Many visitors to Taipei want to see Taipei 101. For several years, this skyscraper was the tallest building in the world. Its architect designed it to resemble bamboo, a plant that grows tall and strong. Building a high-rise in Taiwan is a real challenge, because the island often has typhoons and earthquakes. To prevent the tower from shaking too much, the engineers hung a huge steel ball in a special chamber near the top. When strong winds blow, the ball moves and keeps the whole structure steady. This clever piece of architecture shows that a building can be both beautiful and safe.

Last winter, my family woke up at midnight because water was dripping from the kitchen ceiling. A pipe in the apartment upstairs had broken, and the water could not drain away. My father quickly turned off the water, while my mother and I used towels and buckets to keep the floor dry. Early the next morning, a plumber arrived. He removed a panel from the ceiling, replaced the broken pipe, and used a hose to test it. He told us that many pipes in our building are over forty years old. Since then, my father has checked them every few months.