Taipei's urban beach

Posing for photos on Taipei's new urban beach

Taipei has a new summer tourist attraction - a man made beach.
Its not big - just 400 sq metres, behind the city hall. But it does feature white sand, palm trees in the background, parasols and chairs on a wooden deck. Oh, and there are sinks for visitors to wash off the sand between their toes when they need to go back to the office.
The idea follows similar projects in Europe - think Paris with its "plage" and Berlin with some man-made beaches. But Taipei summers are sweltering - more humid than in Europe - and Taiwanese are also notoriously wary of getting their pale skin suntanned. So will it be a hit?
Location location location - a beach with a view of Taipei 101.

When I went down, there were lots of curious visitors. Most couldnt resist taking off their shoes and dipping their feet into the sand.

"Most people here work too hard, take things too seriously", says Emile Sheng, head of Taipei City goverment's research, development and evaluation commission. "We would like to inject more joy into people's lives.

"This is the first man-made beach in Asia..and we would like to come up with a series of ideas to make Taipei the most creative city in the world."

Raking the sand - to clean off the footprints left by visitors.

The concept got praise from the curious public who came to take a look. But some thought it was too small.

One mother, whose kids played in the sand, seemed content to watch them - saying it was a great place for children to play while she had to go to city hall to do some business.

Other young kids - taking photos of each other - also liked the idea, saying it was special.

For those worried about environmental pollution: the city government says the special sand is thicker and heavier than normal beach sand and won't blow away. It can also easily filter water, and wont become clogged if there's a sudden afternoon downpour.

The beach will stay open until November. And aprt of it can be hired out by companies for advertising space. If the idea proves a hit with the public, there could be more man made beaches in the city next summer.