Taipei hosts the New Year’s Eve fireworks launched from Taipei 101.
Taipei 101, Taiwan’s landmark skyscraper, became famous for attaching fireworks to its exterior during the New Year countdown. The display is visible across the city and is broadcast internationally, making the tower one of Asia’s most recognizable New Year symbols.
The building opened in 2004 and was designed with features intended to withstand Taiwan’s typhoons and earthquakes. Its distinctive tiered form provides many surfaces from which pyrotechnic effects can be fired, creating the appearance that the tower itself is emitting light.
Taipei 101 was once the world’s tallest completed building, but its height record ended in 2010 when Dubai’s Burj Khalifa opened. That architectural fact is separate from the fireworks tradition, which remains a recurring annual event and should not be confused with celebrations in Hong Kong or other East Asian cities.