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Monday, August 24, 2009

The Guards -A-Changing

Martyr's Shrine, TaipeiSpent an afternoon, in the scorching HOT SUN watching the Changing of the Guards at Taipei's Martyr Shrine. This beautiful place is located only 10 mins away via SCOOTER from our home - so how come we never have gone before. Am glad we did though as it was a wonderful seeing the SOLDIERS do their thing - go through the motions for the routinely 2_hr changing shifts.

It was AMAZING how these young soldiers can stand the heat of the sun for two hours at a time.. all in the name of duty... Geez, I was there for 15 mins (the duration of the changing of guards spectacle and I was drenched in sweat - as it was forbidden to wear a hat or carry an umbrella... so we were made to suffer in the HOT SUN along with them... Guess it was just fair as we get to see them in action - up close that we could actually see SWEAT dripping on their faces.


The building are done in the ornate style of the Ming Dynasty. Dedicated to the fallen heroes of the Chinese Revolution and the war against Japan (330,000 in all!) - their names, bronze sculptures and murals of their fates lined the walls in the courtyard building.

COMPLETE PHOTOS HERE

4 comments:

Mary E. said...

Wow! What a beautiful and fascinating place. You will definitely have to take me the next time I visit.
You sure did get a lot of pics of that one guy. ;)

wtsrudi said...

it's a deal MARY... will just have to remember to put on a lot of SUNBLOCK!!!!

hahahahaha... did not even realized we photographed him too much.... he reminds me of David's youngest nephew... tall & gentle smile, just skinnier...

ACRYLIQUE said...

We just broke up :(

wtsrudi said...

Oh No Pole...am so very sorry to hear this... *HUGS*