Of all the rainy days we had in Taipei, finally there was a good enough day for us to explore the city. Although it was not raining, the sky still looked a bit gloomy so it affected the result of the pictures. We grabbed our chance to visit the famous landmark in Taipei city called The National Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. I did not remember how to get there from our lodging because my friends guided us and we just followed them. When we arrived there, I was amazed at the imposing structure of the building.
Chiang Kai Shek was the former president of Republic of China (ROC) who escaped to Taiwan and established his own government in the island after his defeat at the hand of his communist rival, Mao Tze Dong in 1949. After his death on 5 April 1975, the government decided to build a memorial hall in memory to this legendary leader. A design competition was then held to select the best architecture design. Of all the models, the design of Yang Cho Cheng, who was also the architect of the Grand Hotel, won the committee’s heart. On October 31, 1976, the 90th birthday of Chiang Kai Shek, a groundbreaking ceremony was held and the construction began. The memorial hall was officially opened on April 5, 1980, exactly five years after the leader’s death. In 2000, Chiang's party, KMT, lost its presidency. Due to the political conflict between two major parties, the name of the memorial hall was at one point (between 2007 and 2009) changed to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. The reason behind the renaming of the hall is to suit the present ruling party who worked for the Taiwanese independence. Chiang’s figure is either seen as a brutal and dictator leader who applied martial law in Taiwan for over than 38 years or a brave leader who defended Taiwan against the Chinese communist invasion. Because of this controversy, a new name for the hall, the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall was unilaterally announced by President Chen Shui-bian on 19 May 2007.
Located at the heart of Taipei in Zhongzheng district near the East Gate and occupying an area of 62 acres, the memorial park is the major attraction in Taipei. Besides the main hall, there are also nicely landscaped gardens, walkways and exercise areas. The park is open daily from 9 am to 6.30 pm but the plaza is open 24 hours for evening jaunts or jogs. The admission to the park is free.
The first structure that welcomed us was the gigantic entrance gate of white and blue color with the Chinese inscription 自由廣場 which means Liberty Square.
The main entrance to the memorial is a magnificent arch built in traditional Ming Style that measures up to 30 meters high and stretches 75 meters. This entrance gate is called Liberty Square or 自由廣場. The name of this gate was a matter of dispute between the two main parties in Taiwan, which was finally decided to change from 中正紀念堂 to 自由廣場. It is a wide-open plaza where the locals usually practice Tai-Chi at sunrise every day. 
The square was the center of events in the 1980s and early 1990s that led Taiwan to the modern democracy. Of all the pro-democracy demonstrations that took place at the square, the most influential was the Wild Lily student movement in 1990. The movement ignited political reforms of President Lee Teng Hui which was realized in the first election of national leaders in 1996. The plaza was renamed Liberty Square because it witnessed the development of Taiwan’s democracy. President Chen Shui Bian announced the new names of the plaza and the memorial hall in 2007, which gained hostile response from the Kuomintang officials. However, the original name of the hall was then restored while the plaza’s new name remained after being approved by both parties.
Inside the park, there are two buildings with very similar structure facing each other. I cannot recognize which one is which one. The two buildings are called National Theater and National Concert Hall. The two halls are the venues for holding art performances by world famous musicians such as the great cello performer Yo Yo Ma and the great violinist Shao Lian Lin. They are not normally opened to public apart from art performances.
The two similar buildings are built in a traditional Chinese palace style with distinctive yellow tiled roofs and red pillars that add to their elegance. 
Inside the park, there is also a beautiful garden with beautiful flowers, ponds, ornamental bridge and waterfalls that create tranquil atmosphere. 
Another entrance gate to the park called the Great Loyalty gateActually there are two ways to enter the main memorial hall, you could either enter the hall from the ground floor or climb the flight of stairs to the main hall. I did not know about this, so we entered the main hall from the ground floor because I just followed my friends who guided us. The ground level has a library and a museum that documents Chiang’s life and displays the history and development of Taiwan. From the ground floor, you just need to take an elevator to the 4th floor where the main hall is.
The architecture of the main hall is inspired by Tiantan in Beijing. Two sets of stairs, each with 89 steps that represent Chiang’s age until the time of his death, lead visitors to the main hall. The main hall has a main entrance that has double doors. Each of them stands 16 meters and weighs 75 tons. The structure has four sides that are similar to those of the pyramids in Egypt. The structure is built using white marble. The roof is octagonal-shaped which measures up to 75 meters tall and covered with deep-blue glazed tiles. The octagonal roof symbolizes number 8 which is believed to be a number of abundance and prosperity. On top of the roof there is a motif that symbolizes the unification of man and heaven. The white color is the color of the bright sun and the blue color is the color of the blue sky that is also the dominant color in the Taiwan’s national flag. Nearby the hall, there is a beautiful garden full of red flowers. So the whole combination of colors (blue, white and red) resembles the National Flag of Taiwan and the spirit of freedom, equality and brotherhood. 
The main memorial hall
The large bronze statue of the former president Chiang sitting on a chair in a traditional Chinese dress with a smiling face welcomes the visitors who enter the main hall. The statue is guarded by two Taiwan’s national flags. The Chinese inscription that says Ethics, Democracy, and Science is on the wall above behind the statue. There were a lot of controversies to remove the massive statue between those who considered themselves political descendants of the leader and those who viewed him as the one responsible for the dark side history of Taiwan. 
The giant statue is guarded by two motionless guards with rifles. Behind each guard is a wall inscription on white marble walls that reads “The purpose of life is to improve the general life of humanity and The meaning of life is to create and sustain subsequent lives in the universe”. I wonder how the guard could stand standing still without even moving his eye. They must have undergone extremely hard training. 
The guards in white uniforms change their shift every one hour from 9 am to 5 pm every day. The procession attracts many visitors’ attention. They march and swing their rifle. I wonder how they could do the procession in such a full-order way. 
The vaulted ceiling of the main hall is decorated with the symbol of the Kuomintang (KMT). 
The ground level consists of a library and a museum. This is the entrance to the museum that documents Chiang Kai Shek’s life and Taiwan’s history and development. The exhibition hall consists of six chambers that display Chiang’s wardrobe, utensils, medals, vehicles, and manuscripts. 
The museum houses an assortment of military uniforms, medals, paintings and manuscripts, along with two humungous black bulletproof Cadillacs Chiang used. 
The painting of Chiang and his teacher, Dr. Sun Yat Sen 
This car is an anti-bullet car that saved Chiang Kai Shek’s life from a gunshot. 
The wax replica of Chiang Kai Shek sitting at his desk was a creation of the famous sculptor Mr. Jian Cheng Lin. All the things here were directly transported from Chiang’s original presidential office by the Office of the President in 1994. The surrounding Chinese paintings were created by Madame Soong May Ling and some of them were gifts from his distinguished guests.
Chiang Kai Shek’s fame never fades away even after he passed away. His memory is ingrained in the heart of the Taiwanese who admire him. I think Indonesia should also build such a grandeur memorial hall to appreciate our national leaders who have contributed their lives to the development of the country.
Sources:
Personal experience and additional information from other online articles
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