Continued.... ' Fortress  Cafe   堡壘咖啡'  (sit on the terrace on a nice day!) - Recommend! There are several reasons I recommend this Cafe - for its historical significance, its classic deco, and for in my opinion, a delightful experience all around. On a good day and at night - meals on the terrace can be romantic and even exciting. Needless to say, it's at heart of Ximending, no shortage of food, drinks, choices and company. But I personally like it. And it's free to walk around the building exploring its old-time glory and modern Taiwan history. Remember - you are eating at a historic listed building. There are limits, but there are also characters. Fire (Flame) cooking is banned. Only electric cooking is allowed in the kitchen. The terrace through the door is where Chiang KS delivered his speech. Quite a good range of choice for a menu at a historic listed building. Madame Chiang's ( Soong Mei-ling) Room The left room is kno...

The Taipei City Walls The Taipei City Walls were established in 1884  The foundation of a new prefectural capital, with enclosing wall   in 1879  Craftsmen were recruited for the construction in 1882 The wall was completed in 1884 The city's walls and the (a)West Gate were destroyed as part of the cities restructuring plan in the Japanese colonial rule (ca. 1895) After Taiwan's handover  in 1945 the (b)East, (c)South, and (d)Auxiliary South Gates were rebuilt, but the original appearances were not maintained.  The (e)North Gate alone retains its original appearance.  The East Gate is today's gateway to  Ketagalan Boulevard . The Auxiliary South Gate was built from generous donation of Zhangzhou migrants  Banqiao Lin family to separate themselves from the West Gate rivals - Quanzhou migrants.   (http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/units/TaiwanProgramme/Journal/JournalContents/TCP5Jacobs.pdf)  Taiwan ...