Not sure how many of you have made the trip to CKS’s tomb in Cihu, but it’s an adventure well worth undertaking, especially if you are in the Taipei/Taoyuan area.
For anyone who doesn’t know how to get there, you can take a train to Taoyuan from Taipei, and once at the Taoyuan train station, the quickest way to go directly to Cihu is to take a taxi. As I recall it was around NT600 each way, and the cab driver decided to hang out in Cihu since it was a beautiful day, so he waited for my friend and I to visit the grounds and then drove us back to the train station. The tomb is open until around 6 PM.
I thought the site was beautiful as it is quite secluded, has a lovely lake and several bridges, and you also have the chance to see about a hundred different CKS statues in different poses, fairly absurd, espeically the ones that make him look like “Jiang Yeye” Not quite the friendly grandfather.
The tomb itself is an appropriately serene setting, and has a guard.
Regardless of your political leanings, it makes an interesting trip. I certainly would want to see Mao’s gravesite as well when I have the chance. And apparently, Chiang is going to be moved soon to a new location.
I don’t think it’s a bad idea to send Chiang to China, since it’s his native land. However, it’s questionable what the CCP would think about that, even if they’re enjoying a cordial relationship with the current Guomindang administration.
If the ROC were to send Chiang to China, it would be appropriate to include Lien Zhan and James Song as tokens of good will towards the CCP.
Or better yet, in the spirit of the best professional sports trades, Lien and Song in exchange for the two pandas China is offering and…perhaps a player to be named later?
[quote=“Jive Turkey”][quote=“Etheorial”]
If the ROC were to send Chiang to China, it would be appropriate to include Lian Zhan and James Song as tokens of good will towards the CCP.
[/quote]
Should the ROC wait until they die naturally or just whack them out now so they can be sent together as a trio? [/quote]
Ad Ma to it and make it a quartet :raspberry:
He should be given a chance as Guomindang Chairman before he joins the not-so-hallowed ranks of has-been, CCP-loving politicans.
In other words, let us see how he chooses to address China-Taiwan relations before automatically assuming he’ll bend over and drop trou in Lien Zhan and James Song fashion.
Alot of assumptions are being made about Ma, and it’s natural, given the fact that he’s Taipei City Mayor and a popular politician. He has shown that he favors internationalizing Taipei City, most notably with his implementation of Hanyu Pinyin. Whether you like it or not, Pinyin is currently the international standard for Romanization of Chinese.
Ma’s international outlook could be exactly what Taiwan needs, especially given the current administration’s dismal efforts at localization. In fact, the more I look at it, the more it seems that the President has already become a lame duck. The best he can do to maintain some respectability is say he’ll never accept diplomas from China, or maybe take a trip to Honduras or Chad, clearly indispensable allies of the ROC.
Taiwan clearly needs a change. The shameless, CCP-loving antics of Lien and Song are not the answer. Nor are the DPP’s protectionist localization policies. In the long run, trying to prevent Taiwanese from studying in China, preventing Chinese tourists from visiting Taiwan, or promoting Taiwanese-language education won’t benefit the people of this country, many of whom are especially concerned about the economy.
Pursuing a more constructive relationship with the Chinese leadership while maintaining Taiwan’s sovereignty would be something for Ma Yingjiu to strive for.
Glad to see that you’ve dropped any pretense of discussing an issue and have gone straight into the the blue-bashing orgy. You’re all so in love with yourselves. :loco:
I haven’t been yet, but I plan to go. Thanks for the info Etheorial.
I have stopped by at the tomb on my way back from Shimen dam some time back; actually I was with some local friends and they decided to go there.
It’s a nice area but I couldn’t get “excited” about the tomb itself and, I hope I can say this without getting deported, didn’t bow in front of it (if I recall correctly you are instructed to do so on a sign board).
IMHO it’s not worth a day trip alone but rather something you could do if you are in the area.
I think bowing is the respectful thing to do, but I can see why some people wouldn’t want to.
There’s a large black and white portrait of Zhongzheng that hangs above the tomb. He’s smiling and looks quite pleased. Definitely a “Jiang Yeye” type image.
For Chinese history buffs, I’d say the tomb is a must-see.
If you read the history, you will find that he did a much better job than he is given credit for.
If you don’t believe my posts, you can check out some of the information pertaining to The Northern Expedition and the War of Resistance in Chinese history texts, objective ones not written by leftists praising Mao Zedong and the CCP for lying to the Chinese peasantry.
The fact that CKS had to fight the CCP on one front and the Japanese on aother is conveniently overlooked. That the CCP falsely claimed to be interested in national unity against the Japanese, but in fact wanted to consolidate its hold over China is also overlooked. That the US stupidly pressed CKS into negotiating with Mao Zedong so he was considerably weakened after WWII is also often overlooked.
As for the Martial Law Era, try this on for size. What exactly was the alternative? Absorption by Communist China. The Martial Law Era may have been a bad time in Taiwan, but it was a considerably better time than the Cultural Revolution in China.
And Chiang Kai-Shek’s son Jiang Jingguo ended Martial Law. It doesn’t matter if he was pressed by the US government to do it, HE still did it. I know plenty of Taiwanese who think highly of Jiang Jingguo. In fact, I had a long conversation with one student last night who was praising him for building up the country’s economy.
Who’s the country’s leader now? A man who has who no concept of how to run foreign policy, someone who talked a big game about standing up to China to win votes, when he knew that Taiwanese independence was a pipe dream. He’s a fool, and he’s becoming increasingly irrelevant.
This thread has me wondering now. When LTH and CSB move on to the next life, is ROC going to build them a park and a memorial tomb.
Could you image the portraits LTH portrait in a Japanese military uniform, LTH communist membership photo, LTH in a Samurai outfit.
Or how about CSB? Him in a superman costume. It be really nice to have a portrait of CSB in a ROC military uniform fighting the PRC…if it only wasn’t for his bum arm.
But I have to agree the tomb is nice.
I am wondering what will happen when the Strait Issue is finally resolved. Would the mainland honor CKS wish of being moved to the mainland?
His body was supposedly embalmed (like Lenin’s) and kept on display in Beijing. I say “supposedly” because some claim that the embalming process went awry, and that it’s just a wax replica.
I’ve been to Cihu a few times with the family. It’s just a park (one portion of which has been littered with hundreds of unwanted CKS statues) and a visitor center / shop (selling CKS memorabilia like t-shirts and bobble-heads). There are some walking trails. The shrine itself is in a small house, with the casket on display, and soldiers doing their usual goose-stepping, heel-clicking, rifle-twirling, changing-of-the-guard routine for the tourists.