A tale of two Memorial Halls (part 2)

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was built in 1980 in honor of General Chiang Kai-shek. Chaing was the successor to Sun Yat-sen. He fought with the Allied forces in WWII after Japan declared war on China. After defeating the Japanese, Chiang continued fighting the growing communist influence in China, but was overtaken and eventually forced out of the country into Taiwan.



Chiang established Taiwan as the temporary seat of government for the Republic of China, and America and most European countries recognized it as such until after his death in 1975. The People's Republic of China have refused to recognize the ROC as a ruling power, and their conflict continues to this day. Chiang is seen as a controversial figure in Taiwan. Under his rule, he established Taiwan as an economic force. However, he did so at the cost of the local Taiwanese traditions. Chiang demanded that the entire country speak Mandarin Chinese and follow his view of Chinese traditions, although much of the country was filled with indigenous Taiwanese, who spoke their own language and hold their own customs. Chiang ran the country under a sustained martial law for most of his life, and violently silenced any forms of protest or dissent. Because of this, his memorial has become something of a political hot potato.

I've visited the memorial three times for different reasons, so I've got plenty of pictures.

The Memorial Hall sits in the middle of a massive courtyard. It is flanked by two other buildings, which house theaters and a bookstore.


Inside the Hall is a museum, with art galleries, a library, and displays of artifacts and pictures from Chiang's life.
This is the sign at the entrance, they take this stuff pretty seriously.


Two of Chiang's bulletproof cars are on display. The Caddy has mirrored windows, and is looked more like a hearse then a limousine.


The globe from Chiang's desk was in a glass case. Surprisingly, it was turned so that North America faced forward.


In the back of the museum was a recreation of Chiang's office, complete with a creepy wax model.


There were also many pictures of Chiang with various political figures, including Churchill, Eisenhower, Ghandi, and my favorite, Lyndon Baines Johnson.


Outside, at the top of the hall, stood a massive statue of Chiang. 89 steps, one for each year of the general's life, lead to the top, where the statue is guarded by more motionless soldiers. I was lucky enough to see the ceremony in which they were relieved at the end of the day, complete with some spinning of bayonets.




If you look closely at the soldier, you can see the sweat soaked through his pants just above the belt. He had been standing motionless at attention for an hour, in muggy 95 degree weather.






The memorial hall has been at the center of a great political controversy the last few years. Several years ago the opposition party won the presidential election, and declared that the hall be renamed the "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" due to Chiang's history of human rights abuses. The massive stone gate at the front was re-carved, new banners were draped over the hall, soldiers no longer guarded the statue, and the solemn statue room was filled with colorful kites. When the KMT party regained control of the government last year, they undid all of the changes made by the previous administration. I was told that the sign at the front was just replaced last week, surrounded by a few hundred armed policemen in case a demonstration got out of hand.

I'm sort of on the fence on the issue. On first visit the Hall seemed overwhelming, it seemed to deify the man while whitewashing any wrong he had done in his life. But after thinking about it, its not much different then the numerous monuments America has built in Washington D.C. to honor our past presidents. I've noticed that people here are very rigid in their political beliefs, there isn't much room for compromise to them. (sort of like in the states). Besides, its not like we dont have giant, ostentatious monuments built for people with questionable pasts. Stone Mountain GA comes to mind.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

4 week progress report.

So, I realized that I've been here almost 4 weeks now, and thought I'd take some time to reflect.

-I've spent almost all my time here in Taipei, the largest city on the island, and the capitol. I told a few people that it felt like living in New York City if it were on the moon. A lot of the shock and thrill I felt in the first few weeks wasn't so much being in another country as much as living downtown in a big city again. Once that wore off, I got kind of numb to it. Its a pain to navigate through the city, to deal with the huge crowds of indifferent people, and to find new and exciting things to see. Once I saw the big tourist sites and a few of the museums (which aren't that impressive, I'm sad to say), I kind of fell into a rut, and it took a while to get out of it.

-Language is still my biggest hurdle, and its sad to say that it's something I wont be able to get a hang of while I'm here. I've picked up a few words, and I'm working on learning more. My goal before I leave is to be able to go to a shop and order something, and pay for it with exact change.

-It makes me sad that I cant communicate with people when I go out. I've been told that most people here understand a little English, but have a hard time speaking it, and would rather save face by pretending they don't understand then to try and speak to an American and not be understood. It's very different from America, where we don't care so much about making asses of ourselves.

-On a more positive note, I'm learning a lot about the culture and history here. There are thousands of little differences, some are annoying but most are unique and add to the experience. While the people can be cold, like you'd expect in any big city, they are often friendly and understanding. They do their best to accommodate me, and seem genuinely embarrassed when they cant do more to help.

So, these are the things that I miss most..

1. My friends and family - you guys are great, and I miss you. I miss sitting on the porch with my parents talking and smoking, I miss the weekly hangouts at the Boyd residence, I miss the 3am trips to IHOP, I miss all of it.

2. American food - They try over here, but its like comparing Panda Express to real Chinese food. And what they call a steak is downright disgraceful.

3. Driving - When I get home I'm going to get in my car, roll the windows down, turn my radio up, and just go somewhere.

4. My bed - I miss my queen-size, pillowtop mattress. Asians love hard beds, its almost like sleeping on the floor. Plus, my feet hang off the end.

5. Culture - I miss knowing what's going on. All the crazy political stuff, even celebrity gossip. I get it secondhand here, and youtube takes forever to load (fast internet would be number 6 if I was going that high). But I miss hearing about it, and talking to people about it.

Now, my five favorite things about Taiwan.

1. Its a beautiful place. The city is surrounded by mountains on one side, and the ocean on the other. I plan to do a lot more travelling in the next few weeks, and I've heard the eastern side of the island is even better.

2. Cost of living. I can go pretty much anywhere and get a good fresh meal for about NT$100, which is about $3.20.

3. The MRT. There are train stations everywhere, the stops are well thought out, and its dirt cheap. I rode it for 30 minutes outside of town, and the trip cost me about $1.25 usd. All the trains are air conditioned, and clean enough to eat off of.

4. The Service Industry Mentality. Like I said before, people go out of their way to help you. It started raining when I went somewhere, and a lady at an information booth actually gave me an umbrella.

5. The food. No place in America gets real Chinese food right. At least, no place I've been to. Kelp soup, shredded cabbage, plum vinegar, fried octopus, BBQ'd tofu, hot tea, and definitely no fortune cookies.

SO, in summery, I have zero regrets about coming here. I've learned a lot about myself, I'm in much better shape then I was when I left, I've taken some pictures that will probably be in my portfolio the rest of my life, and I've got some ideas about what I want to do when I get back. More on those later.

Well, That turned out longer then I expected. Thanks for reading, I'll talk to you all soon.

A tale of two Memorial Halls (part 1)

Over the last 3 weeks I've been trying to understand more of Taiwan's history and culture. Two of the most interesting and enlightening places I've visited have been the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Both are grand and impressive buildings, standing in massive courtyards, in contrast to the otherwise crowded city. The halls were built to honor two men who are seen as founding fathers of China and Taiwan.

Sun Yat-Sen is viewed by many as the founding father of the Republic of China, not to be confused with the People's Republic of China. He's also the face on the NT$100 bill (though, since its worth about USD$3, its not that impressive.) Sun died before he could see his government crumble after WWII, and he is still revered in both Taiwan and Mainland China.



The memorial is just northwest of the Taipei 101. You can see it in some of the pictures I took from the top floor, its the building with the large orange roof. Inside are relics from Sun's life, theaters that show documentaries, a library, and a large auditorium that hosts different events. There was some kind of school function the day I was there.



The centerpiece of the memorial is a massive statue of Sun Yat Sen, guarded by two soldiers standing motionless at attention. I honestly thought they were statues when I walked in the room.



Outside on the courtyard were people jogging, relaxing, or flying kites.


Kite-flying seems to be pretty serious business out here.


On the patio outside the hall, there were groups of kids playing music and dancing. I don't know if this was part of a class, or just what kids do here.


Since it was only a block north, I checked out the Core Pacific City, an impressive, modern shopping center.


The building is truly massive, 11 stories tall, and just as impressive inside. However, it was surprisingly empty. I was told that despite being only 8 years old, its considered the 'old mall', and that people are going to even bigger malls built closer to MRT stations.

(near) Total Eclipse of the Sun

Today I had the pleasure of witnessing a nearly (86%) total eclipse. AJ told me that the government was handing out eclipse-viewing glasses at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, about 5 blocks from where I live, so I got up at 7am and walked over there.

The line was incredibly long, wrapping around the whole courtyard. it took me about 30 minutes to get my glasses


I'm planning a bigger post on the CKS Memorial soon, so I'll just say for now that it is built in rememberance of a General, one of the founding fathers of Taiwan. And, its really big.




After I got my glasses, I wandered around a bit. The eclipse had just started, the sun looked the same, but through the glasses it looked like someone had taken a bite out of it. There was a screen hooked up to a telescope that showed the progress.


The courtyard was absolutely filled with people, most of them looking up with the same expression on their face.




I snuck a shot of this kid sitting down, he looked sleepy.


The eclipse began around 8:30am. It reached its peak at around 9:30, and was nearly over an hour later.
As the morning went on, more and more people showed up, including busloads of kids, parents and children, or elderly people. The diverse crowd was what made the event memorable for me.

More pics..

Danshui

On Thursday I took the train up to Danshui, an old harbor town north of Taipei. It used to be a busy port and fishing community, but it seems to have become more of a tourist destination. Just outside the train station was a busy boardwalk, that reminded me of Santa Monica, or Galveston. Lots of food for sale, and carnival games. It was crowded, even on a weekday afternoon.

This is a panorama of the view from the boardwalk. The town of Bali is on the other side of the river. I'll be going there in a few weeks.


I walked past the boardwalk and found some less crowded shops for a picture.

Past the boardwalk was Fort San Domingo, the remains of a fort built in the 1600s by the Spanish. It has since been occupied by the Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, The fort and nearby villa were home to the British Consulate.


This was one of the best 'tourist' spots I've been to. All of the signs and displays had well-written english translations, and the buildings were air-conditioned. They were clear to point out that the buildings had been restored or rebuilt to show how they were in the past, but they also left a few areas unrestored to show, for example, the different coats of paint on a wall where it had been repainted under different owners.

This is one of the hallways outside the consulate building.


And this is the view out the front door.


I've been learning more and more about the complicated political history of the country. Taiwan became the outpost of a Chinese general who was defeated by the communists, and the country was the last stronghold of old Chinese government. As the cold war heated up, many countries, including the US, supported Taiwan as an opposition to the People's Republic of China. However, China put great political pressure on the world to view Taiwan as a colony instead of a country on its own. In 1971 they lost their seat on the U.N., and the next year England called their Consulate home, as they ceased to recognize the Taiwan government.

Just up the street from the fort stands another historical site, Oxford college, the first western university in Taiwan. It was founded by a missionary, Dr George Mackay, who traveled from Canada to start a mission in the 1800s. When he reported to his superiors that he had been teaching classes underneath a tree, they sent back enough money to build a school. The building still stands, surrounded by the more modern Alethia University.

This is the old cross on top of the Oxford College building.


As I walked back down the bay, I saw more people sitting by the water. There were also old men fishing, though I cant imagine they'd catch anything worth eating. Several stray cats prowled the area, begging the fishermen for scraps.


As the sun began to set, the brown water turned blue, and almost looked inviting. It also made for some dramatic images.


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When I got back to the boardwalk I bought a corndog and an ice cream, and took the opportunity to take some more pictures.







I wanted to stay and watch the sunset, but I was dead tired. I'll have to come back another time.

Going to the Movies in Taiwan.

Went to the movies tonight. Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference. Let me break it down...

-The biggest difference is that when you buy a ticket, you also choose which seat you want. This means that most people buy tickets in advance so they don't end up in the very front or very back. I don't know if you can move up once the movie starts, probably not.

-Because of difference #1, most people reserve their tickets online of by phone. when you reserve your ticket, you type your number in and it sends you a text message with a number on it. when you go to the counter, you show the message to the girl at the counter (they were all girls) and she prints out your ticket.

-When you pay for your ticket, you also pay for soda or popcorn if you're planning on getting any. This means the line moves slower, as everyone spends time at the register deciding if they want something.

-You can bring food and drinks into the theater. I was told that this wasnt always the policy, but recently some people filed a lawsuit against the theaters, and they changed their policy. I cant imagine why this hasn't happened in America yet. Also, you can get caramel on your popcorn.

-There weren't nearly as may commercials before the movie, most of them were public service ads from government offices like the CDC and mass transit.

-English movies are shown in English, with Chinese subtitles at the bottom.

-As far as I can tell, the sense of humor over here is very different. People laugh at different things then an American audience would laugh at. They like slapstick and physical comedy.

The movie I went to see was Transformers 2. Its incredibly popular, I saw a 10 story ad on the side of a building last weekend. It was playing in probably half of the 18 screens of the theater we went to. As far as my thoughts on the movie, I think they can be best portrayed in a haiku.

Loud, defies logic.
Jive talking robots are just
not funny. nice lens flare.

Longshan Temple

I went to the Longshan Temple on Wednesday. Its one of the oldest temples in the city, and interestingly it houses shrines to gods from 3 different faiths. There was a lot that I saw that I don't fully understand, I'm trying to learn more about some of the local customs.

Some people would pick up sticks of incense and light them, then kneel on benches and pray. Others tossed red wedges on the ground over and over. I was told that if the wedges faced the same direction, then God would grant their wishes.


In front of the shrines, their were big tables where people would set food while they prayed, as an offering to the gods.



There was a stand in the entry of the temple selling food. It reminded me of the Bible story about Jesus throwing out the money-changers, and made me wonder if they make a profit selling the food. I guessing they do, since there was also a souvenir shop on the other side.

More pictures from the temple..







Monk with an ipod.



After I left, I walked around the Longshan neighborhood for a while, its one of the lower-class neighborhoods in the city. I was surprised to see people burning paper in metal cans in front of their shops. I looked closer and they were burning paper squares with gold squares in the center. I tried to take pictures of a few, but they waved me away (first time that's happened here). I found out later that that day was the first day of the lunar month, and that they burn the paper in place of money, as an offering to their gods.

I got a shot of one of the cans later.



There was a park outside the temple, and it was filled with elderly men, to the point that there was barely a place to sit.



some of them played chess, but mostly they just sat and waited.

I was told that they were all retired old men, and that they probably live with their children or grandchildren. They dont want to be in the house all day, so they go to parks and sit around. Kind of sad.