National Palace Museum, Taipei

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Some people says Taipei is not a very special place to visit. And some say, whao! it's so beautiful. Then we ask ourself, what is that they want to see and discover? As a traveller, I think each individual has his or her own interest and desire. To me Taiwan is a country which has done plenty for tourists, and they are still trying their very best to make it better. To preserve, conserve and open up new area of interest and introduce to the outside world. Making others know that they have done their part as well. Every country has its own unique culture, history, arts and so on and Taiwan is definitely proud that they have done their duty too ....FOR THE FUTURE. I have visited many countries but Taiwan is the only country that has so many shops in all their cities and towns., e.g T'ai chung, T'ainan, Kaohsiung, Changhua, etc...etc. But Taiwan public toilets are everywhere and well kept.

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The museum itself is a very nice building out of the town where you can easily spend a few hours.
There are various collections such as ceramics, books, documents, paintings, bronzes and jades, of all the mentioned, the ones I really enjoyed were the jades and, particulary the miniatures, really small sculptures that you must watch with lens to enjoy.
The only pity is that the museum is really overcrwded by groups of Chinese coming from the mainland and it can take a long time before you can see the main jewels.
The main building exibitions are opened every day from 8.30 untill 6.30 pm and the ticket price is 160 yuan (about 4 euro).

It has a good collection of paintings, calligraphy, bronze vessels, scrolls, daggers, jade, stone and pottery dating from (1000 yrs.??) way before C.E.

Take the MRT red line (Danshui) to Shilin station and grab a cab (pretty cheap...$2 or so) or take bus B13 to the National Palace Museum (about a dollar)

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The single best sight in Taipei is the National Palace Museum. When the nationalist government of Chiang Kei-shek fled Mainland China they brought the antiquities collection of the Forbidden City with them (stole per the mainland belief). This museum the former palace of CKS now houses this collection.

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The National Palace Museum was originally founded in 1925 in the Forbidden City in Peking, which explains why the world “Palace” is used in its name. In the beginning of 1931 the collection was crated and moved into the hinterland of China to avoid the ravages of the impending Sino-Japanese War. In 1949 with civil war raging between the Nationalists and Communists the government shipped some 600.000 treasured works of art to Taiwan. In 1965 the collection was moved to its present home in the Wai-Shuang-Hsi Area of Shih-lin in Taipei.
Today it is one of the finest collections of Chinese Art and Culture in the World. And me visiting this museum explains why nothing is left in the Forbidden City in Beijing – A MUST see when in Taipei!

There are so many interesting & unique arts & crafts showned at these museum. Some to name a few were The New Era of Ornamentation. The imperial workshop of the early Ming - abt. year 1300 - to about 1521.It is said that the household items were specially produced for the Mind Imperial court. In a separate section, you will also find the Treasures from an Age of Prosperity. If the history is acquirate the Reigns of Emperors K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung. from about year 1662 till about 1795. From the history displayed at one of the doors it claims that Ch'ing Empire happens to be the last succeding sovereignity in the long legacy of Chinese imperial dynasties. At the same time of these era, was the irrepressible progress in Western technology & civilization. Then there is also the contest of craft. During the era of Ming Dynasty's Chia-ching to Ch'ung-chen, about the year of 1522 till about 1644.
The Dynasty of Ming was a time of expanding freedom on many fronts. The material economy improved very much with the ordinary citizens' influence rising in their own society together with the status of craftsmen.

For an insight of Chinese artwork and culture, go to the National Palace museum located near Shilin. You can see over 700,000 examples of paintings, calligrapy, jade and many more uniquely Chinese works. Controversially taken from the Mainland in the 1940's to rescue many of them from destruction. The museum makes an interesting day out for those interested in Asian art. The museum itself is located near Yangmin Mountain, and the views are great.

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Plenty of Chinese Treasures here, mostly brought to Taiwan by the KMT during their retreat from China during the civil war.

There is a free English tour twice a day, which I would recommend.

There's quite a variety of sculptures, paintings, ceramics and calligraphy.

Nice grounds as well.