Taiwan National Palace Museum

I'm not much a museum fan honestly. Hardly go to them on my own, and I remember the forced times in school when we had to go for those expedition trips. I could walk in-and-out of a museum in no time!

But again, like any tourist to Taiwan, one of the must-see places is the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) in Taipei. I've heard a bit about the museum prior - that this Taiwan museum is supposedly one of the top 10 museums in the world... and apparently has a very good Chinese artifacts, even better than the ones in China.

So, I decided to give this museum a try.

The location of the Taiwan National Museum is on a hill which makes it quite grand. A good nice journey passing the trees lead to a very quiet and unassuming building.

Looks quiet from the outside

But don't be mis-fooled, as the crowds are mainly inside. And they keep coming in, many of them Japanese.

We could rent the audio earphones in English which guided some parts of the tour, explaining the story behind the exhibits. This came in handy with good description, though a lil limited as not many exhibits were mentioned.

Anyway, this museum rotates its exhibits every 3 months as there are really a lot of artifacts in the museum (said to take 12 years to complete the cycle). Wow!

But some of them are permanent displays. And I was lucky to see 2 of its more prominent displays:

1. A cabbage carved from jade which looks rather real, and has a samll grasshopper on its leaves. This is interesting for how the colours of the jade is used from white to dark green.

2. The pork shaped stone which is used from different minerals to form it. Looks real to be eaten lol.

We also had the opportunity to view the video which was shown at the next theatre building. This was a semi cartoon/animation like video filmed in the museum with narration of the exhibits & artifacts in the museum. The story is about a museum artifact (a boy) who were finding for the grasshopper from the jade cabbage. Along the way, he meets & stumbles upon the other interesting artifacts in the museum (each of them can talk as well).

I must say that this was very well done & gave a good insight of the museum, and especially for people like me who prefer to see a video lol.

Museum Architecture
Btw, the main museum building from this building seems pretty grand.



Another interesting thing which I could take photo is this glass panel with Chinese characters facing the sky taken at the lobby of the museum.



Museum Restaurants
The museum has some cafes & restaurants for the public. The one we went was quite modern & served good food as well. Seems weird, but yes, this museum (restaurant in the national museum) can also be known for its good food apart from its exhibits!


The modern interior of the restaurant


One of the better soups I've tasted


Delicious preserved dates which Taiwan is famous for

Conclusion
If you are into arts or history & ancient works, then this is definitely a place for you. However, even if like me where museums are just ok and not in top list, but still don't miss out on visiting this acclaimed Taipei museum - the Taiwan National Palace Museum. Afterall, you can claim, you've been to one of the world's greatest right here in Taiwan, Asia! :)

*As you can see, I like food, and that's coming up next!