The Palace Museum

I have always wanted to go to the Palace Museum in Taipei. 8000 years of Chinese treasures are held there. That is a lot of treasure. I assumed it would be overwhelming and I was planning to pick a small section so as not to overdo it. As it turned out, only a portion of the collection is on display at any one time as they rotate it every three months. This means that you can see most of it in an afternoon.

Here are some highlights:
- The curio box collections. Gorgeous little cabinets and boxes full of tiny treasures
- Pi disks made of jade (used to guide a deceased spirit to heaven)
- Glazed pottery from the 12th and 13th century
- The famous piece of jade carved into the shape of a bok choy
- Rare books and various binding techniques
- Neolithic jade tools and jewellery




Pi disks





It was a really lovely museum; well laid out and informative without being overwhelming. There was a nice tea house on the top floor and we tried 2 pots of different tea, sesame cake and an egg steamed bun.