On day 3 of our trip to Taiwan we visited Lungshan Temple, a Buddhist and Taoist temple a short drive away from our hotel. I was really excited for this visit as I had seen dozens of pictures of East Asian temples before and they always looked beautifully designed and constructed. Lungshan did not disappoint – there was a waterfall and koi fish pond lining either sides of the area, and we walked through a gorgeous archway as we entered the square. There was a bell tower and drum tower, and the buildings themselves were were really intricately made. The roofs were curved and had a peach-orange color, and detailed designs were carved into the pillars. There was also imagery of dragons almost everywhere – at the edges of the roofs, on walls, on pillars. Many of the carvings and engravings were done in gold, and the ceilings of the buildings also had gorgeous designs. There were also plenty of bonsai trees and flower pots around, and everything looked really beautiful overall. The second temple we visited, Hsing Tian Kong, was devoted to the deity of businessmen and was build by a single person in the 1960s. Unlike Lungshan, this temple was very red, and the architecture was made in the southern style, Still, both temples had really intricate designs, and dragons were also a rather prominent feature in Hsing Tian. there were also large amounts of people praying in both temples. After stopping to eat at a Mongolian style buffet, we headed to the National Palace Museum, a museum located in northern Taipei that features artifacts from Chinese and Taiwanese history. We saw many beautiful sculptures, artwork, and china, and also got to see the famous Jadeite Cabbage. The location of the museum itself was also really charming, as it was built at the base of dozens of rolling hills – the view from the museum terrace was gorgeous. Though I was quite tired by the time we returned to our hotel, it was really cool to see all these elements of Taiwanese culture and history, and I feel like I learned a lot about Taiwanese tradition.
