Taiwan’s National Palace Museum

The National Palace Museum in Taipei is located near the hilly portion of the metropolis. It was an easy commute taking the MRT Wenhu Line. We got off at the Dazhi station, walked a few steps towards the tofu store and caught the B13 (Brown 13)bus. It was about a ten to fifteen-minute ride before we alighted right in front of the National Palace Museum.

Our friend who has been to the museum before told us that the National Palace Museum displays the history of China. That is because the National Palace Museum could trace its roots during its establishment as a Palace Museum in Beijing’s Forbidden City after the expulsion of Puyi, the last emperor of China.

But the civil war divided the administration of the Palace Museum. As the Nationalists sent most of the artifacts and treasures to Taiwan, the Communists were able to seize the Palace Museum in Beijing. The National Palace Museum in Shilin District, Taipei was constructed in 1965 to house the collections that were brought from mainland China.

The National Palace Museum was a grand sight from its gate. There’s a long walkway with manicured trees on both sides of the pavement. As the museum loomed from afar, we were enamored by the scenery, although we failed to completely check out the nearby amenities and attractions but, instead, focused on the main building. There’s the Zishan garden within the museum complex which we weren’t able to explore its grounds. The same as the Chang Dai-ch’ien Residence, which we have not visited due to limited time.

We paid NT 250 (app. USD 7.70) each to enter Exhibit I or the main building. Credit cards are accepted but audio tour gadgets, if you want to avail for one, have to be paid in cash. But before we entered the exhibit areas, we first took a snack, which was sort of an early lunch, at Xianjufu Café, located at the first floor of the main building.

Since there were so many displays in the three-story building at that time so we had to carefully choose which gallery we will visit. At that time, there was also an exhibit on the 90 Years of Collecting: a Selection of Fine Works of Art Acquired by and Donated to the National Palace Museum. It featured interesting artworks, including a miniature birdcage with Chinese inscriptions on its tiny columns. The inscriptions were microscopic so I commend the artist for such ingenuity.

There was also a Special Exhibition on the Imperial Collection of Rare Books and Documents, which, interestingly, displayed old maps of China and its territories. Oh how I’d want to get a copy of those maps. Not only am I very fond of maps, but it also showed that no Philippine island was part of China.

We also breezed through the gallery of paintings and art pieces in the hope that we would be able to see as many artworks as we can in so little time as we had to head to other landmarks and attractions in Taipei.

We finished our tour of the National Palace Museum and exited using the green sidewalk which was a refreshing experience, walking underneath tree branches on a wooden pathway. At the entrance, we caught a bus back to the Dazhi station so we could head next to the Martyr’s Shrine.

The National Palace Museum is located at:
No.221, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City 11143, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Tel:+886-2-2881-2021, +886-2-66103600E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.npm.gov.tw/en

For photos of our visit at the National Palace Museum, check my Facebook page album.

For a complete list of blog articles on my 2015 Taiwan trip, visit this introductory post.