National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung

Monday we ran down to Pingtung to visit the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium near Hengchun, probably the best museum-type attraction on the island outside of the National Palace Museum. We hadn't been there in a decade, and I was looking forward to seeing what was new.

The coral reef exhibit always has some beautiful fish.

Like this one.

And other organisms as well.

The walk-through section of the reef exhibit is way cool.

Up close and personal with a manta.

A close up of a deadly fish.

A sea urchin.

For me the highlight of the visit is this awesome tank with a whale shark.

The whale shark.

On a whale shark, there's a sucker borne every minute.

Outside you can enjoy views of the coast, though Monday was ugly.

A newer building houses an exhibit on the ancient seas with 3-D animations and an exhibition of living fossils.

Like this nautilus.

And this gar.

Everything must be photo'd.

Also enjoyable were the seals, though their enclosure is far too small.

The kelp tank.

The penguin tank is a crowd favorite.

I admit they are seriously cute.

A very positive experience for the whole family. I highly recommend this place. $450 for adults, $250 for teenagers. Takes 2-3 hours to really look it over and enjoy it. Come early to avoid the busloads of school kids who arrive after lunch.
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2-28 Museum closed?

The 2-28 museum has been quietly closed for upgrading, and is due to reopen in Jan of 2011. The website says:

為讓台北二二八紀念館成為常設展示、教育推廣與典藏研究的中心，達成國際化、數位化、教育性及綠建築目標，台北市政府已完成紀念館更新規劃設計，將於99年4月至12月閉館進行更新工程，並於100年1月試營運，預計於民國100年228紀念日嶄新開幕。為讓民眾在更新前能夠再次回顧，自2月20日起至3月31日止，入館參觀免收門票。

Scary to think what might happen to the museum under a KMT government. Taiwanreporter, with the same thought, has put up many pictures of the museum on Facebook in case there are wholesale changes.

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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Politics and the Museum

Ian Johnson has amazingly nuanced article in WSJ on the politics of the National Palace Museum expansion....

The palace museum is in the midst of an ambitious expansion. But critics say the palace museum has made the expansion into a statement of independence and non-Chinese identity. The new extension, in a relatively remote part of Taiwan, is being called an Asian art museum and will feature art from the Middle East to Japan, cementing the island's links with other Asian countries -- and specifically not with China. The move won't make more of its Chinese masterpieces available to public. (Currently, for space reasons the museum can show only a handful of its monumental landscape scrolls, many of which date to the 10th century and are its most famous holdings.)

The new museum is being used to push Taiwanese independence, says Taiwanese art critic and exhibit curator Victoria Lu. Using the museum to promote Taiwanese identity, she says, is purely "politics."

Lots of good quotes, and a well rounded point of view. Don't miss the entire piece....

[Taiwan]

New Railroad Museum Planned in Downtown Taipei

The China Post reports that a new railroad museum that takes advantage of the Japanese era buildings in the city center is in the planning stage:

In an effort to revitalize Taipei City's old downtown center, the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) has initiated plans to renovate the historic buildings around the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) into a grand-scale museum complex.

The museum complex will comprise of seven buildings that date back to the island's Japanese colonial period (1895-1945): the TRA building, the old Taipei maintenance yard, as well as an engineering room, power station, cafeteria, octagonal men's room, and air raid shelter that are all located in the same compound.

The TRA building was formerly the Taiwan Railway Bureau which was established in 1899 to expand the island's rail network under command of the Office of the Governor-General, the Japanese de facto central authority in Taiwan.

Of these historical sites, the old Taipei maintenance yard (now an auditorium) has been named a city-level heritage site, while the other six are national heritage sites, according to Hsiao Tsung-huang, director of the National Taiwan Museum (NTM), in charge of the repair and renovation of the buildings.

Never mind the pro-annexation China Post's description of Japanese authority on Taiwan as de facto, this is an important step forward. There are too many old Japanese-era buildings rotting away all over Taiwan. It is good to know they will be preserved. The Post goes on to note:

Once completed, the museum complex will be part of the CCA's Taiwan Museum System, which it started in an effort to renovate and reorganize the old downtown center of Taipei into three museums, the Museum of Taiwan Modernity, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Taiwan Industrial History.

The site of the Railway Bureau and the former Ministry of Transportation and Communication will be incorporated in the Museum of Taiwan Modernity.

The Museum of Taiwan Natural History incorporates the former Taiwan Museum, the old Land Bank of Taiwan, and an underground exhibition space. The Museum of Taiwan Industrial History is located in the old Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation building and the former Taiwan Camphor Factory.

Has anyone visited the Museum of Taiwan Industrial History?

[Taiwan] [Taipei]