I’ve decided that this blog will probably be a 5 part series. I actually have a food entry all typed up with pictures, although I think I’ll edit a bit of it after I finish this new entry since I’ve mentioned a lot of food already in the first post.

Truth be told, I haven’t really gone anywhere during this trip. I’m actually in Taiwan to visit my grandparents and just spend time with them because they’re getting old, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t remember the things I did in my numerous trips to Taiwan before this one. So, here are a few monuments to take a look at if you ever decide to visit Taipei.

 The Taipei 101 Building

The one building everyone in Taipei loves to brag about is this 101 storey building. The bottom few floors make up a shopping mall while the upper floors are offices with an observation deck at the very top. If you plan on shopping here… well… let’s just say that a student probably can’t afford most of the brand names here. If it makes you feel any better, the food court is huge, affordable and the food is pretty darn good.

The National Palace Museum

When the Nationalists lost the civil war to the Communists on Mainland China, Chiang Kaishek, the leader of the Nationalists withdrew Chinese financial assets and numerous Chinese artefacts and fled to the island of Formosa or Taiwan. Many of those artefacts now rest here at the National Palace Museum. The most famous of these objects include a jade cabbage and a piece of stone that naturally looked like fatty pork, so much so that Qing dynasty artisans took the time to carve hair follicles on the surface of the rock to make the resemblance more striking.

Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall

As mentioned, Chiang Kaishek was the leader of the Nationalist Party and the person who basically created this geopolitical entity called Taiwan. Although opinions of him are mixed in Taiwan (since the history of the Nationalists on mainland China and Taiwan has been bloody and filled with treachery to say the least), this monument was built to honour him and it houses a huge Lincoln-esque statue of him inside. The monument is also flanked by the National Theatre and Music Hall on each side.

The Grand Hotel

Probably a symbol of aspiration in Taipei (my mom admits that it was her childhood dream to earn enough money to stay here for a night), the Grand Hotel is a posh hotel on the outside and the inside. The interior is impeccably decorated and there are often Chinese artefacts displayed in the lobby. The restaurant available to all people who have the money to afford its food boasts world renowned chefs.

Pictures either by Jess or from here and here

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:46 am and is filed under Arts, General, Spots, Wish You Were Here. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.