All About Taipei 101

Living in Taiwan, but always nothing more than a visitor to Taipei, my arrival to the capital is usually marked by the sighting of Taipei 101, no matter which direction I approach from. And no matter where you are in the city, the tower serves as a point of reference for which district you are in, much the same way Table Mountain does for anyone living in Cape Town.

The design is unique with every inch drenched in symbology that speaks for the culture, history and natural flora of the region, and the identity of the people that live under its watch every single day.

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Anyway, Taipei is a city that intrigues me because of its variety compared to other Taiwanese cities - not knowing what you’ll find around the next corner at ground level. However, no matter which corner you turn, there’s a great chance that should you tilt your head back and turn your eyes towards the sky, you’d see 101.

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So I started pointing my camera in that direction, and with intent, started ‘documenting’ it from various parts of the city. With many points of view covered, many more await, and though I am certainly not the only one capturing the edifice through my lens, here is my collection of photographs of the Taiwanese icon.

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Standing erect, its mass damper keeping it steady through strong winds, earthquakes and typhoons, it’s stacked bamboo sections neatly arranged towards the clouds, it keeps watch over the roads and alleys, the temples and nightmarkets, across Zhongshan Airport and all the way to Yangming Shan, the old and young alike that make circles around it on foot, on wheels and on tracks. Recently scaled by a man in a red t-shirt and thereby brought once again to the world’s attention after opening as the world’s tallest building in 2004, I will keep watch over the tower through my camera.