Burj Dubai Soars Past Taipei 101

Travel Blog  •  Julia Ross  •  07.23.07 | 1:46 PM ET

imageFrom the rooftop of my apartment building in Taiwan, Taipei 101 (pictured) blinks reassuringly in the distance, hovering just above the hills. Some nights it glows blue and gold in its upper reaches; other nights it’s green and purple. I’ve whiled away hours on the building’s fourth floor, home to the city’s best English bookstore, and spent New Year’s Eve watching fireworks explode around the skyscraper’s edges. The spectacle is guaranteed to net Taiwan much-coveted global exposure on CNN. The world’s tallest building is always within sight, but I didn’t realize I held such affection for the place until I read Saturday that the Burj Dubai had unofficially stolen Taipei 101’s towering thunder. Taiwanese have long known the day would come; still, I felt my stomach drop.

According to the AP, construction on the Burj Dubai—a $1 billion colossus that is rising at a pace of one story every three days—has hit 1,680 feet, giving it the edge over Taipei 101, which has held the record at 1,667 feet since its completion three years ago.

When the Burj tops out in late 2008—at a final height yet to be disclosed—it will claim the “tallest” title with a list of amenities sure to make it a tourist draw: “more than 160 floors, 56 elevators, luxury apartments, boutiques, swimming pools, spas, exclusive corporate suites, Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani’s first hotel, and a 124th floor observation platform,” according to the AP.

Great news for Dubai, but how will Taipei 101 handle its demotion? It seems the building’s management is already targeting a new audience. It just announced 101 will begin offering high-end wedding packages, with the option of broadcasting marriage proposals on a sky-high signboard for a cool $91,000.

Taiwanese friends are putting a good face on the news, but Taipei 101 has meant more than they let on. For three years, it’s been an important bragging right on an island that doesn’t even count as a nation to much of the world.

Some had predicted that the Shanghai World Financial Center—another candidate for the world’s tallest building—would eclipse 101 before the Burj made its move. No dice. For Taiwan, that’s partial consolation: from Taiwan’s perspective, better Dubai than Shanghai, for now.

Related on World Hum:
* Dubai World Buys Queen Elizabeth 2
* ‘The Cultures That Produced Dubai and Las Vegas Surely Must Have Something in Common’

Photo by http2007 via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Tags: Asia, Taiwan, Middle East, United Arab Emirates, Dubai

Julia Ross is a Washington, DC-based writer and frequent contributor to World Hum. She has lived in China and Taiwan, where she was a Fulbright scholar and Mandarin student. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Time, Christian Science Monitor, Plenty and other publications. Her essay, Six Degrees of Vietnam, was shortlisted for "The Best American Travel Writing 2009."


5 Comments for Burj Dubai Soars Past Taipei 101

Marilyn Terrell 07.28.07 | 5:33 PM ET

Yes, but the Burj Dubai will never have the advantage of being the world’s tallest building that resembles a tower of Chinese take-out containers: http://dsphotographic.com/index.php/2006/11/taipei-101-photos/

Dubai 02.11.08 | 7:02 AM ET

Dubai is something else, amazing and an exercise in bad taste all at once.

Travel to Dubai 02.13.08 | 1:42 PM ET

very nice post

Recommended Luxury Hotels 06.25.08 | 10:35 AM ET

I have heard Dubai is a lovely place. Is that where they built the islands representing each country in the world?

Dubai Real Estate 08.06.08 | 4:47 AM ET

The Burj Dubai might not be the tallest building in Dubai, but it is way cool. Have you seen the rotating hotel that is being built now. This is got to be the best ever I reckon. And it is totally green too, self powered all the way.

Ali

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