buddhist-style temple is a fitting memorial to the teacher and leader whose influence can still be felt in the spirit of the people of Taiwan. Go there in the early evening, when the temple is fragrant with fresh flowers and incense .
About an hour's plane ride outside Taipei, Taroko National Park offers a landscape that seems right out of a Chinese brush painting. Rough granite cliffs rise hundreds of feet above a road that has been cut dramatically into the steep landscape. The Liwu River cuts through the gorge, and if you hike about a mile into the park, there are stunning viewpoints . The Tunnel of Nine Turns was built by hand by soldiers from Chiang's army.
For a great combination of food, history, and folk architecture, take a side trip to Kinmen, an island a few hundred yards from the Chinese coast, where you can look out from the military bunkers used to defend Taiwan from the Chinese in the late 1950s and early '60s. The bunkers, part of a national park, are filled with photographs and displays of the struggle. You can also tour the Jhaishan boat tunnels, completed in 1961. Hundreds of meters long, they were cut through solid granite and enabled the coastal defense boats to be floated into a protective fortress.
The food in Kinmen is stunning, from Chinese cabbage flavored with Kaolaing liquor to delicate clay-oven rolls stuffed with minced pork. The 18 houses at Shanhou Folk Culture Village were built by Kinmen natives about 1900 and are carefully restored examples of traditional Fujian style houses.
A trip to Taiwan will leave you with a profound sense of a great culture, and you will not eat better food anywhere.
Peter Vanderwarker, a freelance writer and photographer in New ton, can be reached at peter@van derwarker.com. 
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
