Taipei’s Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

I entered through a thirty metre high archway. The grandeur of the twenty-five hectare park with the National Concert Hall on one side and the National Theatre on the other side of a wide path to the memorial, made it was clear that Chiang Kai-Shek was revered beyond all others.

Kyoto’s Eikando Temple

This temple was burned down during the Onin Wars, but reconstructed in 1497. Later other buildings were added to the grounds for another sect of Buddhism.

Maruyama Park

Until 300 years ago, the area where Kyoto’s Maruyama Park stands today was merely shrubs and weeds. Early last century a landscape gardener, Jihei Ogawa, improved the gardens. The area was originally called Makuzugahara, but during the Kamakura period, it became known as a place of traditional Waka poems.

Kyoto’s most photographed site

Fushimi Inari was dedicated to Inari Okami, the god of rice and sake in 711 before the site moved to Mount Inari in 816 and became Fushimi Inari Taisha. The first tori, the Romon tower gate at the entrance, was built from donations by a samurai warlord in 1589.

Ninh Binh’s secret island

Ninh Binh with wide streets and less traffic, still wasn’t appealing but I decided to explore anyway.