A green lung is an area of natural parkland within an urban region, whose purpose is to replenish the air with oxygen. During the day in photosynthesis trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. Apart from this, green spaces filter pollutants and dust from the air, provide shade and lower temperatures in urban areas, and they even reduce erosion. In an urban and social context, green spaces gives us somewhere to relax, meditate, commune with friends or nature and basically rebalance our being.
So it was that after 2 full days of back to back meetings I needed a run and I was fortunate to be in Taipei where there are plenty of green spaces within the crowded city. In Taipei, I have run in Elephant Mountain with a view of 101 and at the Riverside Park. This time around, I decided to run at Daan Park. I had come across the park when I went to the Taipei Grand Mosque for Iftar on the day I arrived.
The Taipei Grand Mosque as seen from the park.
If you’re here in Taipei and want to visit the mosque take the Red Line MRT to Da-an Park station. At the station take exit 2. Walk around the outer perimeter of the park and look outwards you will see the mosque. Depending on which direction you go around the park, it’s either 1.4km or 600m to the mosque.
I did a slow, warm up lap to familiarise myself with the route and distance. After finding out that a single lap of the outermost loop was 2.14km long, I ran 3 fast repeats over the circuit with a one minute rest in between. That somewhat began my rebalancing after the meetings of the work week. My cool down was to walk in the inner tracks of the park. And that was when the total rebalancing was completed.
I should have suspected when I saw this guy on my warm up lap, that there was more to this park
I discovered that in the middle of the park stood a little island in a little lake. And on this little island, a variety of bird species have made it their home, some temporarily as they migrate north or south during summer or winter. The songs they sang and just simply watching them fly, dive and come up with little fishes in their mouths refreshed me.
This guy just stood in the water, as if admiring his domain
And after the run, you can even get coffee from Louisa Coffee at the MRT station.
Getting there: Take the Red Line and alight at Daan Park Station. Use Exit 2 to get to the park.