Visiting several gardens in the city center of Taipei/Carlos Pueblo

 Visiting several gardens in the city center of Taipei/Carlos Pueblo

Last month, I was in Taipei for my dental work and visited several gardens in the city center of Taipei. I have been very impressed. I stayed at a small inn in front of the main rail station very close to the Presidential Palace, the 228 Memorial Park, the small Chiang Kai-sek Birthday Park, the Freedom Square Park, the Da-An Forest Park, and a small Chian Kuo Holiday Flower Market, etc. They are all full of the spring flowers, gardens and market.

I walk into the 228 Memorial Park to have my breakfast of hot soybean milks both salty and sweet with a pair of clay oven rolls and fried dough sticks every morning. The park, with an old name of the New Park back to my school time, has been re-named in honor of the 228 Massacre to Taiwanese by Chiang's Nationalist Army who took over the control of Taiwan on February 28, 1947. Now, the city has beautified the park with the azalea and some new Japanese cherry trees. I can view the lovely blossom all the way through a small Chiang's Birthday Memorial Park between the First City Girls' High campus and the 228 Park. Of course, the distinguished building of the Presidential Palace is in the other side of the huge open square of the Katagalan Boulevard. Katagalan is a native Taiwanese tribe name in Taipei area. There are several small azalea gardens by the huge red brick Palace building. Japanese built this building as the Governor's office before 1945, 1895-1945. Chiang used it as his Presidential Palace.

Acrossing the old Eastern and the Southern Gates of the Manchu Dynasty, still in good shape, I came to visit Freedom Square Park. There is a huge area garden park with three distinguished buildings, Chiang Kai-sek Memorial, the National Music Hall, and the Peking Opera Hall. With the permission of Chiang's son and successor, Chin-Kuo, the city vacated several military compounds to the suburban areas and made the space available for his father's memorial and later two other buildings added. I see Chinese plum trees with fruits and Japanese cherry flowers blossoms are still on. Of course, there are still many well managed gardens spreading around the Square.

I need to take a subway for two stops to reach Da-An Forest Park and Chian Kuo Holiday Flower Market. Again, the Park was built after Chiang's death in 1975 when I left the country. Also with his son's help to vacate all necessary illegal occupants in the area to create such beautiful gardens and forest park for its residents and visitors. I like to introduce my worldwide readers to what I have encountered of the spring blossom in Taipei, the azaleas, the dahlia or the India Peony, the Spiders Flowers or the Cleome. I shall post many of my collections for you all.