National Palace Museum,Taipei

This is part of the fun Taiwan travel series. View the full itinerary here.

Finally, I have more spare time to continue my notes on my trip to Taiwan.
One of the highlights of my Taiwan trip was (gasp) a visit to the National Palace Museum!

It was said that the best of China artifacts were actually secreted away during the Chinese Civil war - it hosts one of the largest collections of Chinese antiques in the world. Must be the reason why I see a lot of tourists from China.



The National Palace Museum is located in the Shihlin district and very convenient to reach.
Punctual numerous buses will all drop passengers off at the entrance itself.

Unfortunately, photos are not allowed inside. We had to make do with photos of the surrounding gardens which were very well maintained.

Once inside, you would be awed by the size of the collection. Information is very well presented, with small plaques placed in front of each artifact with Chinese and English descriptions. Audio guides are also available for rental from the counter.

The highlights of the collection are the Meat Shaped stone and Jadeite Cabbage. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but here is a preview with credits to Wikipedia.

 

The National Palace Museum opens daily from 8:30AM to 6:30PM. Entrance is free on Friday and Saturday evenings for Taiwanese citizens.

We spent half a day there but couldn't manage to view all collections at leisure due to the long queues. The museum is definitely worth stopping by for.

Getting there:
Take the MRT Danshui Line to the Shilin Station and take bus R30 (Red 30 - Low-floor bus) to the National Palace Museum. Other routes that will take you to and near the Museum plaza are buses 255, 304, 815 (Sanchung – NPM Line), Minibus 18 and Minibus 19.

Take the MRT Wenhu Line to the Dazhi Station and take bus B13 (Brown 13) to the National Palace Museum, alighting before the Front Facade Plaza of the Museum. Alternatively, visitors may choose to take the Wenhu Line and get off at Jiannan Rd. Station, then take bus B20 (Brown 20) to NPM's front entrance (Main Building).

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This is part of the fun Taiwan travel series. View the full itinerary here.