If you are planning to go to Taiwan, you will probably land in Taoyuan International Airport. Although your planet ticket indicates “Taipei” as the destination, you will find yourself in Taoyuan province and have to travel 45 kilometers to reach Taipei. The airport province is often neglected by tourists because they are attracted to the charm of the capital. Taoyuan is a gold mine for travelers with hidden gems just waiting to be discovered. And I have found one! It's called Cihu.
Cihu's untouched forest and serene lakes are full of life. The resemblance of Chiang Kai-Shek's (CKS) home province in mainland China to Cihu made him decide to choose the place as the site for a vacation villa for his family. This is also the place where CKS made the plan for the 'retake' of China. Unfortunately, the military operations failed but the memories of the great plan still remains in Cihu.
Behind Cihu is a place called Back Cihu. It is a military controlled area and one has to register online to visit the place. The rules are very strict and I just found myself riding a bus going to Baiji Tunnel with a group of local tourist. The total length of the trail in Back Cihu is around 4 kilometers but it was an easy walk with the Back Cihu Lake and Cedar Forest as the main price for the effort.
Around the Back Cihu Lake are five command office buildings numbered one to five. I got intrigued in Command Office No. 3 which shows the replica of what was inside the Cihu Villa during the happy times of CKS's family. I saw photos of his son and also his wife known as Madame Chiang. An interesting photo was the one where CKS was reading a Bible behind a statue of Jesus Christ. I'm not sure whether it's a Bible or not but it was said in one display that a “Bible” was placed inside CKS's coffin.
When I visited CKS Memorial Hall in Taiwan Day 330 (“A Tale of Two Fathers”) I didn't see much of CKS's personal life. Most of the displays were about his life as a general. Only in Cihu that I found photos of him with his wife while having their travel adventures. haha! I can see the elegance and grace of Madame Chiang as I looked into the photos. They are really a power couple in the Chinese speaking world.
A small bee followed me in the Secret Trail. It was whispering in my ear. Buzzzz... The bee didn't bothered me anyway and I still continued with my photo sessions until I found the Emergency Shelter Tunnels. The tunnels were made to protect CKS's family in case of an attack and it is shaped like the letter F. Fruit bats are said to inhabit the tunnels nowadays.
The Cihu Mausoleum was the former Cihu Villa where happy family memories were made. It now houses the coffin of CKS with guards doing an exhibition every hour just like in CKS Memorial Hall. I went inside and took video until I was stopped by one man in black suit. Taking photos and videos are prohibited inside.
The grand finale of my Cihu tour was seeing hundreds of CKS sculptures in one place. The place is called the Cihu Sculpture Memorial Park. But why are there so many statues here? Most of the statues were originally located in different towns in Taiwan but later transferred to Cihu because they don't want to see the image of the dictator anymore. They hate CKS. He killed a lot of people! The biggest statue was the one coming from Taiwan's biggest city in the south, Kaohsiung.
How to go to Cihu? Just take a train to Zhongli Station and then look for the Taiwan Tourist Bus at the Zhongli Bus Station. It's actually Bus 501. The Cihu Route one-day ticket costs NTD 100 and you can also visit other places in Taoyuan with this ticket. What are these places? I won’t tell. I will visit them someday and they are just walking distance from Cihu. So let's go to Taoyuan and see you in Cihu.
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