Grand Hotel:
Largest pagoda style roof in the world. It's hard to convey how BIG this thing is. Look at the monk in photo5 to try to get some idea of the scale of this thing. I was a good half mile away when I took photo5.
The tallest building in the world. I was 5-10 MILES away when I took this picture. This thing is just absolutely HUGE.
Martyr's Shrine:
This explained SO MUCH about 20th Century Chinese history. The Nationalist revolt against the Last Emperor was in the 1910s (it took about 11 times before they were successful). Then, the Communists started to rise in the north. Then, the Japanese attacked in WWII. Then, the Nationalists defeated the Japanese, but the Communists attacked again and forced the Nationalists to Formosa (aka Taiwan). Then, the Communists invaded Taiwan, but the Nationalists repelled them and forced the Communists back to the mainland. Confused yet? I didn't even get into how the Chinese Nationalists lost their seat in the UN to the Chinese Communists........ and remember - this is a country where "face" is VERY REAL. If you've seen the "The Last Samurai", magnify that times 100. Remember, the Samurai were the Japanese (the mortal enemy of the Chinese). MANY people are memorialized in the Martyr's Shrine for "honorably committing suicide instead of being captured". There is no Western corollary to this at all.
Garden at the National Palace Museum:
I had no idea that black swans or albino peacocks existed. Who woulda thunk?
I just thought this was a cool mural at the National Palace Museum subway station. No, Americans have had NO influence on Taiwanese culture......
National History Museum:
A couple of photos outside the National History Museum.
Botanical Gardens:
The water lillies were completely different this year vs. last year. Look real close at photo4 and you can see A CRANE standing on a lilly pad. Just like the black swan and the albino peacock - I had no idea this was even possible.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall:
Again, it's difficult to describe the SIZE of this. It's every bit as large as the Lincoln Monument. And those doors - Yes, they're metal (bronze, I suspect) and they're opened and closed every day - Hey, dictatorship has it's privileges.....
