On Sunday, I went to my first tourist attraction-the Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of the Chinese nationalists who fled to Taiwan in 1949 after civil war with the Communist party and established Taiwan as the Republic of China, which is what modern day Taiwan is technically known as. When he died, the country decided to set up this memorial in honour of him. Apparently the huge square in front of the hall is now used for demonstrations and movements for social change. The buildings on the left and the right are the National Concert Hall and the National Theatre respectively. There is also a small museum with the history of the Memorial Hall as well as an exhibition of Chinese watercolours.
The pictures of the hall don't fully do the Memorial Hall justice. The building and the surrounding square is huge and really impressive to see in person. But here they are anyway!
The gate at the entrance to the Memorial Hall.
The Memorial Hall itself. Apparently there are 89 steps to represent the age of Chiang Kai-Shek when he died.
The National Concert Hall
The National Theatre
Once you climb the stairs, you walk into a giant white marble room with a statue of Chiang Kai-Shek with two men on guard. Every hour they have a changing of the guards which I was able to see!
One of the old guards getting ready to leave his post.
The two new guards being led to take up their posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment