Taiwan boasts world's tallest skyscaper

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Some liken it to a giant bamboo shoot of glass and steel. The less charitable see an outsize stack of Chinese food containers.

At 101 floors, Taipei's newest skyscraper is the world's tallest, and an ego boost for a people who feel snubbed by the world.

Reaching 1,679 feet into the sky, the Taipei 101 building is 188 feet taller than the previous record-holder, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The highest freestanding tower is still Toronto's 1,800-foot CN Tower, but Taipei 101 claims a hat trick for having the highest structural top, tallest roof and the highest occupied floor.

It also boasts the fastest elevators in the world, reaching a speed of 38 mph.

Still, the building has an image problem: It stands on an island in a typhoon and earthquake belt. A quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people. So a huge 733-ton ball near the top of the building moves about to counter strong winds and seismic vibrations.

In its base, a seven-story mall is packed with designer boutiques, gourmet restaurants and a giant screen showing fashion parades. It also has the capital's largest English-language bookstore, and hopes to claim another record -- for the world's highest hotel.

Cathy Yang, an executive with the Taipei Financial Center Corp., which manages the building, says negotiations are still under way with an international hotel group.

How long these records will stand is another question. East Asia has been in a virtual race to translate its economic power into ever higher skyscrapers, and Taipei 101 is likely to be eclipsed in this decade by a competitor in Manhattan -- the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower replacing the World Trade Center that was demolished by the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001.