It’s the end of June here in Taipei and it’s hot! But, at least it’s mango season AND lotus flower season! (Both seasons my dear home state of Montana will sadly never know)

The Taipei Botanical Garden Lily pond

Lotus flowers are truly exotic in my eyes. It’s a flower I’d heard of and seen in paintings but up until moving here had never seen. I first saw some in Beitou’s public park but those were nothing compared to the Tapei Botanical Garden’s Lily pond! Which at this time of the year really ceases to be pond and just turns into a huge watery field of lotus flowers.

The rest of the garden

But while the lotus flowers are the highlight of the Botanical Garden, there are lots of other lovely little paths to explore in this free-admission city garden. I got particularly excited about this scarab beetle I found. We also joined an enthusiastic group of bird watchers taking pictures of a hawk apparently content to pose for his fans! There’s also fish and ducks and squirrels and cranes and all sorts of interesting trees and plants. Different seasons of course will feature different flowering plants.

The adjacent National Museum of History

After you’ve finished wandering the gardens there’s also the National Museum of History tucked right behind the Lily Pond. The day we went, entry was free and the entire space was dedicated to one Taiwanese artist’s body of work. My friend and I were really impressed with the exhibit. Although, unfortunately we also saw a sign posted that the National Museum will be closed starting in July,  for 3 years! (check for current info on its reopening at their website)

Other interesting buildings

Thankfully though, National Museum of History is by no means the only interesting building or museum in the vicinity. Right next to the National Museum of History is this beautiful building called the “National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute”. My impression was that it’s fancy souvenir shop, but maybe there’s more to it. Either way its a beautiful building!

Across the street is another beautiful old building which we also thought was a museum, but turned out to be “Taiwan’s best high school” (according to the gate guard anyways). It still seems to be a historic building though and we were allowed to wonder its halls.

Plus two more museums

Down the street a couple more buildings down is the National 228 memorial museum. This is a more somber place, but is important, especially if you’re not just a tourist here. This museum helps give you context for the recent history of this island, post World War II. (Here’s their website.)  There’s also a lovely 228 Memorial Peace Park and Museum off of the Red Line’s NTU Station.

There’s also a Postal Museum within another couple minutes walk, but by the time we had seen everything else we were too tired to keep exploring! (Here’s their website here.)

Directions & Details

Where: The entrance to the Botanical Garden is just a 2 minute walk away from Exit 3 or 4 of Taipei’s Green Line MRT Xiaonanmen Station.

When: I’ts open daily from 5:30am – 10:00pm ! Summer (June – August)  is the season for lotus flowers 🙂

Check out their website here.