Taipei Arena
| Mini-Big Egg (小巨蛋) | |
 | |
| Location |
Songshan, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Owner | Taipei City Government |
| Operator | Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (Taipei Metro) |
| Capacity | Main Stadium - 15,085, Auxiliary Stadium - 800 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 2005 |
| Architect | Populous |
| Tenants | |
| Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League | |
The Taipei Arena (Chinese: 臺北巨蛋; pinyin: Táiběi Jùdàn) is an indoor sporting arena located in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. Built in 2005, the large multi-purpose stadium can accommodate major international sport events such as ice skating, ice hockey, gymnastics, handball, basketball, tennis, badminton, table tennis, indoor soccer, boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo and wrestling. It is currently operated by the Eastern Media Group (東森集團), which won the bid to operate the arena for nine years. However, the Eastern Media Group is involved in the bid scandals. Taipei City Government has cancelled the right of operation.
The Zhongshan Soccer Stadium is Taipei's football-specific stadium that hosts the Chinese Taipei national football team.
Building
It was designed by Archasia, an architectural firm established in Taipei (now Populous, a Kansas City, Missouri (USA) design architectural firm). It is located at the site of the former Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (built in 1958, opened 1959, demolished 2000). The arena was opened on December 1, 2005. The main arena has an adjustable floor space: its minimum floor space is 60m × 30m, and can be extended to 80m × 40m.
The Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League (CTIHL) plays out of the auxiliary arena, which is a 60m × 30m ice skating rink. The basement now houses two large gas turbine power generators to be used for the surrounding district during emergencies.[1]
Events
Since opening in 2005, the arena has held more art and cultural activities (such as live concerts) than sporting events, which it was originally designed and built for. These have included Disney on Ice and Cirque du Soleil, Cats the Broadway Musical.[2]
- 2005 to 2008
- Show Luo was the first singer to hold his concert on 18 November 2005.
- Stefanie Sun was the first woman and Singaporean Singer to hold her concert on 29 July 2006.
- S.H.E held their Taipei leg of Perfect 3 World Tour on 16 December 2006.
- Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai (November 2006), Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung's "Snow Wolf Lake," (24 March 2007).
- Olivia Newton-John on 21 and 22 April 2007 on her Asia exclusive Body Heart & Spirit Tour.
- Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's Asia Tour, which had more than 10,000 tickets sold out in 1 hour.
- Taiwanese Aborigine pop star Chang Hui-mei's STAR TOUR world tour.
- Backstreet Boys on 2 March 2008 as part of their Unbreakable Tour.
- Inaugural ceremony and celebrations of President Ma Ying-Jeou and Vice-President Vincent Siew on 20 May 2008.
- Malaysian singer Fish Leong "Today is our valentines day" Concert in Taiwan on 8 June 2008, becoming the first Malaysia artist to perform in this arena.
- 2009
- Singaporean Pop Diva Stefanie Sun held her 2 nights "The Answer Is......" World Tour on 15 and 16 May 2009
- Irish-American dancer and musician Michael Flatley reprises his role as Lord of the Dance in the Feet of Flames 2009 tour
- The Indiana Pacers vs Denver Nuggets game was the first (United States) National Basketball Association game held in the country.
- Taiwanese boyband Fahrenheit held their debut concert on the 24 and 25 October 2009 and released on Fahrenheit's Fantasy World Tour Taipei Special.
- Japanese singer Namie Amuro filmed her tour here for the DVD release of Best Fiction Tour 2008-2009
- Taiwanese pop star Elva Hsiao on 31 December 2009
- 2010
- American boy band Backstreet Boys on 25 February 2010 during the Asian leg of their This Is Us Tour.
- Hong Kong singer Coco Lee hold her "East to west world tour" concert on 27 March 2010.
- On 24 April 2010, Taiwanese singerRainie Yang's debut concert, named "Whimsical World" was held in Taipei Arena.
- Taiwanese singer Show Luo also known as "Asia's Dancing King" held his concert (Dance Storm 舞法舞天) on 15 May 2010. He is the first artist who held 3 concerts in 24 hours. For this concert's theme, he was also the first artist with a 3D music video for his song "Dance Storm" (舞法舞天), which can be view viewed in 3D by the naked eye.
- Boy band Super Junior on 20 and 21 February 2010 as part of their 2nd Asia tour, Super Show 2 Tour
- Taiwanese singer S.H.E performed for the second time on 29 May 2010 for S.H.E Is The One World Tour.
- Taiwanese singer Jay Chou on 11, 12 and 13 June 2010 the first leg of his The Era World Tour
- Japanese pop boy-band KAT-TUN held two concerts on 27 and 28 August 2010 as part of their Asian No More Pain tour, released on DVD a few months later.
- Crowd Lu on 18 December 2010. The concert, named "Good Morning & Good Evening," was his first performance in this arena. The concert started at 10:00, followed by a lunch break and a movie screening in the afternoon, and continued at 19:30
- Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai kicked off her Myself World Tour. She held 3 consecutive concerts on 24, 25 and 26 December 2010
- 2011
- Hong Kong singer Eason Chan on 14 and 15 January 2011, as part of his DUO Tour.
- Hong Kong singer Faye Wong on 21, 22 and 23 January 2011, as part of her comeback tour.
- South Korean boy band Super Junior on 11, 12 and 13 March 2011 as part of their 3rd Asia Tour, Super Show 3 Tour.
- Bob Dylan played at the venue during his Never Ending Tour on 3 April 2011.
- Canadian Recording Artist Justin Bieber Performed There at May 15, 2011 as a part of his My World Tour
- Fish Leong concert world tour Love Library on 28 and 29 May 2011. The first Malaysia artist to hold two concert in 24 hours.
- Boy band SHINee on 16 July 2011 as part of their first solo concert, SHINee WORLD.
- Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung on 18,19,20,21 August 2011, as part of his 'Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century World Tour' and set a new record for foreign artist to have 4 consecutive shows in Taipei Arena.
- 2012
- Super Junior performed his Super Show 4 World Tour at the Taipei Arena on 2, 3, 4, 5 February and set a record for the fastest selling concert in Taiwan history and met with 40,000 of its fans.[3]
- Boy-band Big Bang performed at the arena for the first time as part of their Big Bang Alive Galaxy Tour 2012 and brought in 2,000 audiences.
- 2013
- Super Junior performed his Super Show 5 World Tour at the Taipei Arena on 10, 11, 12 August with a sold-out crowd of 30,894 people.
- Linkin Park will hold one of the Asian leg shows of the Living Things World Tour here on 17 August 2013.
- 2014
- Super Junior perform at the arena on November 29 and 30 as part of their Super Show 6 World Tour.
- English soprano Sarah Brightman closes her tour Dreamchaser World on 14 December.
- Top EDM Rock Band Magic Power will be holding their 「Our Home Ground」 concert on 20 December 2014.
- 2015
- American pop singer and songwriter, Katy Perry is scheduled to perform at the arena on April 28 as part of her Prismatic World Tour.
Transportation
Taipei Arena is accessible from Taipei Arena Station of the Taipei Metro.
References
- ↑ "Taipei Arena". Retrieved 15 February 2010.
- ↑ "又來了 小巨蛋沒有LED計分器" (in Chinese). China Times. 2007-03-14.
- ↑ "Super Junior Breaks Records with ‘Super Show 4’ in Taiwan" CJ E&M enews World. 2012-02-26
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taipei Arena. |
- Taipei Arena official website (English)
- CIHL official website (English) (Chinese (Taiwan))
Coordinates: 25°03′02.55″N 121°33′0″E / 25.0507083°N 121.55000°E