I picked up Historical Sites in Taipei I & II the other day at Eslite Bookstore. The two books cost $200 NT each and serve as a directory of Taipei’s 133 historical sites. The sites are organized by district:

• Book I covers Beitou [北投區], Datong [大同區], Neihu [內湖區], Shilin [士林區], Songshan [松山區], Wanhua [萬華區], and Zhongshan [中山區]
• Book II covers Daan [大安區], Nangang [南港區], Wenshan [文山區], Xinyi [信義區], and Zhongzheng [中正區]

Each section has a street map of the district’s sites. All the street names are written in Chinese and English. Each site lists their date of completion, class, category, and address. There is a brief paragraph or more description of each site. The descriptions [along with everything else written in the books] are in both English and Chinese. Each site also has at least one picture. Only one site [the Grass Mountain Royal Guest House] has an old picture, it would be nice if they used older pictures on more sites to reveal how they changed [or remained] over time.

The Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government, and Artist Publishing Co. created these great books as an easy reference for anyone interested in Taipei’s history. The only drawbacks I see to them are that bus and MRT stations aren’t marked on the maps and my minor gripe about the lack of old photographs.