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Gongguan -- Young people's favorite place in Taiwan

By student intern Lin Yi: 0 Comments Print E-mail CRI, March 18, 2010

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The royal palm is the official tree of National Taiwan University as it is a symbol of growth, broad vision and steadfast willpower. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

Surely all young people who live in Taipei have been to Gongguan. Located in the Daan District of Taipei City, Gongguan is a popular shopping area for students from nearby National Taiwan University (NTU).

After introducing many of Taiwan's natural landscapes, I'd like to tell you more about this favorite place for teenagers.

I took Taiwan's subway, called the MRT, to Gongguan station early one morning. As soon as I walked out of the station, I headed for National Taiwan University, one of the island's top schools. Stepping into the school main entrance, I saw an avenue of magnificent royal palms leading to the library. At the end of that famous avenue, some old buildings were scattered among modern ones on both sides. Most academic departments and all of NTU's administrative buildings are located here.

You may be asking why all the university's departments are not located here. In fact, NTU has six campuses, a farm and an experimental forest in Taipei, occupying 345,830,000 square meters, about 1 percent of Taiwan's land. Gongguan is the main campus.

Founded in 1928 by the Japanese during the Japanese colonial era, NTU is one of Taiwan's top universities and placed among the best 100 universities in the world by several reputable rankings. It has produced many outstanding people such as Lee Yuan-tseh (Li Yuanzhe) who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986); Barry Lin, the founder and chairman of Quanta Computer, the world's leading laptop producer; Sisy Chen, (Chen Wenqian), the famous talk show host; and entertainers Alec Su (Su Youpeng) and Wakin Chau (Zhou Huajian).

After visiting NTU, I went to the nearby commercial area to shop for clothes and accessories. Young people like to come here because the prices are reasonable.

There are also many cinemas, restaurants and coffee shops. When I went into a coffee shop for a rest after walking for a few hours, I was excited to encounter famous director Leon Dai (Dai Liren).

There are also a lot of bookstores here. Some of them are old stores specializing in secondhand books in Chinese and English. I found 11 bookstores along the road, and there must have been even more of them.

What's more, there is a night market here where about 100 vendors sell snacks, such as oyster omelets, steamed buns, red bean cakes and tapioca milk tea. They start their business in the late afternoon and are always crowded with people. It took me half an hour to stand in line to buy a hot red bean cake. But it proved to be worthwhile since the crispy crust and sweet red bean paste filling tasted really great.

If you want to experience the life of the young in Taiwan, you will indeed have to visit Gongguan.

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