#Taipei #XinYi district at dawn #photography #darktable on Nikon Z6, Voigtlander 50mm APO f2 @f8 1/40s 900ISO cool colors, straight shapes and a lonely portrait ad

Bubbles
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 7/7)

Sometimes, it's the simple things that make a smile.

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🌊 | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

Tick Tock makes the clock
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 6/7)

Dance groups are always fun to watch in Taipei's Xinyi district - often featuring elaborate costumes, well-trained choreographs, and a professional videography team around them.

(If you want to watch the rehearsals of these group, walking to Taipei's public buildings like its concert hall or various memorials is a good guess, where you are likely to find them in the evening hours).

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🌊 | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

The boy group
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 5/7)

Next to athletic and gymnastic feats, music is the main attraction in the street performances around Taipei 101. Taiwan was once world-renowned for its cheesy boy bands, melting hearts of (mostly Asian) girls all around the globe. While both Korea and China have seen opportunities in this market and are now building their own talents, Taiwan's handsome singers still find their fans at least in person.

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🌊 | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

Wheels and Wows
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 4/7)

The athletic and gymnastic feats of the performers are celebrated by old and young. But even more so by the young!

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🌊 | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

Handstand
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 3/7)

The public performance of a group of athletes in Taipei's Xinyi district.

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🌊 | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

The jump
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 2/7)

There are a lot of performance artists in the streets between the malls of Taipei's Xinyi Planning District. As many, this group has focused on remarkable gymnastic and athletic skills - like jumping over a lying volunteer.

(And yes, I too would have loved to hit the shutter button half a second later).

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🌊 | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

Balloons
(Street Performance in Xinyi, 1/7)

Xinyi Planning District is a 153 hectare area around Taipei 101 in Taipei. Whereas the political and historical centers of the city are still in its West, this area is its undeniable financial and commercial center.

If you have seen a photo of Taipei, chances are you have seen a photo centered on this area with Taipei 101 at its center. It is quite ironic that the area has become this iconic, as its quite exceptional in the city at large. First, the area is the only part of Taipei where the absolute height limit is canceled. Second, it is the only commercial development area with fully planed streets and urban design.

Xinyi used to lie at the outskirts of Taipei. Still part of Songshan district, the area was industrial and rural with repair factories, military villages and shooting ranges. It was this lack of development that made it a good place for urban planning starting in the 1990s. Since then, malls, high-rises, and skyscrapers have been built, hosting multinational corporations, apartments, and lots and lots of shops.

English Wikipedia determines the center of that area around 101 to have the highest density of deportment stores in the world. Taiwanese Wikipedia is more floral, arguing it to be "the most important shining project in the history of Taiwan's urban planning development."

Indeed, the shopping district is a magnet for people from all over the city and beyond. Especially at the weekend the streets between the malls are packed with shoppers and visitors. During the next days, we will join them to have a look at the street live.

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺北 #台北 #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🏙️ | #street #streetphotography #streetperformance

Xinyi

The iconic image of Taipei is actually an image of its most eastern and youngest district, Xinyi, 信義. Even more specific, it is an image of the Xinyi Planning Area, "the most important shining project in the history of Taiwan's urban planning development" according to its definitely completely neutral Chinese Wikipedia entry.

Xinyi used to lie at the outskirts of Taipei. Still part of Songshan district, the area was industrial and rural with repair factories, military villages and shooting ranges. It was this lack of development that made it a good place for urban planning starting in the 1990s.

Driven by central planning, Xinyi is now the main financial and commercial center of Taipei and Taiwan with many of its highest skyscrapers and the highest density of department stores in the world. (Taipei 101 was the world's highest building from 2004 to 2010).

The fact that it's iconic for Taipei is rather ironic, though: The commercial area is the only part of Taipei where the absolut height limit is canceled.

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🌏 | #taiwan #taipei #xinyi #臺灣 #台灣 #🇹🇼 #taipei101
📷 | #photography #a7r #voigtlander #voigtlander40mm #manualfocus
🏙️ | #urban #urbanphotography #architecture #architecturephotography #facts