National Palace Museum
Regardless of how you feel about Chaing Kai-shek and his place in history, his greatest contribution to Taiwan can be found throughout the halls of the incredible National Palace Museum. Emperors had been assembling this collection for centuries in the Forbidden City.
When the Japanese invaded, Chaing had his KMT troops collect as much of it as possible and carefully package it for transport. The National Palace Museum has the greatest collection of Chinese Art in the worldIt was moved to Taiwan after it became apparent that the KMT had lost the civil war to the communists. (Amazingly,NOTHING was broken in transit).
Considering the wide spread destruction that occurred during the Cultural Revolution, it is not an exaggeration to state that General Chaing saved thousands of years of Chinese culture that would have surely been destroyed by the rampaging mobs that Mao set loose back in the 1960s. Welcome to the National Palace Museum.
Set into the side of a mountain, only a fraction of the 650,000 items, including calligraphies, paintings, ceramics and jade carvings are on display at any one time. The museum rotates the items on display frequently, so there is always something new to see.
The vast majority of art is stashed away in tunnels drilled deep into the mountain. Be sure to stroll the extensive gardens and visit the tea house on the fourth floor. The museum is located north of Taipei and can easily be reached by the MRT and any number of buses.
The staff at the Taipei Hostel can provide you with all the instructions you need.
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