Hotels near Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

The white octagonal hall at the head of Liberty Square opened in 1980 and is still the largest single monument in Taipei. Eighty-nine steps climb to the main chamber, one for each year of Chiang Kai-shek's life, and a bronze statue sits beneath an octagonal blue-tiled roof. Entry is free. The same plaza holds the National Theater and the National Concert Hall, two red-columned buildings facing each other across the paving.

The changing of the honour guard runs hourly on the hour between 09:00 and 17:00 and takes about ten minutes of precise rifle drill. The site's meaning is openly contested in Taiwan, and the ground-floor exhibition now covers the martial law period rather than only the general's career. By late afternoon Liberty Square belongs to skateboarders, kite flyers and dance groups practising in the shade of the arch.

Pro Tip: Get into position five minutes before the hour so you are not craning over three rows of phones. The main hall closes at 18:00 but the outer grounds stay open to 22:00, and the floodlit building from the far side of Liberty Square is the better photograph anyway.