The National Taiwan Museum in Taipei is our host for the 2015 conference, from 19-23 October.
If you haven’t been to Taipei before, this is an excellent chance to visit this beautiful city and its surroundings.
About Taipei
Taipei (means “North of Taiwan”), officially known as Taipei City (Chinese: 臺北市 or 台北市; pinyin: Táiběi Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Chhī), is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei. It is about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city Keelung. The city is mostly located on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lake bed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city’s western border.
Taipei from afar
The city proper is home to an estimated population of close to three million, forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of about seven million, the 40th most-populous urban area in the world. The term “Taipei” can be either referred to the whole metropolitan area or city proper itself.
Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan, and one of the major hubs of the Chinese-speaking world. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area. Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island.
Tourism is a major part of Taipei’s economy. In 2013, over 6.3 million overseas visitors visited Taipei, making the city the 15th most visited globally. The influx of visitors contributed $10.8 billion USD to the city’s economy in 2013, the 9th highest in the world and the most of any city in Greater China.
The National Taiwan Museum
National Taiwan Museum
The National Taiwan Museum sits nearby in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park and has worn its present name since 1999. The museum is Taiwan’s oldest, founded on October 24, 1908 by Taiwan’s Japanese colonial government (1895-1945) as the Taiwan Governor’s Museum. It was launched with a collection of 10,000 items to celebrate the opening of the island’s North-South Railway. In 1915 a new museum building opened its doors in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park. This structure and the adjacent Governor’s residence (now Presidential Office Building), served as the two most recognizable public buildings in Taiwan during its period of Japanese rule.
The main foyer of the National Taiwan Museum
For a century, since the Qing dynasty, the museum has been standing in front of the Taipei Main Station, on the north-south and east-west pivotal crossroads of old Taipei. Its elegant architecture, abundant collections and unique geographical position have made the museum an important landmark in Taipei. In 1998, the Ministry of the Interior declared the museum a “National Heritage.” The museum has witnessed Taiwan’s history and recorded its natural and humanitarian developments. Through this window, one may catch a glimpse of Taiwan’s evolution with regard to the fields of earth sciences, humanitarian developments, zoology, and botany.
The museum maintains its original scale, with five departments: Anthropology, Earth Sciences, Zoology, Botany and Education. The collection features specimens of Taiwan’s indigenous animals and plants as well as cultural artifacts. Through its regular exhibitions and special exhibitions, publications and various educational programs, the museum is serving the public as an educational establishment.
Find Out More
Visit the “Welcome to Taiwan” website by clicking here.