Miniatures Museum – Another ‘Other’ Museum of Taipei

I have heard about this museum on previous visits to Taipei, but never had time to visit. The subject matter didn’t really interest me. I have seen dollhouses before with miniature furniture, but I was pleasantly surprised by this museum.

Look for this small sign outside

The office building entrance. Enter here.

Another sign outside pointing to the museum.

Take stairs or the elevator down to the museum.

Welcome!

The museum is in an unlikely place in an office building. Follow your Google Maps directions and when you find the building, head downstairs.  The security guard will direct you.

Many different displays.

Walking the plank!

Dinosaurs!

Pay the entrance fee then head into the museum. What really surprised me was the number of “settings.” I used the word “settings” instead of dollhouses because there are more than just dollhouses. There are castles, miniature replicas of old buildings, and of course dollhouses.

"Oriental" room designed by a Westerner.

It was fun looking at all the detail of the little objects in the settings. Overall, it is a nice place to visit on a rainy or hot day. The nearest MRT station is Songjian-Nanjing.

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What’s an ‘Evergreen’ Museum?

I am in Taipei on a mission to find other museums besides the well-known National Palace Museum and came upon the Evergreen Maritime Museum. The name comes from one of the largest container shipping companies in the world. If you have ever been to a large container port, you would have seen green containers with the word ‘EVERGREEN’ on the side.  It was founded in Taiwan by Chang Yung-fa with one used ship and now has grown into a huge conglomerate that not only includes shipping but an airline (EVA Air) and hotels.

The Evergreen Maritime Museum is located in a building that was the former headquarters of the KMT political party but was sold to the Chang Yung-fa Foundation in 1996.  This landmark building is across from the East Gate and near the Presidential Office Building and is on some prime Taipei real estate.

The maritime museum encompasses five floors. There is a small entrance fee which is payable in the gift shop on the right when you enter. The recommendation is that you start on the fifth floor and work your way down.

The fifth floor contains a chronological construction history of ocean-going ship models starting from the earliest and ends up on the fourth floor with the modern ships such as the container ships that Evergreen uses.

The third floor is an art floor of many paintings where a ship or the ocean is the subject.

Modern container ship

The second floor is where one learns about the skills needed in ocean navigation with a few hands-on displays for kids.

Learn how to tie knots

Overall a well-done museum related to commercial shipping. Well worth a rainy morning or afternoon.

Museum website: Evergreen Maritime Museum

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Wait! What? There are Other Museums in Taipei Besides the NPM?

If you are a new visitor to Taipei, Taiwan, you have heard about the treasures in the National Palace Museum and hopefully that is your first stop on a visit to Taiwan. Let’s say you are returning to Taiwan after seeing all the first-tier tourist sites, what will you see now? That was my mission on my last visit to Taipei and what I found were lots of museums. Of course, they are not as spectacular as the NPM, but most are interesting, some are “why is this a museum?” and at the least they can be a reprieve on a rainy day.

In the next few blogs I will highlight some of the better ones I enjoyed. The more I look for museums in Taiwan, the more I find. There seems to be a fascination with little museums. Hopefully, in future dates I will visit more. Please post in the comments below museums you have visited in Taiwan and what you thought.

This blog will focus on the Museum of Drinking Water in Taipei. Okay, you are thinking, seriously a museum on drinking water? Yes, but it is more than that. By looking at the building you would think it should incorporate a Roman bath.

It was built by the Japanese during their occupation of Taiwan to supply clean drinking water to Taipei. It’s not used for that purpose now, but there is a video inside (with English subtitles) that explains how it was done.  Very ingenious.

Besides the architecture, why else should you visit this museum? Inside are the preserved pumps and machinery that pumped water out of the river and into water filtration basins then into a storage reservoir up on a hill to feed Taipei clean water by gravity.

It is amazing to find something this intact from this era as much of the Japanese machinery was taken to mainland China (the Republic of China’s stay on Taiwan was supposed to be only to be temporary) or scrapped.

Inside the pump house are motors built in the USA and Japan. And it is great you can get up close and even touch this old machinery!

Japanese motor

Motor made in USA

Motor and pump

Around the Museum of Drinking Water are pretty gardens and nearby is the seasonal water park. Apparently, this is also a nice spot for wedding pictures.

How to get there. Take MRT Green Line to Gonguang Station and walk about 10 minutes to the museum.

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