Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂 or CKS Memorial Hall) is one of the most recognizable landmarks and top tourist attractions in Taipei.
More than just a memorial hall to a former dictator, the grounds also include a free museum, flag-raising and guard-changing ceremony, largest public square in the country, the twin National Theater and Concert Hall buildings, cafés, ponds, cherry blossoms, gardens, and parks where elderly do tai chi in the morning.
Since most visitors include CKS Memorial Hall on their Taipei itinerary, I thought it would be useful to write this guide to help you maximize your time there.
I’ll be covering the hall’s history, best times to visit, main things to see and do there, and at the end, best places to eat nearby.
CKS Memorial Hall: A Quick History
Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of the Republic of China from 1928 until his death in 1975.
When Chiang’s Kuomintang (國民黨 or KMT) party lost the Chinese Civil War to the communists in 1949, he and some 2 million soldiers and party members fled to and took control of Taiwan.
They initiated a 40-year period of martial law and political repression now known as the White Terror (白色恐怖).
After his death, the KMT government set about building the memorial hall and the sprawling square in front of it.
The memorial hall’s design was modeled on the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, China – SYS being the founder of the KMT party (there’s also a “Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall” in Taipei).
Once open, the square became a popular venue for pro-democracy protests in the 1980s and 90s, culminating in the country’s first democratic election in 1996.
In 2007, the first non-KMT president of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, renamed CKS Memorial Hall as the “National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall” (國立台灣民主紀念館).
The characters 大中至正 (Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness) on the main gate to the square were taken down (see photo above) and replaced with 自由廣場 (Liberty Square).
While the name “Liberty Square” remains today, KMT President Ma Ying-jeou in 2008 changed the memorial’s name back to “Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall”, and that is still its name today (as well as the name of MRT station beside it).
In a further attempt to reduce the “cult of personality” around Chiang Kai-shek, in 2024, the guard changing ceremony was moved from the upper floor of CKS Memorial Hall, where there’s a huge seated statue of CKS, down to Liberty Square in front of the hall.
Getting to CKS Memorial Hall
CKS Memorial Hall is at the heart of Zhong Zheng district (中正區), which also takes its name from Chiang Kai-shek, in central Taipei.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall MRT station Exit 5 is at the southwestern corner of Liberty Square, next to the National Theater.
The MRT is on the Green Line, which provides access to popular Ximending neighborhood, and the Red Line, which provides access to Taipei Main Station and Shilin Night Market in one direction and Yongkang Street and Taipei 101 in the other.
From the MRT exit, one enters the walled grounds, walks north to Liberty Square Arch, the traverses the square between the National Theater and Concert Hall to reach the Memorial Hall at the eastern end of the square.
Best Time to Visit
Liberty Square is open 24 hours, so you can even visit it at night, when the hall and theater/concert hall are lit up (until midnight).
Early morning, from around 6 to 9 AM, is a lovely time to visit the grounds, when many local elderly do tai chi, exercise, or dance in the parks framing the square.
The flag raising ceremony takes place in the square at 6:00 AM (April to September) and 6:30 AM (October to March). The flag lowering ceremony takes place at 6:10 PM and 5:10 PM in summer/winter, respectively.
CKS Memorial Hall itself, including the free museum and gift shop inside, are open daily from 9 AM to 6 PM.
The hall is closed on Lunar New Year’s Eve, Lunar New Year’s Day, February 28, and on some random maintenance or typhoon days (read what else is closed on LNY in Taipei).
If you visit in the evening after a day of heavy rain, you may be lucky enough to get photos of Liberty Arch or the National Theater/Concert Hall reflecting in puddles of water, like the below.
Around National Day (October 10), you can expect to see a ton of Taiwan flags lining Democracy Boulevard in the square.
Budget 1-2 hours for your CKS Memorial Hall visit – shorter for a quick look or longer if you want to fully explore the gardens and museum.
Guard Changing Ceremony
Try to time your visit with one of the Guard Changing Ceremonies, which take place hourly from 9 AM to 5 PM. (9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, and 17:00).
While the ceremony used to take place on the top floor of the hall in front of the CKS statue, in 2024 it was moved to Liberty Square at the bottom of the big staircase in front of the hall.
Right on the hour, the guards will emerge from the right-side entrance of the hall and march to a roped off area on the front square – you can’t miss the crowds waiting for it.
The guards will strut around and pose for about 10 minutes before returning to the hall.
It’s nice to see it up and close, but you can also get a great view of the whole scene and grounds if you go up the stairs of the hall, as in my below photo.
The ceremony is usually canceled if there’s rain and on major holidays like LNY Eve, LNY Day, and February 28. The official times are listed here.
Plum and Cherry Blossoms at CKS
You can see gorgeous plum blossoms (梅花) on the CKS grounds. White ones bloom from around January to February, while pinks ones (difficult to differentiate from cherry blossoms) bloom from February to March. Find their exact locations and blooming dates here.
Meanwhile, you can also see several types of cherry blossoms (櫻花) there from early February to mid-March.
See my Taiwan cherry blossoms guide and the cherry blossom locations at CKS here, here, and here for more information.
Other flowers and plants you can see on the CKS grounds include osmanthus (桂花), succulents, banyan trees, and many indigenous plants.
Things to See and Do at CKS Memorial Hall
The following sights are listed roughly in the order you’ll encounter them coming from Exit 5 of CKS Memorial Hall MRT Station.
Liberty Square Arch
Liberty Square Arch (自由廣場牌樓) is the main and largest gate to Liberty Square. The colors of the five-arched gate mimic those of the memorial hall, with a white base and blue tiled roof.
The Mandarin characters 自由廣場 (Liberty Square) are emblazoned on either side of it. They are written from left to right, contrary to the original characters before the gate’s name was changed, which were right to left (traditional Chinese-style).
The view looking through the arches at the square and memorial hall at the end is one of the most iconic views in Taipei, so don’t miss it!
National Theater and Concert Hall
These two photogenic, classical Chinese-style buildings stand on either side of Liberty Square. The National Theater (國家戲劇院) is on the south side near the MRT exit, while the National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳) is on the north.
If you’d like to attend an event in either of these, check their official website for listings.
It’s possible to peek inside the National Concert Hall, but you won’t see much.
Just inside the main door, there’s a branch of Chun Shui Tang (here), the Taichung-based chain often credited with the invention of bubble tea. However, this is more of a sit-down restaurant than a place to buy a bubble tea to take away.
But if you’re looking for a meal, the restaurant is good, and you can get a glass of the famous bubble tea with it!
For the best photos of these two buildings, visit in the morning when the sun’s angle is lower and skies tend to be clearer.
Liberty Square and Democracy Boulevard
Liberty Square (自由廣場, also called Freedom Square) is the largest public square in Taiwan. 240,000 square meters is the often-cited figure, though this number includes the entire grounds, with all of the buildings, parks, gardens, lawns, ponds, and so on.
The actual cement square between the National Theater and Concert Hall measures, by my calculation, 14,400 square meters.
If you add Democracy Boulevard (民主大道), the cement walkway extending from Liberty Arch past the square to the Memorial Hall, and the hall itself and cement around it, we are talking more like 72,000 meters. Nevertheless, the square is very large.
The best way to admire the square and boulevard is looking down from the upper floor of CKS Memorial Hall, which we’ll get to below.
On weekends, there are often public events on the square, such as cultural fairs or concerts.
Don’t worry about protests, as those are usually held not at CKS anymore but at Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Palace nearby, and they are always peaceful, anyways.
Ponds and Parks
There’s actually more green space than cement on Liberty Square. Parks run around almost the entire perimeter of the grounds.
In these parks, you’ll find elderly locals doing tai chi or dancing in the morning, families feeding fish in the ponds, many kinds of indigenous plants and flowers (including plum and cherry blossoms), and plenty of shaded paths for taking a stroll.
The largest park areas are to the south of Democracy Boulevard, which has Yunhan Pond (雲漢池) and this small café, and to the north of Democracy Boulevard, which has Guanghua Lake (光華池).
At the far eastern end of the grounds, behind CKS Memorial Hall, there’s a walking path that is especially quiet and suitable for contemplation. Watch for the entrance right about here.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Finally, we’ve come to the actual hall. Designed by architect Yang Cho-cheng, the hall’s design takes inspiration from Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, China.
The monumental, four-sided white hall faces west, with a double-layered, eight-sided, deep blue-tiled roof topped with golden crown. From base to crown it is 70 meters tall.
On the front side, two tall cement staircases with an area of white carved reliefs between them, typical of many Chinese temples, lead up to an arched entrance on the upper floor of the hall.
A plaque above the entrance arch reads 中正紀念堂 (Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall).
Inside the upper floor is a room with a 10-meter bronze statue of a seated Chiang Kai-shek, reminiscent of the Lincoln statue in Washington, D.C.
Until 2024, the guard changing ceremony used to take place in this room.
Don’t forget to look up at the beautiful domed ceiling design with ROC flag sun at its center.
Pro Tip: If you can’t or don’t want to walk up all those stairs, take the elevator instead! To find it, you’ll need to enter the CKS Memorial Hall building – there are entrances on the left and right sides of the building. You’ll find the elevator roughly in the middle of the building – take it up to the 4th floor.
Museum and Other Facilities Inside
Inside the CKS Memorial Hall building, facilities include a restaurant, post office, and several gift shops with a decent array of Taiwan souvenirs – the pick of the bunch is here.
If you’ve just visited the CKS statue on the 4th floor, the easiest way is to take the elevator down to the 1st floor – it’s tucked away at the back corner of the statue room and many visitors don’t even realize it’s there.
The free museum is located on the ground floor. Upon entering, the first thing you’ll see is an enormous black-and-white photograph of a 1990 pro-democracy demonstration in Liberty Square (see image of it in the history section above).
The speaker facing the square in the photo is Huang Hsin-chieh, a pioneer of the movement. A few days after the photo was taken, the movement would come to be known as the White Lily Student Movement.
The room to the left contains various artifacts and mementos associated with Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong Mei-ling, including clothing, office materials, letters, books, furniture, and even a few of their cars.
The room to the right of the large painting contains a exhibit on “Taiwan’s long walk to freedom of speech.”
Roofed Corridor and Other Gates
A roofed corridor runs around much of the inside perimeter of the CKS grounds, with a total length of 1200 meters.
Like the main gate and memorial hall, the corridor is white with blue tiles on the roof. There are latticed windows of different shapes which provide views looking out at the surrounding streets.
Besides Liberty Arch at the western end of the square, there are two more gates.
At the southeastern end of the square, Daxiao Gate (大孝門) feeds directly to the south side of the CKS Memorial Hall building, the same side where the guards emerge from for the guard changing ceremony.
Directly north of CKS Memorial Hall is the similar Dazhong Gate (大忠門), shown in my below photo.
Where to Eat Around CKS Memorial Hall
There are some excellent dining options around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
If you want to get breakfast before visiting, I recommend Ding Yuan Soy Milk (鼎元豆漿, here), one of the best traditional Taiwanese breakfast shops in Taipei.
CKS Memorial Hall MRT exit 3 is closest. After eating there, it will be easiest to enter the CKS grounds via Daxiao Gate.
Following a big renovation, Nanmen Market is perhaps the nicest traditional market in the country.
Locals shop here for various dried foods, meats, veggies, and so on, but there are delicious steamed rice cakes here on the 1st floor and a famous knife cut noodles shop (usually with long line) here in the food court on the 3rd floor.
Just east of the CKS grounds, Hang Zhou Xiao Long Bao (here) is one of the best xiaolongbao (soup dumpling) shops in Taipei. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand award and is less touristy than Din Tai Fung.
Right next to it is another one, Shengyuan Xiao Long Bao (here).
If you’ve got a big group looking for a local dinner, this quick fry (快炒) restaurant nearby is very popular.
Just around the corner from CKS Memorial Hall MRT exit 5, Revolver is one of the best underground music bars in the city.
