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By DOMINICK A. MERLETAIPEI, TAIWAN

Midnight off the coast of China.Two cargo ships without lights

steam into the South China Sea.Their destination: Taiwan. The

cargo: More than 600,000 pricelessart objects representing the creamof Chinese creativity for the past

5,000 years.

TaiwanTaiwanA Visit to the Treasures of the Chinese Emperors

The year was 1949, and the dark voyagemarked the final chapter in a 16-yearodyssey to preserve the vast treasure chestthat had been hoarded by Chinese emperorsin the Forbidden City for five dynasties. Thiswas a real-life thriller that would dwarfanything Hollywood has ever brought to thescreen.Today; the incredible collection is on rotatingdisplay at the National Palace Museum inTaipei and has become Taiwan's No 1 touristattraction. No finer display of Chinese artsand culture can be found anywhere on earth.It would literally take decades to see it all.Only about 4,000 objects are on display atany given time, with the rest of the collectionstored in honeycomb-like caverns tunneledinto the mountains behind the three-storymuseum. Every three months, the collectionis rotated under heavy guard. Only a handfulof people have clearance to enter theconnecting tunnels and make the switch.The museum was in the midst of a renovationproject when I visited in August, butremained open to the public. Virginia Yen-JuChang, one of the museum officials, told methat upon completion of the interiorrenovation, the number of objects on viewmay increase to 5,000."But it will still take many years to see themall," she said, adding that she had been �

Islamic Tourism – Issue 20 – November-December / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

»ÑjÉJ ‘ ¢ù«fGƒØdG ¿ÉLô¡e ‘ πã‡Colorful performer at the Lantern Festival in Taipei

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employed there for six years and has onlyseen a fraction herself. "I've never even beenin the tunnels."At last count, the number of items in thecollection had exceeded 650,000, the vastmajority of them archival documents andrare books. The Chinese regard calligraphy,painting, and poetry as the only true arts. Allother endeavors, like sculpturing andcarving, are considered to be refined crafts.Be that as it may, no object in the museumseemed anything less than a masterpiece tomy untrained eye. At one time or another, we probably have allseen or heard the phrase "a priceless Mingvase." Now imagine entering a room wherehundreds of them are on display.Nearby was a section filled with jade,exquisitely carved in shades of green,yellow, black, lavender and white, andfashioned into swords, buttons, pots, tables,jewelry and armor: intricate items carvedfrom one solid piece of jade that almostdefied belief. One piece in particular---perhaps the star ofthe collection---had been transformed into abok-choy vegetable, complete with two smallinsects camouflaged within the leaves. Onewould have to look long and hard to findthem, but they were there. It looked goodenough to eat, bugs and all.There are endless glass cases of porcelain,ancient bronzes, calligraphy, rare books,documents, palace records, ceramics andaccessories worn by men and women of theroyal court---silk, gold, silver, pearls, jade,rubies, sapphires, coral, turquoise andagate. It goes on and on.Some of the carvings are so small andintricate that large magnifying glassessurround them to view the details. Consider,for example, a tiny boat carved from an olivestone that is fully equipped with a covereddeck and moveable windows. And in theinterior, eight passengers, chairs and evendishes on the table. All this carved into anarea less than two inches long and one inchhigh! And still the carver was not considereda true artist by the Chinese.Yet, throughout the centuries, calligraphershave been revered. The written Chineselanguage is not merely used for thetransmission of information. It is an object of

aesthetic consideration, like a painting. Infact, many famous Chinese calligrapherswere also either artists or painters;sometimes all three. But a chosen few werehighly regarded for their script alone.The Chinese described the various styles offamous calligraphers in glowing, poeticterms, such as: "His brush strokes are like astartled snake slithering through the grass,"while another "contains the strength and furyof a whirlwind and driving rain." Anotherscript was likened to "slender gold" and yetanother "captured the essence and genius ofthe ancients."Paintings, tapestries, wood carvings, fans,embroideries, lacquer wares, snuffbottles…even a bowl made from the top halfof a human skull…the creations are all hereor tucked away in the mountains for futureviewing.There were actually three parts to thisthrilling past.In 1924, the Nationalist Government gave thelast Manchu emperor, Pu Yi, and hisentourage of 2,000 eunuchs and ladies twohours to leave the Forbidden City, a walledsection of Peking (now Beijing) containingthe royal palaces. The government promptlysent in 30 young scholars to identify and

categorize the art treasures that had beenhoarded by Chinese emperors down throughthe centuries. This classification took sixyears. By 1931, the Japanese had moved in andwere poised to take Peking. The Chinesepacked the entire collection in 20,000 casesand transported it by rail to Nanking. Thusbegan the 16-year odyssey which saw theprized collection shuttled back and forthacross the war-torn country---by truck, by ox-cart, by raft and even hand-to-hand.Incredibly, throughout this ordeal, records

would eventually show that not one piecewas lost or broken.All during the Japanese invasion, thetreasures were hidden in Szechwan andcentral China, mostly in caves andwarehouses. After the Japanese defeat in1945, the entire collection was reassembledin Nanking.But by 1948, fighting continued to escalatebetween the Nationalist Chinese andCommunist armies.The Nationalists decided to select the mostprecious objects in the collection and sendthem to Taiwan. And then the final chapter in1949 with the cargo ships steaming away inthe dead of night. Again, not one piece �

Islamic Tourism – Issue 20 – November-December / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

IÒNC’G ¬JÉ°ùŸ ™°†j ÊGƒjÉJ äÉëfTaiwanese sculptor finalizing his work

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was lost or damaged.The items shipped to Taiwan representedonly about 25 percent of the treasuresmoved out of the Forbidden City. But what aselection it was-- the cream of the collection,hand-picked by some of the same scholarswho originally categorized the treasures.

The items were initially stored in sugarwarehouses in central Taiwan, and a bombshelter was built at the site to ensure theirsafety. They remained there until the NationalPalace Museum was opened in Taipei in1965. While most believe the collection was savedfrom probable destruction by the Communistregime, there are many mainlanders to thisday who feel the prized possessions werestolen-not saved. But there is no quarrel asto the magnificence of the centuries-oldobjects.Shaped roughly like a leaf, the island ofTaiwan is a mere 160 kilometers frommainland China. The maximum length of theisland is about 400 kilometers and itsmaximum width is 144 kilometers. It is smallenough and with enough goodsuperhighways to see a great deal of touristattractions within a few days.In spite of its small size, the mountains areextremely high, reaching almost 4,000

meters at one peak known as JadeMountain. That is higher than Japan'sfamous Mt. Fuji.Taipei, near the northern tip, is the largestcity and seat of government. In addition tothe National Palace Museum, otherattractions include Chiang Kai-shekMemorial Hall, site of many colorful festivals;several lively night markets (including oneknown as Snake Alley but is tamer than thename implies); a number of elaboratetemples (there are more than 10,000 templesthroughout tiny Taiwan), and the Taipei 101building, currently the world's tallest building(but not for long as Dubai is building a tallerone).For an interesting and tasty meal, try theTang Kung Mongolian Bar-B-Q at 283 Sung-Chiang Road, a second-floor neighborhoodfavorite I first visited 15 years ago. Things haven't changed much. You fill yourbowl with various meats, vegetables andseasonings, and give it to the cook at theend of the line standing in front of a circularhot grill about the size of a huge tractor-trailer tire.He whisks the combination around on the hotplate for a few seconds with a long mixingstick, and then, in a flash, sends it flying intoyour bowl with a flick of the stick, rarelyspilling a drop. He may not be ready for the

museum, but to me, he was an artist in hisown right.

(Dominick Merle is a travel writer andconsultant based in Montreal)

Islamic Tourism – Issue 20 – November-December / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

IF YOU GO;No visas are required for NorthAmericans; only a valid passport.We flew China Airlines from New York toTaipei, with a stop in Anchorage, Alaska.Flying time was about 20 hours. Airlinesfrom the West Coast have nonstopservice to Taipei.Taiwanese are very familiar with NorthAmerican customs. No special protocolis required, except when enteringcertain temples. Be civil and friendly andyou'll get along just fine.Taiwan is a subtropical island. In thenorth, including Taipei, there is really nodry season. Winter is cool with frequentdrizzle. Although more rain statisticallyfalls during summer, the downpours endquickly followed by long periods ofsunny skies. For more information on the NationalPalace Museum, go to the websitewww.npm.gov.tw For Taiwan and Taipei,go to www.taiwan.net.tw.

¿GƒjÉJ ∫ɪ°T ‘ …ôî°üdG πMÉ°ùdGTaiwan's rocky northern coas