Discovery Center of Taipei (台北探索館) [Taipei kong mahal 180502: Discoveries]

If there is one place first-time visitors in Taiwan must visit, then its the Discovery Center of Taipei.  It's the best place to learn many things about the capital of this country.   From its early history up to this modern times, the museum is kept up to date to meet the changing needs of the visitors wishing to know more about Taipei.

The Discovery Center of Taipei is housed inside the building of Taipei City Hall

Admission is free and if you love museums you will never get bored! Discovery Center of Taipei is composed of four floors with the 3rd floor and the 4th floor as the main exhibit area.  At the entrance, you will be greeted with video clips about Taipei City. 

Inside the lobby was a topological map of Taipei Basin. The map shows the mountains and the different rivers flowing out into the Taiwan Strait and I was really amazed.  Just imagine the so-called Taipei Basin to be a former lake that dried up through time and is now a metropolis.  

The 3rd floor is the City Discovery Hall.  It contains exhibits about the history of Taipei's major roads, Taipei as an ecological city as well as Taipei as the cultural capital Taiwan. What makes visiting the Discovery Center of Taipei fun is that the displays are interactive! You can play games, ride a bike to view pictures and even received a ticket containing a future poem. This is what is printed in my ticket ”Sitting stiffly in isolation, I spent solemn nights in darkness. Suddenly the good fortune comes, it directs me to a wonderful life with joy”. There is also a video clip that will activate once it detects that you are standing within the display area. After exploring the 3rd floor, I got hungry and went outside to find a shaded bench, ate my sandwich and observed the magnificent Taipei 101 above.

Dialogue with Time Hall

I went back inside after my snacks and I continued on the 4th floor. The area is called the 'Dialogue with Time' Hall and I learned more about the history of Taiwan. I know the fact that Taiwan was once a colony of Japan for 50 years but I didn't know that there are too many Japanese experts who served as the 'fathers' of Taiwanese society.  The Philippines was also a colony of the Japanese Empire but it was only during the World War II. If the Philippines was colonized by Japan for five decades like Taiwan, Filipinos could have inherited the good values of the Japanese people and my country might be a nation with law-abiding citizens.

One of the interesting places to see is the Discovery Theater which is also located on the 4th floor. The cinema boasts a 360-degree video screen and it has a rotating platform so you can see what is happening all around.  At first, I thought that the screen was the one rotating but then I realized that the audience were the ones moving!  Because of the rotating platform,  I felt dizzy after watching the show.  The ten to fifteen minute film was about Taipei City life. It showed what happens on the streets of Taipei from the time you wake up until you go to bed.

I went down to the 2nd floor and it was the Special Exhibits Hall.  The exhibits there change regularly so better check out this place to have a unique experience with the museum.  While going around the 2nd floor, I  heard a familiar language in my ears and from that point, I knew that there were other Filipinos who visited the museum. I didn't talk to them and I just pretend that I was another foreign tourist.  It took me three hours to explore the Discovery Center of Taipei.  I learned a lot of things and most especially I made a lot of discoveries.

THINGS TO DO IN TAIPEI

Sakura Series - Taiwan

2026 Forecast

Taipei 101 first flowers

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Taipei Flower Test Center

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Broadwood Park

Sunshine Sports Park kawazu sakura

Wuling Farm (武陵農場)

SYS kawazu sakura

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

CKS Memorial Hall

Shibafen Yoshino Sakura

Hope River

Dongfang Temple

Tianyuan Palace

Neicou Stream Trail

Orange Garden Cafe

Yangming Park Visitor Information Center

Yangming Park Service Center Bus Stop

Huashan Road

Qianshan Park

Zhongshan Hall Entrance

Tenglong Sakura Farm

Flower Test Center Shōwa Sakura

Neihu Creek Trail

Shulin Land Office

Xióng Kōng Cherry Blossom Forest

Lung Yen Sakura Forest

Yangming Park cherry stream

Yangming Park fountain

CKS Memorial Hall Tairyō sakura

Wugu District Tianyi Road

CKS Memorial Hall yaesakura

Loving Farm

Yong Long Farm

Zhongbaling Sakura Road

Sun Link Sea

Tai'an Police Station

Cherry Hill Slope

Hsinchu Park

Taipei 101

Kāng Gào Kēng Creek

New Garden City

Broadwood Park

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Alishan Ranger Station

Alishan House

Alishan Police Station

Alishan Forest Railway

Alishan Station

Alishan Entrance

Alishan Gou Hotel

Alishan Magnolia Garden

Wulai tour

Wun Chang Elementary School

Bishanyan

Sanzhi Sansheng Trail

Sakura Series - Taiwan

Nei Cuo Stream

Orange Garden Cafe

Sansheng Trail

Tenglong Sakura Farm

Yangming Park Cherry Stream

Yangming Park Fountain

Flower Test Center

Broadwood Park

New Garden City

Yinghua Park

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Yangmingshan Visitor Center

Taipei 101

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Sakura Series - Japan

Kamonyama Park

Near the Nippon Maru Memorial Park

Shinko Park

Minato-mirai 21 area

Tokyo Tech Suzukakedai Campus

Onda River

Tenryuji

Byodoin

Kiyomizudera

Himuro shrine and Yakushi-ji Temple

Hōryū-ji Temple

Nara Park attractions

Tokyo Tech Ookayama Campus

Sumida River

Tsuruma Park

Gion

Maple Series

Taipei Aowanda

Shimen Dam

Alishan

Aowanda

Shanlinxi

Taoyuan Valley Garden

Fushoushan Farm

Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis

The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)

Always in my heart

MRT birdman

Valentine's Day

Tulips Festival

2018 Taipei Lantern Festival

City of Azaleas

Linji Huguo Temple

Nanjichang Night Market

Gudetama Chef restaurant

Dalongdong Bao'an Temple

Shilin hollyhocks

Ningxia Night Market

Ximending graffiti

Discovery Center of Taipei

Chunghwa Postal Museum

Double-Decker Bus

Shilin Cold Balls

Jingimoo

GomanMango

mud volcanic ice

Fire and Ice Dumpling

Opium Fen-Yuan

Ichiran Ramen

Liu Shandong Beef Noodles

hydrangea flowers

National Palace Museum

Other attractions in Taipei

Taipei on a budget

Japanese buildings

Dāoxiāomiàn beef noodles

Presidential Office Building

Yongkang St. and Elephant Mountain

CKS and SYS Hall

City tour

Beitou ramen

MRT Monopoly Game

Winter city tour

Zhicheng Park

Shilin Plum Blossom

Art museums

Shopping in Taipei

Summer desserts

Qingtiangang

Qixingshan hiking

2015 Calla lily

2016 Calla lily

Beitou tour

Beitou-Zhuzihu tour

NTU

Confucius Temple

2015 Dadaocheng Festival

Puppet Museum

Fantasy Ice World

2016 Bread Show

Strawberry picking

2015 Rose Garden

Modern Toilet

Shilin Night Market

NASA Exhibit

Raohe Night Market

Longshan Temple

2013 Taipei Zoo

Maokong Gondola

Lupin flowers

Taipei 101 day visit

Taipei 101 night visit

Tiger Mountain

Din Tai Fung

Taipei Story House

2014 Flower Show

Chrysanthemum Show

Miramar Ferris wheel

Miniatures Museum

Archery

1600 Pandas

Wulaoguo hot pot

Upside Down House

2016 101 Fireworks

New Taipei

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Elephant Rock SUP/kayaking

Meteor Garden school

Tamsui Pumpkin Tunnel

Shifen Waterfall

2017 Sand Sculpture

Dragon Caves

New Taipei tour

2016 Kite Festival

Pingxi Crags

Bitou Cape

2016 Sand Sculpture

2015 Christmasland

Juming - Jinshan

Houtong - Pingxi

Sandiaoling Waterfall

Jiufen foodtrip

Guanyinshan hike

Yehliu Ocean World

2014 Kite Festival

Pingxi Rail tour

Jinguashi tour

Vigor Kobo Pineapple

British Consulate

Yehliu Geopark

2014 Sand Sculpture

Paragliding

2014 Christmasland

2014 Pingxi Lantern

firefly watching

Yingge Ceramics Street

Jiufen tour