In the base of the world's fourth tallest building (Taipei 101) is this shopping mall. Shopping malls are actually quite rare in Taiwan, This is one of only a small few, and the one that most looks like a typical western style shopping mall.
What is not typical are the stores in this mall. They are are very upscale jewelry, handbag, and clothing stores. You won't find any of the typical mall stores that make fill all malls back home.
Because of this however, you will also not find any people in this shopping mall. Most people in the world can not afford these shops, let alone in Taiwan where salaries are extremely low. However with what I do know about the government, I'm pretty sure that all these stores are subsidized by the government. It is used to give the appearance of prosperity, especially since it's designed so that if you want to go to the top of taipei 101, you have to start by first entering this mall.
Personally while I could never afford to go shopping here, I do like this mall a lot. I used to work in the area and on days I had long breaks, I would come over here and go to the top floor of the mall and sit at a table and read. It's a nice bright pretty place, and since nobody is there, the feeling is quite serene.
Unfortunately that top floor area is being completely redone and all the tables and chairs have been taken away. However I still had a nice experience my last time there. As I was going down the escalator, I passed by a group of Japanese tourists. I observed the looks on their faces. It was a look of amazement. Well not of the shopping mall, i'm sure they've been to hundreds of those. It was the look you get when you are on vacation and everything you see is new and exciting. It was just nice to see their happiness with something that has become common to me. It reminded me of how everything looked like to me when i first came to Taiwan. I look forward to even after all these years here, finding new places that will also make me have that same look on my face.
Oh one extra thing. Since yesterday's post was about a book store. This shopping mall strangely enough does have a book store in it, and in my opinion it is the best book store in Taiwan. It has the widest selection of english language books. But more than that it's one of the few stores of any kind in Taiwan where if they don't have something they will say they can order it for you.
