This is the view from the top of the steps of CKS memorial hall. The traditional Chinese style building is the national concert hall. The short brown buildings on the right is National Taiwan University Hospital. But the building I want to focus on is the tall one in the back of the photo. It is the Shin Kong Life Tower, which I must admit, I didn't know this is it's name at all. This is because all the signs in English in that area call it the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Building.
It is the headquarters of the Shin Kong insurance company. The first few floors are a department store owned by the same company. Below that is an underground mall, and most importantly the Taipei Main Station subway station. With the busiest subway station and the train and bus station across the street, that area gets a lot of traffic. That area also has a computer market, another shopping mall, lot's of businesses, and a ton of cram schools.
Getting back to the building itself, when it was completed in 1993 it was by far the tallest building in Taiwan. It didn't have that title for very long as a building in a city in the south of Taiwan surpassed it. But this building continued to be the tallest in Taipei, until Taipei 101 came along around ten years later.
While Taipei 101 was definitely the star, the Shin Kong Life Building was my personal number one. This is because of it's prominence and location. When I was first in Taipei and didn't know my way around, I could always look up and find the "Mitsukoshi Building" (as I called it) and have an idea where I was. Yes Taipei 101 is taller, but it's off to the side of the city, so it's not so useful as a guide. The Mitsukoshi Building is more centrally located and also because of it's color, it's easier to make out. Taipei 101's sky blue, can make it blend into the sky from a distance.
So while people may talk which buildings are the tallest, the Mitsukoshi Building will always be tallest where it matters most, my heart.
