Taipei Guest House

Taipei Guest House

File:臺北賓館 臺北市 國定古蹟宅第 Venation 35.jpg

Building interior

The Taipei Guest House (Chinese: 臺北賓館; pinyin: Táiběi Bīnguǎn) is the historical building located at 1 Ketagalan Boulevard, Bo'ai Special Zone, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. It’s owned by the Government of the Republic of China and used for receiving state guests or celebration activities.

History

Taipei Guest House, designed by Japanese architects Dōgo Fukuda and Ichiro Nomura, was built from 1899 to 1901 and rebuilt by Matsunosuke Moriyama. In 1988, Taipei Guest House was designated by the government of Taiwan and administrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan.

Taipei Guest House originally was the House of Governor-General of Taiwan during the Japanese rule, at a distance of around 100 meters from the Office of Governor-General of Taiwan (is now the Presidential Building). Imperial members and heads of politics often visited here. Emperor Showa (Crown Prince Hirohito) also stayed here when visiting Taiwan. After Taiwan was handed over from Japan to the Republic of China (ROC), ROC Minister of Foreign Affairs George Yeh and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Isao Kawada signed the Treaty of Taipei here in 1953.

Architecture

The main architecture of the building is concave shaped, having a roof in Mansard style and high Roman pillars, mainly in a style of French Second Empire palace buildings. Inside the building there is a resplendent suspension light decorated with crystal, baroque gold leaves and flowers and gold foil; outside the building there is a modern Japanese curtilage garden. Taipei Guest House is the representative work of Taiwanese buildings under Japanese rule, also called the most graceful baroque residence house.

Taipei Guest House is open to the public for first Sunday in even months from June 4, 2006.

Transportation

The building is accessible within walking distance south east of NTU Hospital Station of Taipei Metro.

See also

• Zhongxing Guesthouse
• Taipei Futai Street Mansion

External links

• Taipei Guest House (Chinese)
• Taipei Guest House (English)