Taipei Adventures : Battered Suitcase

After spending a few days in Kaohsiung, it was time to go to Taipei. We traveled up by train and arrived in early afternoon. Knowing our hotel was near the main train station, we asked for some directions at the train help desk and then struck out to find our hotel. The streets were crowded so moving around with our suitcases and bags was not easy. It was also windy, and at one point I lost my hat, but a young man graciously grabbed it for me. This act of kindness was a good introduction to Taipei. We finally found our hotel and were ready for a new adventure.

Since we had not had lunch, we were all hungry. My daughter asked my wife what she wanted to eat, and she said Mexican. I think she meant it as a joke, but my daughter got on her phone and said there was a Mexican restaurant nearby so off we went to find it.

Mexican for a late lunch

Our hotel was next to a city park, the 228 Peace Memorial Park which commemorates an uprising of the people against the Chinese government. We walked by it and further on ended up passing the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park which looked very interesting. However, we were on a mission to find a Mexican restaurant so we pressed on. It turned out the place was not really a restaurant but more of a fast food place. They had a window to the street from which to order and some bar stools in front to sit on. Two gracious young women were operating the place, and so we gave our order and then sat there at the bar watching them make it. When it was finally served, we enjoyed the food, and it satisfied my wife's desire for Mexican food and all of our hunger.

We then decided to go back to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. This is a huge and important park in Taipei. Chiang Kai-shek was a Chinese leader who had worked to unify China, battled the communists and Japanese, and eventually left China having been defeated by the communists. Moving to Taiwan he established the Chinese government there declaring it to be the true Chinese government. He was president for 26 years until his death in 1975. As a child I remember hearing about him as the leader of China so I was looking forward to learning more.

The memorial was opened in 1980 on the fifth anniversary of Chiang Kai-shek's death. The center of the memorial is now called Liberty Square. There is a large entrance facade. After you enter there are two major performance centers on each side of Liberty Square. These have been built with traditional Chinese architecture in mind. We did not go into either one, but they are beautiful buildings.

The entrance to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park

National Concert Hall

At the end of the plaza is the main memorial to Chiang Kai-shek. The building has a number of symbolic aspects to it including the 89 steps leading up to the main hall which represents his age at his death.The main memorial building contains a large statue of a seated Chiang Kai-shek. When we entered the large hall, we discovered there was a ceremonial changing of the guards. Because we were late, we didn't have the best of views, but it was an interesting ceremony and lasted for at least ten minutes. It was a very precise performance with the soldiers going through their routine. This changing of guards happens on a regular schedule.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Guarding the Statue

Underneath the statue hall there are a number of exhibit spaces. In the next floor down is a museum in honor of Chiang Kai-shk and his personal history. There is also a gallery featuring Taiwanese artists. The art work was for sale, and some of the artists were there. We found an artist whose work we loved, but his paintings were too expensive for us. Down another floor was a cafe and the gift shop along with some other exhibits, some of which charged admission, but others were free. Except for the main museum, the exhibits change over time. While we spent some time looking at the exhibits, truthfully we just wanted a place to sit and enjoy some cool air as Taipei was showing itself to be as hot and humid as Kaohsiung had been.

Bridge over pond near memorial

When we finally went outside, we wandered around the garden and pond that is on the side of the memorial. There is a lovely bridge over the water and some interesting birds that make this a nice place to hang out for a while and relax.

Top of 228 Peace Memorial

On our way back to our hotel we stopped for a while at the park next to our hotel to observe the interesting memorial created there and to read up on the event that is being remembered by this park. It memorializes an event in 1947 after Taiwan had been returned to China from Japanese control. After an incident in which a man had been shot and killed by the Chinese, protestors gathered at the park which also held a radio station. They took over the radio station and tried to set up a rebellion against the Chinese. Ultimately this led to many Taiwanese being killed by the Chinese. Only in recent history has this event been discussed publicly. In 1998 the park was renamed the 228 Peace Memorial Park in honor of the event which took place on 2/28. The memorial was created by Cheng Tze-Tsai.

After resting up it was time to head out to a night market in Taipei. We took the subway out to the area where the market was being held as it was right next to the train station. Taipei's subway system is an easy-to-use system, and since our hotel was near the central station, it was convenient to get to most places. There are different colored train routes, and it is an efficient system to use once you have an EasyCard. You tap your card as you enter and the gate opens up. When you depart, you do the same thing. The main thing is to make sure you have sufficient funds for your trip. When you leave Taipei, you can even get any remaining money back.

The Shilin Night Market is a huge night market involving a number of streets. At times we were concerned we would get lost in the maze of streets. In many cases this market involves regular stores that just extend their businesses out toward the streets. There are some specific food areas as well, but mostly the food vendors are in various places on the streets. We did purchase some sweet bread or cake that looked interesting. It was our late evening snack. As typical for us we ignored the many seafood options being offered. Wandering around the market was a fascinating way to learn things about the culture.

With our sweet bread in hand we finally headed back to the train and our hotel. Tomorrow would be a day focused on culture. Stay tuned.

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