Taipei's Temples, Taiwan

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• published: 30 Nov 2015
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I visited 70 different temples during a recent 4 day trip to Taipei . I discovered that Taipei is truly a city of temples. There are the larger vibrant temples bustling with people like Longshan Temple as well as the local shrines hidden from the main tourist paths. Each temple is unique and beautiful and well worth taking the time to find and see. From the small smoke stained gems crushed between buildings to the larger temples with dragons perched upon their swallow-tailed rooftops. Nearly every temple has a censer (large container for holding incense sticks) stood in front. If the temple is very small it will have one on the altar. If the temple is enormous it will have multiple censers. The censer is usually the easiest to see sign that you have discovered a temple. Each one has the name of the temple engraved upon it and a few even have dragons faces which can be fierce looking or comical. Most of them have at least two dragons clinging to their sides that watch over the incense offered with prayers to the gods. The gods themselves are situated directly behind the altar which itself is behind the censer. Often there are 'lesser gods' watching prom the sides of the temple as well (some of them are hipster cool with their sunglasses). Most temples are dedicated to Taoist deities but there are also temples dedicated to Buddhist Bodhisattva, local heroes, spirits, Dutch naval officers and even hell gods. Each temple is elaborately decorated with dragons and carvings, ponds, golden painted ceilings and stunning decorations. While I was in Taipei, everyone was celebrating the Moon Festival. Many of the temples were having street parties and every person I met was friendly, often going out of their way to show me around their temples, pointing out the hidden alcoves which housed local deities, and explaining everything (although most of it went over my head as I don't have anything more than the most basic grasp of Mandarin and I don't speak any of the Taiwanese dialects). Still there were so many friendly people willing to help me and guide me to the next temple. On a side note, Xingtian Temple no longer uses incense so no longer has a censer. It is attempting to reduce its environmental impact and go green by not burning incense. Special thanks to Mark and Penny! Thank you for coming with me even though it was raining heavily and you were nearly blown away by the strong typhoon winds. You both rock! List of temples visited (translated by Penny): Longshan Temple Xingtian Temple Hongfu Temple Shengzian Temple Miaodao Temple Shengfu Temple Xinxing Temple Taipei Tienho Temple Quinsui Temple Monga Fude Temple Longging Temple Monga Wufu Temple Shueilian Temple Chingshan Temple Chitien Temple Jin Yi Dian Temple Zhi Feng Temple Shinlong Temple Fushin Temple Zhifeng Temple Gingan Temple Ginglong Temple Gudy Temple Wanshang Temple Baoan Temple Santiao Lu Fude Temple Zunwang Temple Cisheng Temple Fuxing Temple Ling Xiaobao Temple Bauxia Temple Sanxuan Temple Fude Temple Daode Temple Xietian Temple Tianhuang Temple Yongjing Temple Wenchang Temple Wenchang Shrine Jiu Fu Xian Shi Pu Hui Temple Jiu Fu Xian Shi Temple Jiulong temple Yuanming Temple Shuntian Temple Cixuan Temple Jing Fu Temple Bao Shen Temple Dalongdong Bao An Temple Gin An Temple Bao Gong Temple Jue Xiu Temple Tien Der Temple Gin Dao Temple Xin Sheng Temple Wen Tseng Chi Temple He An Temple Di Yeh Temple Wan He Gong Temple (special thank you to David for helping us!) Sheng Der Temple Gio Cha Temple Fu Yuen Temple Tien Shi Temple Fu Der Temple Xing Xin Temple Xia Hai Tseng Huang Temple Di Zhong Wang Pu Sa Temple Monga Di Zhang Wang Temple Da Zhong Temple Gi Yi Temple Each and everyone was stunning and worth facing a typhoon to see! Marxist Arrow by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/