National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, Taipei

In honor and memory of the war dead of the Republic of China

The main gate.

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei (Chinese 國民革命忠烈祠) is a special place dedicated to the soldiers of Republic of China (official name of Taiwan today, but the state was founded in 1911), who died for their country in past wars, such as in the Chinese Civil war and few others (more info here). It's a solemn place, but it's also open to visitors, so if you're visiting Taipei, it's definitely one of the places you should see. If you're interested in the history of Republic of China, you should visit the Martyrs' Shrine along with the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. All there places are admission free.

A huge gate at the entrance of the Martyrs' Shrine with a guarding soldier.

The main gate from up close.

The main gate from the inside.

The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine was built in 1969. The photos here were made by my girlfriend, who visited the the shrine today, but she did not take photos of the main building. You can see a photo here (by H&XL). That building is supposed to resemble the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing. But my girlfriend said it's being renovated currently, keep that in mind, if you plan to make photos of the shrine these days.

On the left photo you can see a soldier guarding the main gate. They have to stand still for 1h hour. No movements are allowed. They only have someone, who wipes of the sweat from their faces. Every full hour there is a changing of the guards ceremony and it's really worth to see. If you haven't seen that yet, check the embedded video below.

The soldiers, who get the honor of being guards at the Martyr's Shrine need to meet some qualifications: No criminal history, at least a high school education, be between 175cm - 195cm tall, weigh 65kg (± 1kg) and need to have a lot of discipline (source). As you may imagine, only the best of the best are eligible to guard one of the most important places of remembrance in the Republic of China.

The changing of the guards ceremony.

Rwo kinds of uniforms, blue soldiers are from the Air Force, white from the Navy.

Changing of the guards (Seen a woman with a baby passing by?)

The shrine is located near another famous building: The Grand Hotel.

I had to post these photos here, because they're really good. Thanks again to my girl, who took the time to visit the place and made these great shots. Taipei is so hot this summer, you can see that in the last photo, but that makes the photos pretty good. Let's take a second and think about those soldiers, who have to stand under the scorching sun of Taipei for a full hour without moving. I admit, I would not be able to do this. I'm not soldier material. How about you?

[Military of the Republic of China][All photos by LilyChen, 2010]