When I was planning my trip to Taipei, I decided to learn a bit more about the city, the country and its history. Well, I must say that "complicated" is not a word strong enough to describe it. Actually, the official name of Taiwan is not Taiwan but "
Republic of China" and its government considers itself to be the only legitimate government of all Chinese territories, including the mainland China. Of course, the government of the
People's Republic of China considers itself the only legitimate government of all Chinese territories, including the island of Taiwan (considered to be the 23 province of P.R.C.). This all dates back to 1949 when the forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek lost the Chinese Civil War to the communists and he had to flee with his government to the island of Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek remained the president of the Republic of China until his death in 1975. He remains the most important person on the island - you will see his face on all types of coins. The people of Taiwan have also built for him a
Memorial Hall.
You will enter the Memorial Hall area by a huge archway entrance.
On the right and left side you will see twin buildings of the
National Theater and Concert Hall. The theater on the right:
A real nice piece of architecture. Just have a closer look at the details.
The Concert Hall on the other side of the plaza looks very similar.
The Memorial is a big white building, built in the tradition Chinese style. It is said to be inspired by the
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, China. I have not seen the other one yet but I definitely put it on my list.
In the heart of the Hall you will see a huge bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek. It is located in a huge room behind this large porch in the middle of the building.
Generalissimo is smiling.
Inside the Hall you will find the museum with various artifacts related to Mr Chiang, including his old office equipment.
But I liked best his Cadillacs.
It seems like he had at least two.
He must have been an interesting man.
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