Taiwan Day 567: See You in Cihu - March 21, 2015

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.

Sakura Series - Taiwan

2026 Forecast

Taipei 101 first flowers

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Taipei Flower Test Center

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Broadwood Park

Sunshine Sports Park kawazu sakura

Wuling Farm (武陵農場)

SYS kawazu sakura

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

CKS Memorial Hall

Shibafen Yoshino Sakura

Hope River

Dongfang Temple

Tianyuan Palace

Neicou Stream Trail

Orange Garden Cafe

Yangming Park Visitor Information Center

Yangming Park Service Center Bus Stop

Huashan Road

Qianshan Park

Zhongshan Hall Entrance

Tenglong Sakura Farm

Flower Test Center Shōwa Sakura

Neihu Creek Trail

Shulin Land Office

Xióng Kōng Cherry Blossom Forest

Lung Yen Sakura Forest

Yangming Park cherry stream

Yangming Park fountain

CKS Memorial Hall Tairyō sakura

Wugu District Tianyi Road

CKS Memorial Hall yaesakura

Loving Farm

Yong Long Farm

Zhongbaling Sakura Road

Sun Link Sea

Tai'an Police Station

Cherry Hill Slope

Hsinchu Park

Taipei 101

Kāng Gào Kēng Creek

New Garden City

Broadwood Park

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Alishan Ranger Station

Alishan House

Alishan Police Station

Alishan Forest Railway

Alishan Station

Alishan Entrance

Alishan Gou Hotel

Alishan Magnolia Garden

Wulai tour

Wun Chang Elementary School

Bishanyan

Sanzhi Sansheng Trail

Sakura Series - Taiwan

Nei Cuo Stream

Orange Garden Cafe

Sansheng Trail

Tenglong Sakura Farm

Yangming Park Cherry Stream

Yangming Park Fountain

Flower Test Center

Broadwood Park

New Garden City

Yinghua Park

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Yangmingshan Visitor Center

Taipei 101

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Sakura Series - Japan

Kamonyama Park

Near the Nippon Maru Memorial Park

Shinko Park

Minato-mirai 21 area

Tokyo Tech Suzukakedai Campus

Onda River

Tenryuji

Byodoin

Kiyomizudera

Himuro shrine and Yakushi-ji Temple

Hōryū-ji Temple

Nara Park attractions

Tokyo Tech Ookayama Campus

Sumida River

Tsuruma Park

Gion

Maple Series

Taipei Aowanda

Shimen Dam

Alishan

Aowanda

Shanlinxi

Taoyuan Valley Garden

Fushoushan Farm

Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis

The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)

Always in my heart

MRT birdman

Valentine's Day

Tulips Festival

2018 Taipei Lantern Festival

City of Azaleas

Linji Huguo Temple

Nanjichang Night Market

Gudetama Chef restaurant

Dalongdong Bao'an Temple

Shilin hollyhocks

Ningxia Night Market

Ximending graffiti

Discovery Center of Taipei

Chunghwa Postal Museum

Double-Decker Bus

Shilin Cold Balls

Jingimoo

GomanMango

mud volcanic ice

Fire and Ice Dumpling

Opium Fen-Yuan

Ichiran Ramen

Liu Shandong Beef Noodles

hydrangea flowers

National Palace Museum

Other attractions in Taipei

Taipei on a budget

Japanese buildings

Dāoxiāomiàn beef noodles

Presidential Office Building

Yongkang St. and Elephant Mountain

CKS and SYS Hall

City tour

Beitou ramen

MRT Monopoly Game

Winter city tour

Zhicheng Park

Shilin Plum Blossom

Art museums

Shopping in Taipei

Summer desserts

Qingtiangang

Qixingshan hiking

2015 Calla lily

2016 Calla lily

Beitou tour

Beitou-Zhuzihu tour

NTU

Confucius Temple

2015 Dadaocheng Festival

Puppet Museum

Fantasy Ice World

2016 Bread Show

Strawberry picking

2015 Rose Garden

Modern Toilet

Shilin Night Market

NASA Exhibit

Raohe Night Market

Longshan Temple

2013 Taipei Zoo

Maokong Gondola

Lupin flowers

Taipei 101 day visit

Taipei 101 night visit

Tiger Mountain

Din Tai Fung

Taipei Story House

2014 Flower Show

Chrysanthemum Show

Miramar Ferris wheel

Miniatures Museum

Archery

1600 Pandas

Wulaoguo hot pot

Upside Down House

2016 101 Fireworks

New Taipei

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Elephant Rock SUP/kayaking

Meteor Garden school

Tamsui Pumpkin Tunnel

Shifen Waterfall

2017 Sand Sculpture

Dragon Caves

New Taipei tour

2016 Kite Festival

Pingxi Crags

Bitou Cape

2016 Sand Sculpture

2015 Christmasland

Juming - Jinshan

Houtong - Pingxi

Sandiaoling Waterfall

Jiufen foodtrip

Guanyinshan hike

Yehliu Ocean World

2014 Kite Festival

Pingxi Rail tour

Jinguashi tour

Vigor Kobo Pineapple

British Consulate

Yehliu Geopark

2014 Sand Sculpture

Paragliding

2014 Christmasland

2014 Pingxi Lantern

firefly watching

Yingge Ceramics Street

Jiufen tour