So, my school is planning a field trip to the presidential palace next month. Has anyone else’s kindergarten done this before? It sounds cool, but seeing as foreigners teaching kindy is technically illegal it seems kinda dumb to rock up to a government building in matching uniforms. Any insight into this?
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Kindy teachers go on tours of their local police stations. I think the cops get a discount on their kid’s fees.
They can bust you at any time, but they only do it if there is a reason to.
It’s not a palace; it’s the presidential office building. Taiwan never had a monarchy, and the building is far from palatial.
Though Taiwanese people do love to refer to any piece of dump as a palace…
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Is it the garden, in Shilin? If so, be prepared not for government officials, but for mainland tourists to try to take pictures of your students and kind of whisk them away… that was super annoying. “Bu yao pai zhao” will be your friend, accompanied by a stern glare at the almost kidnappy tourists…
Eh the one in Shilin used to be Chiang Kai-shek´s Taipei residence, and though he conducted matters of State from there, well, it isn´t officially the Presidential Palace.
The Presidential Palace is open to tours on Friday afternoons and select weekends. It is a really cool place architecturally though I fear that will be lost for the kids. There is a bit of history displays -dunno how attrractive that will be for kindergraden kids. The model buidling area will be a bit more attractive as well as the art display, especially if they like cats, as they are representations of artists views of the building and Taiwan and Tsai. There are many green areas inside and usually they have vendors with foodstuffs and veggies but I strongly advise you to bring water.
Taiwan being a civil democracy, the cops are the ones in charge of safety and security of the Presidential Palace. A kindy teacher does not present a threat, unless you bring a knife or something along those lines. I recommend traveling light, as you will go through several security scans. Think airport rush.
Keep the group tight as there are many rooms and corridors and it is easy to take a wrong turn and get lost.
Of course it did, but you don’t need a monarchy to have a palace anyway.
The word palace comes from the Palatine Hill in Rome, and 宮 (as in 白宮) apparently means multiple rooms under one roof, i.e. a building that’s larger than a hovel.
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I love it when you talk dirty…
What, never?
No, never!
What, not even during the Japanese era…?
Well…hardly ever!
Hardly ever had a mon-arch-yyyy, so…
Hence the name of Emperor Palpatine.
Hey, leave my little brother out of this! 
“It’s not a palace; it’s the presidential office building. Taiwan never had a monarchy, and the building is far from palatial.”
Many dictionaries & encyclopedias define: a large house that is the official home of a king, queen, or other person of high social rank
Technically, it’s true that Taiwan never really had a native monarchy… I think quite a few Qing dynastic rulers and several Japanese Emperors had claims to the idea that Taiwan had a monarchy.