Taipei, Taiwan

Merry Christmas! Dec 25 is not a public holiday in Taiwan so things were generally open, unlike our last trip in NZ where they shut down almost everything for weeks! We had more of a challenge with today being a Monday (most museums and the like are closed Mondays).

Today on our list was Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall and Bangka Longshan Temple. We took the subway to CKS station, where the exit to the Memorial Hall was very clearly signed in Taiwanese and English. We’ve been really impressed with the subway in Taipei.

CKS Memorial Hall is really amazing to see. The size and scale is enormous. The main building has a 6.3m tall statue of CKS on the top, with 89 steps leading up (he lived to 89). In front are beautiful gardens, and at the other end a concert hall and a theatre.

We were lucky to arrive just on the hour and catch the changing of the guards.

There’s a museum on the ground floor under the massive bronze statue, which describes the evolution of democracy and freedom of speech in Taiwan.

The power cut out for a few minutes while we were visiting the museum which helped clear out the tour groups :)

The memorial hall and the grounds took us about 2.5 hours to see.

The Lonely Planet recommended a dumpling place just around the corner, so we checked it out for lunch. Ordered pork and leek steamed dumplings and siu mai. Both were amazing, some of the best we’ve had.

We then walked over to Longshan Temple. On the way passed by Bopiliao Historic Block, a row of restored old shophouses. Unfortunately it’s closed on Mondays :(

Longshan Temple was just down the street from Bopiliao. It’s the oldest temple in Tainan, founded in 1938. It was pretty busy with worshippers, with the smell of incense in the air and the clatter of moon stones. Worshippers will ask the gods a yes/no question and then throw the stones on the ground. The answer depends on how they land. There’s a bowl with moon stones in the temple - worshippers carefully select their stones (based on what I’m not sure) and then return them later.

Took the subway back home and rested up.

Later we checked out Tonghua St Night Market. We got there around 6:30pm and it was just getting busy. Tried any stall with a line up, except for the stinky tofu. We were full at that point, plus it is really stinky. Maybe on our way back through Taipei we’ll try it. The last thing we tried were pineapple buns. These were amazing. They look just like a dinner roll but have so much flavour. It was served warm with sliced cold butter, mmm good.