Today was a very relaxing day. After being up late on New Year’s Eve, we all slept in. Once we were up and moving, we decided to catch a bus and head to the Chiang Kaishek Memorial in Southwest Taipei. It was an easy busy ride with interesting views all along the way.
We arrived at the Memorial and it was so much more than I thought it would be. All the tourist info shows only the Memorial Building but the grounds are very impressive! It is a large walled compound fronted by a traditional Chinese arched gate.
Inside the walls is a large park featuring the towering Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall – a huge and ornate structure that holds a statue of Chiang Kaishek, the founder and first President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The grounds are spectacular and it looks like this is the place for joggers and people who do t’ai chi. Everything is so well manicured and perfect.
We were able to catch the changing of the guards too. The guards are almost statuesque – they don’t move, sweat and hardly blink! They stand guard of the Statue and, on this day, they changed every hour as part of the ceremony. It was very cool.
On the grounds is also the National Theatre. We walked the stairs to the balcony where lots of young people were gathered. Some of them were rehearsing choreography to music, jugglers, acrobats, etc. I got lots of video!
Okay, we’re off to meet up with Joyce and visit a couple of the Temples this morning. We’re also going to go to the observation deck of the 101 Building, catch the Shillin Night Market and who knows what else. It’s our last day in Taipei.