National Theater

This guide to the National Theater in Taipei traces its 1987 opening on the centenary of Chiang Kai-shek's birth, and the odd choice his government made to memorialize him with a working stage rather than a statue. You'll hear about the palace-style building's construction, including the roof of hand-glazed tiles carried up by workers tier after tier. Listen for the mythical beasts still perched along the ridge, placed there by old custom.