Jul04
Published by misha in Asia, Cultural, Eating, Hiking, History, Monuments, Photos, Sightseeings, Taiwan, Travel Stories

There is nothing Taiwanese about the Astoria Cafe in Taipei. And that is what made it special. The place was opened over a half century ago, on the west side of Taipei. It is a bakery, which sold fresh bread and homemade cakes downstairs. On upstairs level, it served dark bitter Russian coffee.
Continue reading Taipei
Apr09
Published by Asya in Arts, Asia, Japan

Ever wondered how tall the tallest building ever designed is ? There’s a lot of debate about what the tallest tower in the world currently is. Some say the Taipei 101 is the world’s tallest tower, whereas we might argue that the
Sears Tower, still takes the prize. Forget about the
Taipei 101 Tower, or the Sears Tower. If the enormous, 13,000 ft
X-Seed 4000 structure ever gets built in
Tokyo – it will win the worlds-tallest-building competition. We use the word “building” loosely, because this is seven times taller than the current tallest building, and actually 700 feet higher than the actual Mt. Fuji. The X-Seed 4000 proposed 4000 meters (13,123 foot) height, 6 kilometers wide sea-base, and 800 floor capacity could accommodate five hundred thousand to one million inhabitants.
Continue reading Really wonder if this building will ever be made?
Jun09
Published by Asya in Asia, Cultural, Events, History, Museums, Praying, Relaxing, Sightseeings, Taiwan, Travel Stories

Fo Guang Shan is situated in the suburbs of Kaoshiung. It is the largest Buddhist sanctuary in Kaoshiung County. Founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun in 1967, Fo Guang Shan is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. Besides the main shrine at Fo Guang Shan, its biggest attraction would be the Great Buddha Land, surrounded by 480 golden Buddha statues, a sight worth visiting. The Buddhist Cultural Museum has a collection of thousands of modern and ancient Buddhist works of arts. Buddhist works of art are invaluable skillful means for attracting people to Buddhism. Visiting this museum has helped many people to believe.
Continue reading Where are 480 golden Buddha’s statues? The answer is….
Apr04
Published by vanhal in Asia, Chillin, Monuments, Photos, Relaxing, Sightseeings, Taiwan, Travel Tips, Urban Tourism

Taipei 101 is the only travel destination in Taipei where it is unnecessary to provide you with the exact address. Next to Warner village it’s just a little taller than Taipei’s world trade center. The tallest building and Taipei financial center is developing since Taipei 101 construction is completed and the tower is open for business and commerce.The design of Taipei 101 borrows heavily from Chinese culture. Both the building’s interior and exterior incorporate the Chinese pagoda form and the shape of bamboo flowers. The lucky number eight, which means blooming or success, is represented by the eight clearly delineated exterior sections of the building.
Continue reading Taipei 101 is the world’s tallest building
Dec05
Published by nerdeff in Asia, CONTINENTS, COUNTRIES, China, Photos, TOPICS, Travel Stories

Really nice photo of Hong Kong’s tallest building, the
Two International Finance Centre. It is the 6th tallest building in the world behind giants like
101 Taipei, Petronas Towers, Sears Tower and Jin Mao Tower.
Continue reading Photo of the Day – 2IFC on Hong Kong Island
Oct26
Published by nerdeff in Asia, Chillin, China, Monuments, Relaxing, Travel Stories
The Forbidden City ( aka Forbidden Palace ) is located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, China. It was the imperial palace during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. The Forbidden City now is known as the Palace Museum and its extensive grounds cover 720,000 square meters, and at one time supposedly had 800 buildings and more than 8,000 rooms, though there are only 2,172 rooms that remain intact. As such, it is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1977 as the “Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties”. The Imperial Palace Grounds are located directly to the north of Tiananmen Square and are accessible from the square via Tiananmen Gate. It is surrounded by a large area called the Imperial City.
Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces. Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.
Continue reading Discover The Forbidden City of China Rulers