Visit to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and tea for three at the Wisteria Tea House

10 Jan 2016

The most prominent historical landmark in Taiwan is the Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall. It was erected in honour and memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China.  Not to miss are the hourly changing of guard ceremony where one could see precision drills of the military personnel guarding the large bronze statue of Chiang.

We had made an appointment to meet up for tea with a niece who resides and works in Taipei in the afternoon, so we had the morning free to go see the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

We were hoping to have some local breakfast en-route to the destination but the shops around our hotel in Taipei (CityInn Hotel Taipei Station Branch III) were closed in the early morning, except for a 24 hr McDonalds just across the road from our hotel. Should have just eaten at the McDonalds. Upon reaching the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Station, we explored the vicinity around it and chanced upon a small hole in the wall food store serving local snacks and soya bean drinks near Nan Hai Road.

Bingo. Having our fill of fried dough fritters, carrot cake and soya bean for breakfast, we decided to drop by the nearby Nan Hai Market to check things out. That’s when things got out of hand we bought ourselves two big bags of goodies to carry, before we even start our day at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Goodies consisting of preserved dry fruits, grilled paper-thin crispy pork slices (Bak Kwa), roasted nuts of all sorts. The local Bak Kwa here is paper thin and crispy, compared to the thicker and chewy type sold at home.

Stall in Nanhai Market selling chinese sausages and dried food.

Preparing Bak Chang - steamed glutinous rice with fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Stall selling dried fruits and all sorts of nuts.

Vendor grilling the Taiwanese bak kwa – paper thin pork slices of various flavours.

Armed with our two shopping bags, we went to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall finally.

First view of the site as we approached Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. This is the Performing Arts Theatre.

The memorial square area was huge, tiled in white and thankfully not too hot (since it was winter in Taipei).

The vast open area of the Memorial Square with Freedom Square Memorial Arch (left) and Cultural Center (Right).

Freedom Square Memorial Arch.

The octagon-shaped white building is the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, where the hourly changing of the guard takes place. The tentage (light blue) that spoilt the photo is for some event related to the Disney movie Frozen.

Upon climbing up the 89 steps that represented Chiang's age of death, we entered the cavernous hall. A seated and smiling Chiang Kai Shek greeted us. It reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC that I visited a few years ago.

Father of the Taiwan Nation.

The characters behind Chiang's statue read "Ethics", "Democracy", and "Science", and the inscriptions on the side read "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".

Ceiling with the sun emblem.

The big hall was already crowded with people waiting for the changing of the guards ceremony. The performance area was cordoned off and the onlookers could get good views of the ceremony.

Appearance of the new set of guards.

Super precision drill by the soldiers. Rifle twilling, smart salutes, heels clicking and robotic like steps.

Newly installed guard will stand motionless and straight for the next hour.

After viewing the ceremony, we made our way down the building to look at the displays that documented the history of Taiwan and the life of the late President.

Sedan chair and ricksaws used when visiting troops in the mountainous area of Kinmen.

Official State Car (a Cadillac) weighing 2 tons, normally used by Chiang.

Another car, donated by overseas Chinese in the Philippines, but used only once apparently.

A 3.51 m x 5.35m oil painting of Sun Yet Sun and Chiang Kai Shek, on board a train from Guangzhou to Shanoguan in preparation for the Northern Expedition.

We ended our visit with a lunch at the restaurant located within the Hall. The restaurant serves healthy vegetarian dishes and was a great way to relax and rest of feet before walking to Wisteria Tea House.

Lunch (Zha Jiang Mian – fermented soya bean paste noodle) at the vegan restaurant located within the CKS Memorial Hall.

The Wistaria Tea House is a well-known and historically important teahouse located in the Daan District. The nearest subway station is the Daan Park Station, 2 stops by subway from the CKS Memorial Hall. We decided to walk to the tea house and do some sightseeing and shopping along the way. 

Along the way, we passed by Yong Kang Street (where we were yesterday) and the famous Ding Tai Fung restaurant where we can see people waiting for their queue number to be called, so that they can have their lunch in the restaurant. We spent some time in a Northface shop that was having a sale and tried to buy some hiking pants for our planned trip to hike the Nakasendo Trail in Japan later this year. Unfortunately, the shop does not have the size for the pants we wanted. We bought a small hiking bag that was on sale instead. This bag would come in useful for the rest of trip in Taipei.

We finally arrived at the teahouse, at the appointed time. Wisteria tea house is situated in a Japanese-style wooden house built in the 1920s on Xinsheng South Road.

There is a small koi pond near the entrance but I did not stop to admire the koi as our niece was waiting inside. Our niece had made a reservation, so we were led to a room with three low tables where we occupied one of the tables and other guests were using the other tables. We sat at the low table, cross legged, Japanese style.

The tea menu has a wide variety of tea for us to choose from. We each picked a tea ( costing about 350 to 400 NT each), plus some mochi snacks.

Tea drinking apparatus at the Wisteria Tea House, Taipei.

There are two white tea cups per person. The wider round cup is for drinking the tea and the taller narrower cup is where the server will distribute the prepared tea.

We requested for and were given a demonstration of the proper way to prepare and drink the Chinese tea.

Pour hot water to rinse and heat up the serving mug and cups.

Pour the tea leaves into the small tea pot using the funnel provided.

Add hot water. Wait about 30 seconds and pour tea into the 3 serving cups for each person.

We would than pour the tea into the round cup for drinking the tea and can smell the fragrance of the tea from the narrow serving cup when it is emptied.

Repeat 6 to 7 times before discarding the used tea leaves.

We took turns to prepare and serve the tea using the leaves we ordered, starting from the mild tea to the stronger one. Chit-chatting, while preparing and drinking tea, and snacking on delicious mochi snacks and the whole afternoon soon passed by quickly.