The 24-Hour Eslite Bookstore (24小時誠品書店)

Ever since the 24-hour Eslite Bookstore opened and Taipei Metro started running, I pretty much did all my bookshopping there and stopped going to the Bookstore Street.

BTW, a long earthquake happened at around 3:40pm as I was surfing books. At first I thought that either didn’t stand still or got dizzy from lack of water, but the earth continued shaking. I raised my head and looked around and found that a few other women were doing the same, with fears in their eyes. One young woman met my eyes by accident, so I asked her, “Earthquake?” She smiled faintly at me as an “Yes.” Shortly after, the earthquake subsided and everyone went back to their books as if nothing had happened.

The Treecage

In case the tree flies away?

The 406 Square

Even though Taipei doesn’t change as fast as Peijing or Shanghai, I still get caught by surprises everytime I come back for a visit. The 406 Square was the very last section of West Town (never heard the name before) waiting to be “cleaned up.” In the past decade, the government spent a lot of time and money updating the west Taipei, and they did a remarkable job modernizing her, except the 406 Square.

It was especially challenging, because unlike the other commercial sections, people actually lived in this cramped and dark space. I guess that it took the government a long time dealing with each individual resident and helping them move to other parts of Taipei. Most houses got bulldozed except a few historical landmarks. Now the whole square is turned into a park, a much needed breathing space for its surrounding skyscrapers.