Sun Moon Lake (Ci En Pagoda)
Ci En Pagoda was a monument Chiang Kai Shek erected to commemorate his mother. (Chiang Kai Shek was the first leader of Taiwan. He and his troops fled Chairman Mao's communist movement to Taiwan. Although he planned to stay only temporarily and win back mainland China, he spent the rest of his life living here in Taiwan.) There was a fairly easy and beautiful short hike to the pagoda. Ta Da! Here it is!!! There's a huge bell at the top that you can ring, and the 360 degree view of the lake is beyond compare. (Just wish there was an elevator. JK!) Yup, we climbed those stairs. I rang the bell! It's super loud! What do you think? Is it a nice view or what? Yay! I was here! Opposite the pagoda was this building. It was structurally damaged during an infamous earthquake (on 9/28 I believe) years ago. Last time Albert was here he said he was able to get in and see an even better view than from the pagoda. It's blocked off now and no one seems intereste...