The first blog post in this series covered the reason for traveling to Taiwan, arriving in Taipei, the subway and Hotel 73. In this post I will talk about some of the things that I did in the city itself.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
This is a great historical site. We walked here from our hotel. When you approach the area there is an ornate archway that is the gateway into the square. I have seen many different names for this square including Liberty Square, Democracy Square and Freedom Square. I am not sure of the official name. After entering through the archway there are two buildings, the National Theater on the right and the National Concert Hall on the left. They are beautifully decorated and very colorful in the traditional Chinese architectural design. There are ornamental plantings along each side. There is also a pond and park/gardens on both sides. At the far end of the square stands the Memorial Hall which is shaped like an octagon, with eight sides. To the Chinese the number eight is associated with fortune and wealth.
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| View from steps of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall |
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a distinctive building, white with a blue tile roof. It was built to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek, former president of the Republic of China. There are 89 steps that signify his age when he died. The highlight of the memorial is the huge bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek. In this room which is on the top floor and open to the outdoors, there are two armed soldiers on guard and they have a changing of the guard hourly. On the day we were there they were wearing white uniforms that looked very sharp. The view from outside this room is gorgeous. The building also contains exhibition halls where there are relics, photos and other information covering his life and career. There is a lot of history here. My favorite exhibits were his official state cars, two bulletproof black Cadillacs, one 1955 and the other 1972. (One of these was a VERY good year.) One of the halls had an art exhibition, which I enjoyed. It was relaxing strolling through the art especially since it was quieter than the main exhibition halls.
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| Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall |
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| Beautiful architectural details on National Theater |
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| 1955 Cadillac |
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| Bronze statue and armed guard |
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
This building
was built as a memorial to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founding father of the Republic of China. It is a handsome building in the Chinese style with a yellow roof. There are beautiful gardens and a large fountain. I did not go inside the building due to timing. I did enjoy the beautiful flowers and the fountain. I would definitely explore more if I were to return.
Taipei 101
This is an impressive 101 story skyscraper that was the tallest building in the world until the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was built. There is a shopping mall on five floors, a food court and indoor and outdoor observatories. There is an escalator up to the fifth floor where tickets must be purchased to go to the observation decks. They are on the 89th and 91st floors. It took 35 seconds in the elevator to get there. The indoor area gives great views of the city from all sides. I was watching a plane at eye level in the distance. There is a gift shop area in the center of this floor. I bought some pineapple cakes here. Supposedly that is the thing to try when you visit Taiwan. To get to the outdoor observation area you must climb some stairs which we did. Nice views there also.
Because it is such a tall, narrow building it has what is called a "damper", a 660 metric ton steel weight in the center of the building suspended between the 92nd and 87th floors. The purpose of this is to counteract or "dampen" any sway of the building. This damper can be seen from a viewing area where you can look down on it.
The food court is in the basement and has a variety of choices. We ate there. It was noisy and full of people. My husband had trouble maneuvering and ran into a small toddler. When I saw the look of daggers that came from the mother of the child, I quickly turned and walked away. Once we got reunited again we ordered food. There were a variety of places to purchase food and a big area with tables and chairs. The food I had was OK, nothing spectacular. I needed practice with the chopsticks.
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| Taipei 101 |
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| Damper |
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| View from indoor observation deck |
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| Lunch at the Taipei 101 food court |
Daan Park
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| Entrance to Daan Park |
We walked to this park which was a few blocks from Hotel 73. It is like Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London, a large park inside the city. The first thing we saw was an old guy urinating in the open with people all around. The weird thing about it was that looking at his clothes he didn't look like a bum or a homeless person. The entrance to the park is pretty with flowers around the sign. There are many paths and all kinds of plants, flowers and trees. An island in the pond is filled with birds, many that were new and different to me and all beautiful. They were very noisy too. A small group was doing Tai Chi under the trees. We saw a large white statue which was of the goddess Guanyin. It is a beautiful park and even though there were lots of people (and dogs) it was pleasant walking along the paths. There was one dog chewing and tearing up some bark. He reminded us of our dog who was at home and also reminded us that we missed him. The highlight for me was when an older Asian couple stopped to talk to us. They were originally from Taiwan but they lived for many years in the U.S. It turned out that they lived for some years in the same area of Pennsylvania where we were born and grew up. We knew all the places they mentioned. Talk about a small world!
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| One of the birds on the bird island |
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Statue of the goddess Guanyin
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Din Tai Fung Restaurant
We visited this restaurant for a good sit down meal. It was a very busy place, there were crowds of people outside. There were employees stationed outside the door to take names. They gave you a ticket that you had to fill out with the food you wanted to order. The extensive menu was in the front window. After filling it out you had to hand it back to them and wait for them to call you to your table. It was a bit of a wait but it was worth it. The food was delicious.
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| Front of Din Tai Fung Restaurant |
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| Good food |
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| More good food |
Coming up next - Nighttime Walking Tour to Longshan Temple and Huaxi Night Market
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