
SInce we’ve been in Taiwan, we have mostly learned about the political landscape and history of the country. One thing we have not looked into are the religions and their history inside of the country. To do this, we decided to go to important religious temples of both Buddhism and Daoism to spot not only the differences but their significances towards the people of Taiwan.

Buddhism and Daoism are the major religions in Taiwan, with their being many temples all over Taipei City and locals praying inside of them around any part of the day, especially in the morning. We first visited the Longshan Temple where after entering a specific entrance we were able to see the locals praying and offering incense to different parts of the temple. We learned about the significance of the animals depicted in the area, with dragons being a common animal depicted in Chinese religions and how fish are spread around the temple in a way to prevent and protect the temple from fires. The temple was apparently a modern depiction of a temple as incense offerings weren’t too common around the area.
Afterwards, we went to the Xingtian Temple which was also a Buddhist temple that had desks set up near the entrance for what seemed to be for readings and/or scriptures. The temple was very similar to the other temple, except that this one seemed to have a specific area designed for gathered prayer while the first temple was designed for multiple spots.
For lunch, we went to a Mongolian BBQ restaurant that left me feeling very full and very satisfied. The meat was quickly fried for us and other meals placed around the restaurant for us to take at such a cheap price. It only made me want to eat more but I sadly had no more room for it inside me.

After lunch, we went to the Martyr’s Shrine to see the change of guards in real time. I have seen these acts before in the US but it was still very interesting to see it for a different country. It was especially impressive considering how hot it was for me just looking at them, and I was only there for 10 minutes in shorts while they were there for hours and in a military uniform. I give all respect to them for it, because I could never.

For the end of the day, we went to the National Palace Museum and looked at the various art around the area. The museum contained many different artificats of the past that depicted and explained what life and culture was like during their times. We learned the significance of jade and gold and how the higher class used them to display their status to the world. We even got to see some art depicting their erotic side of life, sadly. Overall, the day was alot slower but I really enjoyed learning about the religions of the country.
