This morning, my dad and I went to visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. How would I describe it? Monumental. Massive. Impressive. Built by the Kuomintang, it reflects how much they revered the man. I picked up a little brochure about the leader of the Kuomintang army and it contained such words as generalissimo, phenomenal, momentous, important pillar, great bravery, single-handedly, awesome, kindness and persistence. Although general Chiang Kai-shek and his army were defeated by the Communist movement, he never gave up his dream of making all of China a republic. More importantly to Taiwan, he was a visionary who began developing Taiwan into a prosperous, modern, and democratic state.
Then we went back to the hotel to check out and wait for a friend of my father's, who drove us to the district of Xinchuang (pron Zinzwan) where we will be staying for a couple of days because our hotel is booked up for the week-end. Mr. Chiang took us out for lunch (Hong Kong style) and then over to the riverside communities of Bali and Danshui. We traveled by ferry across the Danshui river and ambled along the boardwalks, past arcades, souvenir shops and food stalls. I saw barbecued squid, lots of deep-fried battered meat on a stick, and black "iron eggs". I also saw a small barbecued bird, which my dad and his friend described as a small pigeon. It's still winter here (although for us Canadians, it feels more like spring) and so it wasn't as busy as it could be during the summer months. Still, there were lots of other people around, enjoying the sights and smells. It was dark by the time we got back to the car.
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