☰Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

A grand white-and-blue ceremonial hall dedicated to the memory of Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang leader who led the Republic of China to Taiwan in 1949. Completed in 1980, the building sits at the back of a vast public plaza flanked by the matching National Theatre and National Concert Hall (both built in classical Chinese palace style). Inside the main hall, a bronze statue of Chiang sits enthroned beneath the ceiling, attended by a pair of honour guards who change in an elaborate hourly ceremony. The ground-floor museum has Chiang's personal effects, his two armoured limousines, and displays on his life — inevitably flattering, but interesting as a piece of modern Taiwanese history and political symbolism. The surrounding park is a pleasant place for a stroll.