May 19th

Today was our free day. So instead of goofing off, I decided to go with the group for students to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. This a famous monument, landmark and tourist attraction that was created for Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

All of the memorial hall attraction is very large. It’s about 250,000 square meters (2,690,977.6 square feet) which includes the Memorial Hall, Liberty Square, National Concert Hall and the National Theater.

We were fortunate enough to be at the Memorial Hall during the “changing of the guard.” It was a very impressive ceremony and one to be watched.

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall

We were lucky enough that got to see the Chiang Kai-shek changing of the guard.

National Theater (left), Liberty Square Main Gate (center), National Concert Hall (right)

Liberty Square serves as a location for very large gatherings. It has been used as a red carpet ceremonies when Taiwan's president meets foreign dignitaries. It's also used for large crowds to gather here throughout the year for outdoor festivals and concerts. The Concert Hall and the National Theater host many different events and concerts by international and local artists each year.

Relaxing water and park area

A quick 360 of the area

During our visit, the car company Porsche was having some sort of demonstration or display of their vehicles. Porsche had about 90 vehicles on display in the Liberty Square for the visitors to see and practically drool over.

The museum under the CKS Memorial Hall hold many different artifacts including one of Chiang's official state cars: 1972 Cadillac

After we left the CKS Memorial Hall, we ventured over to the “electronic district” where practically every store sold any kind of electronic component you can think of: cell phone, laptops, computer cables, etc. We walked into a five level mall like building that was all electronics. There I was able to purchase two anime fighting game for my Playstation 3 that are not sold in America. Needless to say, I was very happy.

After spending about three hours in the electronic district, we stopped by a coffee shop, had a drink and talked about some of the ridiculous things we have done as children. It was good to know that I’m not the only one that got small items stuck in my ear as a kid.

Our group the returned to our hotel and we grabbed our luggage, we headed to the Taipei Main Train station. There, we got on a “bullet train” and headed to the city of Taichung for our visit to Tunghai University the next day. The bullet train ride was very smooth. I didn't even feel the g-forces when the train sped over 165+ mph. And that was the slow train. The faster trains race around 212mph. Upon our arrival, we headed to our hotel and just relaxed for the next day.