My mom had heard that Taipei had been "completely rebuilt" after the devastating 1999 earthquake and wanted to see how "modern" Taipei had become since the last time she had visited ages ago.
The symbol of Taipei, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
We started from our hotel in the Zhongshan District (中山區) of Taipei and we took the MRT (metro) to Taipei Main Station area to walk around the central government district.
A typical Taipei street.
Like any other Asian city, it has advertisements everywhere.
Inside the Taipei Main Station. For a railway station, it seemed awfully quiet during the day!
The exterior of the Taipei Main Station. I quickly noticed that buildings and infrastructure here are not well maintained!
Near the central government area. By this time, I was quickly developing the opinion that Taiwan is a 1st world country with 3rd world buildings and infrastructure!
The grand looking National Taiwan Museum at the 228 Peace Park.
Inside the 228 Peace Park.
The Presidential Building, the seat of power in Taiwan. We did not visit on this day because there was a full open house a couple of days later. This only happens a couple times a month and we were lucky to come at the right time.
The Jieshou Park, or literally "Long Live Chiang Kai-shek Park". There was literally no one else there except for us. Apparently, since the democratization of Taiwan, he seems to have follow out of favour with the people?
The statue of the President.
The Taipei Guest House was directly in front of the park. The "100" sign on the gate celebrates the fact that 2011 was the 100th anniversary of the disposal of the Emperor on mainland China and the founding of the Republic of China (Taiwan's formal name).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.
The East Gate of Taipei and the giant building behind the gate is the former headquarters of the Chinese Nationalist Party which directly faces the Presidential Building. Now its the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation building.
Despite the development of the extensive metro system, motorbikes are still widely used in Taipei.
Next, we went to "Liberty Square" where the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was located.
The grandiose square. You can get a sense of the scale from this photo.
On both sides of the square is the National Concert Hall and National Theatre, both built in an impressive imperial Chinese style.
The archway of Liberty Square.
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall building. This is a popular tourist attraction for mainland Chinese visitors!
A view of the entire square from the hall.
Honour guards at the entrance. Standing as still as a statue.
The giant statue of the former President.
One of the most impressive things that occurs is the changing of the guards in which the guards would hand over their guns to their colleagues by throwing it to them.
In addition, the lower floor of the hall is a museum dedicated to the life of Chiang Kai-shek.
Model of the entire complex.
Another statue of Chiang Kai-shek!
Inside you can learn about the entire life of Chiang Kai-shek. The entire exhibition seemed to focus on his time on the mainland and certain periods of his life were omitted like the period after 1950 and others...
No exhibition about a former leader would be complete without a display of the cars he previously used!
His Cadillacs with the auspicious license plates.
A 1970s model.
A painting of Chiang Kai-shek with the founder of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen.
Chairs used by the former President!
The grand finale, a reproduction of the Presidential Office.
At the gift shop. Souvenirs of the current President, Ma Ying-jeou.
The walled Chinese-style garden at the exit.
After getting a mega dose of Chiang Kai-shek propaganda, it was time to eat lunch and what better place to digest all that propaganda than to eat lunch at the original branch of the restaurant famous for xiaolongbao?!
The restaurant, Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), was so popular that we had to wait for around 1 hour before we were seated.
One of the typical streets of Taipei.
Afterwards we headed to the Taipei 101 area in Xinyi (信義區).
On the way we passed by another memorial hall, this one to Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen.
Taipei 101 from the grounds of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
For some reason, this memorial hall felt less formal than the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. There weren't even any honour guards!
And every bench outside had groups of old people enjoying the day by playing Chinese Chess on the benches!
Another shot of Taipei 101.
We also passed by the Taipei City Hall, one of the most banal buildings I had ever seen.
The price to go up the Taipei 101 was actually quite expensive at NT$500 (US$17). Because Taipei doesn't have many tall buildings, there is not much of a skyline to admire. A one time visit is enough.
The low-rise skyline of Taipei.
Taipei City Hall view from above. The building is shaped like two ten characters in Chinese (十十) to commemorate the 1911/10/10 revolution led by Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen which overthrew the imperial system in China. Every year that day is celebrated as Double-Ten Day in Taiwan.
What is interesting is how mountainous Taipei really is and how the developments just fill up to the sides of the mountains.
Taipei 101 has the world's fastest elevator.
Zoomed up shots of the Xinyi District where the Taipei 101 is located.
Taipei at night.
The Xinyi District at night. Because it is a newer development that most other areas of Taipei, the buildings and everything look much more modern.
The last place we visited for the day was the Shilin Night Market, one of the largest and most famous night markets in Taipei. Unlike most definitions of a "night market", this one seems to be permanent as regular shops and etc. have congregated around the night market.
One of the major attractions of the Shilin Night Market is the street food.
This fried chicken steak stand was one of the popular ones, being featured in the travel books and guides.
It was tasty although there was *a lot* of MSG!
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