Thursday, February 16, 2006

Taipei 101





Taipei 101 is 508 meters tall, with 101 floors above ground and 5 floors below. It is the largest architectural project in ROC history. Chinese consider eight a lucky number (eight is a near homonym for prosperity in Chinese), and so the main part of this skyscraper is made up of eight tiers of eight stories each, which give it the look of a stalk of bamboo growing ever taller. The rhythmic beauty of the building has put a new style of skyscraper on the international stage. In 2004 Taipei 101 was recognized as the tallest building in the world, with the highest occupied floor and the highest roof. To honor this great achievement in the history of architecture made by ROC citizens, Chunghwa Post is issuing a set of two stamps featuring the building. Mr. Hsu Tsung-chieh was commissioned to create the designs for the stamps, which will be released on February 23, 2006.

The designs of the stamps follow:

1. Birds Eye View (NT$5.00): The design of this stamp blends Taipei 101 into Taipei Basin, using a visual effect to make Taipei 101 look even taller.

2. New Taipei Skyline (NT$12.00): The completion of Taipei 101 has changed Taipei’s skyline. And at night it adds an air of skyscraper landmark to Taipei, which had previously been seen only in the skylines of foreign cities.

Day of issue: 2006-02-23
Courtesy: ChungHwa Post