A Day in Taipei

We still had half a day left after our morning food tour, so Pinky and I set out on our first full day in Taipei to explore the city.

We took the MRT to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, one of Taipei's most important landmarks.

The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial is the most important monument in Taiwan and is dedicated to the wartime president of the Republic of China and first president of the remnant KMT government that fled to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War.

The memorial occupies a symbolic role for the Republic of China comparable to that of the Forbidden City for the People’s Republic of China on the mainland. It functions as a prominent national monument, visually and ceremonially associated with political authority and state legitimacy.

The grand and towering memorial hall is also a message to mainland China, a message that, although the republican government lost the civil war and had to retreat to a small island off the coast, they were not defeated. Technically, both the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (which currently only occupies Taiwan) claim to be the legitimate government of all of China.

The interior of the memorial is a museum. One wing is dedicated to Chiang Kai Shek and the other is a gallery hall hosting art exhibitions.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was the leader of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1975, serving first as Chairman of the National Government after the fall of the Qing Empire and later as President of China. During his rule on the mainland, he led the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), unified much of China after the warlord era, fought the Japanese invasion during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), and then lost the Chinese Civil War to the Chinese Communist Party led by his political rival Mao Zedong.

In 1949, Chiang and the Republic of China government retreated to Taiwan after the Communist victory on the mainland. There, Chiang continued to claim sovereignty over all of China and served as President of the Republic of China (still the official name of Taiwan) from 1950 until his death in 1975. His rule in Taiwan was controversial, marked by martial law and political repression (the "White Terror"), but it also oversaw economic development, industrial growth and the foundations of Taiwan’s currently thriving democracy.

After learning about Chiang Kai Shek's life, we climbed the steep marble steps on the outside of the monument to the grand chamber at the very top.

And inside, there he was, seated on a throne enrobed like a Chinese emperor. 

It's clear that despite his controversial rule (and Taiwan, with its freedom of speech, is not quiet about the controversies surrounding their founding father), Chiang is still respected as the man who saved republican China and protected the independence of the island of Taiwan.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and we left the monument, walking through a large plaza past the National Theater and the National Concert Hall, both built in the style of traditional Chinese architecture.

It's kind of surreal seeing the flag of the Republic of China flying in the modern day. In my mind, this flag is usually associated with the government of China during the Second World War... although technically the government of Taiwan is still a continuation of that government.

Because of the "One China" Policy, which both the People’s Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) formally adhere to, countries are only able to recognize one government as the legitimate government of China. As a result, Taiwan, despite being de facto independent and self-governing, is officially recognized by only a small number of states as the government of China. Among the most prominent of these is the Vatican.

We got back on the MRT and took the metro a few stops.

I always try to visit a country's national museum on my first visit. Luckily, my wife and I both love museums, so she doesn't mind me dragging her along!

Taiwan's National Museum was established in 1908 by the Japanese colonial government and is the oldest museum in the country.

The museum, housed in a neo-classical building, is home to a number of exhibits featuring Taiwan's natural and political history.

The exhibitions started with exhibits showcasing Taiwan's prehistory before moving into historical exhibits which I was more interested in.

The most exciting exhibit to me was about the flag of the Republic of Formosa. Those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time probably know that I am something of a flag nerd. I've written a ton of posts about vexillology, the study of flags.

The flag of the Republic of Formosa is a really fascinating one and was one of the main reasons that I was excited to visit this museum. I knew that it was housed here, and I was super excited to see it in person.

The flag of the short-lived Republic of Formosa (sometimes described as the first republic in Asia), briefly flew over the island in 1895 as a symbol of defiance against the Japanese and loyalty to the Qing Empire. It featured a blue field with a striking yellow tiger that symbolized Taiwan’s strength and defiance.

It is one of the few flags in the world with different sides; the front of the flag features a "night" tiger, with dilated eyes. The reverse features the "day" tiger with slitted eyes.

Read more: The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: Vexillology: Flags with two different sides

The current flag on display is a Japanese replica from the colonial period (1895-1945). The only surviving original flag of the Republic of Formosa is displayed by the museum's entrance.

We crossed the street to visit the Land Bank Exhibition Hall housed in the old Nippon Kangyo Bank Building, which was originally built by the Japanese government. The old bank vaults were still in place, but nowadays they were held open to house the museum's exhibits of old paper money, coins, and banknotes.

A few hours later we left the museum to take the MRT to the Huaxi Night Market, a famous street market home to some of the city's most famous dishes,

First, we visited Wang’s Broth, a Michelin Bib Gourmand–award-winning street food stall specializing in Taiwanese braised pork.

Pinky and I chose a small pistic table on the side of the road in the pedestrian street market and placed our order on the slip of paper provided to us.

As we were looking at the menu and trying to decipher it via Google Translate, the Taiwanese guy sitting at the table next to us came over to us and helped us out.

He suggested that we order the braised pork in "black gold" broth and the rice with mushrooms, stewed cabbage, braised tofu, and braised pork. We did as he suggested. He returned to his table, scarfed down his dinner and then... as mysteriously as he had appeared, he was gone.

We left the market full but not yet finished with our goals for the day.

Only a few minutes later, Pinky and I sat down at another local restaurant, this one famous for its legendary squid soup.

I've got to say, I wasn't a fan. It was thicker, stickier, and slimer than I had expected, and I'm not really sure how it got a Michelin star. But to each his own.

The less I have to say about that restaurant, the better.

My wife and I left the market and walked on towards the famous Longshan Temple.

The temple was built by Chinese settlers in 1738 to honor Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. 

Like most Taiwanese temples, however, it's not purely a Buddhist temple, but is instead considered a folk temple. It also houses shrines and alters to several Chinese folk deities such as Mazu and Guan Yu.

Much of the original temple was destroyed in the Second World War, when it was bombed by the US after reports of the Japanese army stockpiling weapons inside. It was rebuilt after the war.

There was a sort of prayer service going on when we arrived. Numerous people were standing in the courtyard with hymnal-type books, singing and chanting along with the nuns who were bowing before the altar inside the temple hall.

It had been a very fun, very busy day, and I was starting to get tired! The sun started setting as we explored the temple, but there was still more to do after leaving.

We stopped in for an iced tea at a Starbuck's built inside a historic red brick building.

And speaking of red buildings, our next stop was the Red House. Built by the Japanese in 1908 as Taipei's first public market, the Red House was also home to a Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari. During the Japanese colonial era, there were several Shinto shrines throughout the country, though they were removed by the nationalist government following the Second World War.

Over the years, the Red House also served as a traditional Chinese opera house, a movie theater, and now is a multi-purpose building filled with shops, cafes, galleries, and exhibitions.

Ximending is kind of like Taipei's Harajuku. It's a busy, popular shopping district filled with tons of shops, restaurants, arcades, and more. It was honestly kind of overwhelming, but Pinky needed to get souvenirs for her friends back in Thailand, and it's one of the best places for souvenir shopping.

Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped in for a refreshing drink at a small tea stall. The shop sold lemon tea mixed with unique blends of vegetables and herbs. Pinky ordered the celery lemon tea, and I ordered the coriander lemon tea. They both tasted exactly how you would expect and both teas were super refreshing!

The shop had a special promotion: for each cup of tea you ordered, you got a branded mahjong tile. If you can collect 8 tiles, you can redeem them for a free cup of tea. We won't be in Taipei long enough to have this tea eight times, but at least we will return to Bangkok with two free mahjong tiles... what we will do with them, I don't know... but it's a fun idea.