From July to September, the Tourism Bureau is offering a route designed exclusively for foreign transit travelers consisting of a half-day tour around Taoyuan, the site of Taiwan's major international airport and several modern shopping malls along with a few historic towns such as Daxi.

The route calls at three places including the old downtown of Daxi as well as the Culture Park of the Chiangs, which comprises the mausoleums of the late ROC Presidents Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jie-shi) and his son Chiang Ching-kuo (]Jiang Jing-guo), plus two residences of the senior Chiang. The third stop is at Taimall, the first large shopping mall in Taiwan, which has been in operation since 1999.

These three destinations represent three stages in Taiwan's modern history, starting with the development of Daxi, which witnessed the settlement of early immigrants from southern China on the island in the 17th century.

The rule of the Chiangs in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987 paralleled the island's progress toward economic growth and democracy-and like it or not, the first group of democracy advocates included dissidents of Chiang's authoritative government. The bourgeoning of shopping malls is a reflection of the consumer power of islanders due to their achievements in accumulating wealth. Seats on the shuttle bus can be booked at the office of the Tourism Bureau at Taoyuan Airport (TEL:+886-3-3982194, +886-3-3983341), providing transit travelers the utmost in convenience for a diverting side trip while staying for a short while in Taiwan.

Daxi's old streets: returning to

a time and place in modern history

Daxi's history stretches back to the end of the 17th century when a group of Han Chinese leased land from the aboriginal people living in the region. The Han immigrants settled around the area where present-day Daxi is situated and soon developed a river port. The main old streets of the town nowadays - Heping Road and Jhongshan Road - are not far from where the ancient port was located. The area developed as one of the major settlements of the region on the upper Tahan River here.

Cashing in on the geographic proximity of the area to virgin forest, the residents of Daxi grew wealthier than most other islanders of the time by operating businesses related to wood. Many of them are known for inherited expertise in manufacturing wooden furniture. Taking a stroll on these old streets, it's never hard to find vestiges of the classical elegance that Daxi residences and their inhabitants once possessed.

Food is another attraction for visitors to Daxi nowadays in addition to the classical architecture. Residents of the old streets offer a range of home-made local specialties made from beans and bean curd, as well as bean curd pudding and dried bean curd marinated with soy bean sauce and spices. Owning privileged access to mountain spring water has helped the historic town sustain a reputation for making top quality tofu since long ago. Peanut candy is another must-try for a trip to Daxi, one of the origins of the popular Taiwanese snack.

The Culture Park of the Chiangs:

the image of a great era

People visit the mausoleums of Chiang Kai-shek and his son for a number of reasons: veterans come here to remember the days of their youth in the military; younger generations are more likely here to see the relics of a personage who led their grandparents to leave their homes in mainland China and come to Taiwan; and many foreigners visit the site out of curiosity about the authoritative period in Taiwan's history. These numerous reasons make the site a popular destination for sightseeing Taoyuan among people of any age and nationality.

The mausoleums of the Chiangs and a former residence of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife in downtown Daxi comprise part of the Culture Park of the Chiangs that was proclaimed by the Taoyuan County government in 2009. Chiang Kai-shek picked Cihu, where his mausoleum is now located, to build a private retreat as the surroundings resembled his mainland hometown of Fenghua in Zhejiang Province and reminded him of his mother. When he died in 1975 the place was converted to his graveyard.

The area retains many of its original features including lush ecosystems, thanks to the long-term military control wielded by the late generalissimo. A sculpture memorial park which brings together dozens of Chiang Kai-shek's statues which originally stood in school campuses and government buildings around Taiwan, serves as a model for the rest of the world for running a theme park based on a political figure.

Taimall: Taiwan's first shopping mall

Opened on July 4, 1999, Taimall was the first shopping mall in Taiwan to acknowledge the surging consumer power of island residents as a result of their miraculous achievements in economic growth during the 1980s. The mall changed ownership in 2008 following the merger of a previous shareholder, the Singapore-based real estate investor GIC RE. Claiming a record number of 11.33 million visitors in its first year of operation, the mall features shops offering merchandise ranging from clothing to cosmetics and toys, as well as food and drinks, theaters and a gym.

In addition to offering the half-day transit tour between July and September, the Tourism Bureau has also launched a regular sightseeing bus route this summer around Taoyuan.

The Cihu Line (http://www.taoyuan-bus.com) is one of the sightseeing routes newly designed by the bureau for domestic and overseas backpackers and operating in 10 counties in Taiwan. The Cihu Line, whose stops are written in both Chinese characters and in English, also stops at Daxi and the Culture Park of the Chiangs, beside the Shihmen Reservoir and at the San-Keng Old Street in Longtan, which is another historic village in Taoyuan.