228 Peace Memorial Park and 228 Memorial Museum

This was Taipei's first large European-style city park, opened in 1908 as New Park. Since 1996 it has been called 228 Peace Memorial Park, and the cream building in front of you explains why.

1A radio station in the heart of the city

It was built in 1930 as the studio of the Taipei broadcasting station, the island's first major radio service. Seventeen years later its microphones found themselves at the centre of history.

2February 1947

In 1945, after Japan's surrender, the island came under the administration of the Republic of China government, led in Taiwan by Chen Yi. Anger at corruption, inflation and state monopolies grew fast. On the evening of 27 February 1947, in the Dadaocheng district, tobacco monopoly agents beat a widow who was selling cigarettes; in the commotion a shot killed a bystander. The next day crowds protested outside government offices and soldiers opened fire. Protesters then seized this radio station and broadcast the news across the island.

Unrest spread, and in early March troops arrived and crushed the uprising with extreme brutality. An official report in 1992 estimated between 18,000 and 28,000 deaths. For decades the subject was taboo.

Since 1997, 28 February has been Peace Memorial Day in Taiwan, and this building opened as a museum that same year.

3What to look for

• The radio station building, with its tiled roof and villa-like air.
• The 228 Monument, a structure of cubes and pillars at the centre of the park.
• The ponds and pavilions in Chinese style, added after the war.