When it comes to talking about tall buildings, specifically the tallest in the world, for me a perfectly natural question is an enquiry as to what sits at the top of said tallest buildings.

Ask this question about Taiwan’s Taipei 101 however, and you’re just as likely to get a blank stare and indifferent shrug of the shoulders, as you are to get an answer that tells you what’s up there – but woefully fails to offer any concrete explanation.

Taipei 101 is arguably Taiwan’s most well-known global tourist marker and definitely ranks up there in terms of tourist visits island-wide.

Yet whilst much is known about the buildings layout and it’s office space between the ground floor shopping mall and outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor – virtually nothing is known about what sits above the observation deck.

The 101st floor is home to a private VIP club named Summit 101, according to the observatory brochure. No information about this club has ever been made public.

The 101st floor is also divided into three levels: 101F (lower), 101MF (mezzanine) and 101RF (roof). It is not known what is actually on these levels, or whether the VIP club actually exists, except that 101RF provides access to the 60-metre tall spire, which has 24 levels (numbered R1 through R24) that can only be accessed via ladder.

The 92nd through 100th floors are officially designated as communication floors, although it’s unknown if there are any radio or TV stations currently broadcasting from the top of Taipei 101.

The 91st floor observatory is the highest floor that is open to the public , but unlike the leased/private floors from 7~90F, there is no sign of even a visible access point to the topmost floors on Level 91.

The top 10 floors have never been mentioned anywhere outside of the observatory brochure.

Note that no information about the separate elevator or what it accesses is up there.

The explanation that floors 92-100 are ‘communication floors’ I guess are acceptable, but what’s with no information about who is up there broadcasting or in what capacity??

This from a country whose media love to expose any scandal they can find, no matter how trivial, by barging into people’s private lives armed with a dozen news cameras…

I’ve been up to the observation deck and I certainly don’t remember seeing any satellites or broadcast like looking equipment up there. Certainly nothing that was branded by any of Taiwan’s known media organisations.

Seriously, every year thousands of people must visit Taipei 101 and each new years eve nearly a million people in person (and who knows how many more else on TV) flock to Taipei’s Xinyi District to stare directly at the top of Taipei 101… yet nobody knows what’s up there or has thought to ask?

How do you keep a secret club secret when it’s situated at the top of the world’s second most tallest building, which is in the capital city of one of the world’s most densely populated countries for nearly a decade?!

In a nation of 23 million people, the mind boggles as to why this mystery seemingly hasn’t bugged at least one Taiwanese person enough to investigate further…

Come on guys, somebody has to know just what the hell is up there!

Update 17th November 2013 – The mystery of what is up on Taipei 101′s 101st floor has been solved. Whether or not it’s called Summit 101 or not I don’t know, but the building’s management have decided to open up the 101st floor (which indeed is a club) to shoppers who spend $30,000+ USD in a day at the 101 mall.

In the past the space was used to entertain visiting Presidents and “important foreign visitors” to Taiwan.

Personally I’m glad we can now finally put this one to rest… SUPER SECRET MYSTERY SOLVED!

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