Taipei (Taiwan) Day 1: Long Shan Shi 龙山寺

We arrived at Tao Yuan International Airport at around 2pm. As we were carrying large luggage, we decided to take a cab to our hotel. The cab fare was around NTD1000-1200, depending on the destination.Y hotel (YMCA hotel) is located near Taipei Main Station, we paid around NTD1000.

Our first destination was the famous temple Long Shan Shi (龙山寺) located at Long Shan Shi Station. Long Shan Shi Temple was built in Taipei in 1738 by settlers from Fujian, China during the time of Emperor Qian Long. It served as a place of worship and a gathering place for the Chinese settlers. The temple has been destroyed either in full or in part on numerous earthquakes and fires. During World War II, on 31 May 1945 it was hit by American bombers during the Raid on Taipei, who claimed the Japanese were hiding armaments inside. The main building and the left corridor were damaged and many precious artifacts and artworks were lost in the ensuing fire. Taipei residents had nevertheless consistently rebuilt and renovated it, and did so again after the end of the Second World War a few months later. 

While there are many temples in the city, Longshan Shi is one of the largest and famous, and it has a lot of the old Chinese traditions that are hard to find elsewhere in Taipei.
The extrinsic design of the 19th century Chinese architecture and art was amazing too.  The temple has many Chinese poems, verses and lyrics on signs which added a touch of literature in addition to the religious and sightseeing value. However, it was hard for us to enter the shrine of GuanYin because it was very crowded in the afternoon. The temple would also give out joss sticks for free to the visitors . As there were many altar, we were very confused on which to start off with so we followed the crowd. 


I was impressed by the worshippers donned in black robes kneeling or standing in front of the deities chanting faithfully in a unison voice. Most of the city dwellers like me might not have the patience do that. I could never under estimate the power of faith to God. The richness of its history had never failed to teach me something new even though this was my second visit.

Pardon my sleepy eyes. I did not catch enough sleep the night before. 
This trip was planned with Ali's parents so we did not visit many places. Yet, so long the parents were comfortable with it and that was all what matters. 


Later... ... 


Directions:
Take Banqiao Line to Longshan Temple station Exit 1

Free Entrance

7 am – 10 pm daily

Credits to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengjia_Longshan_Temple
http://ccyee.wordpress.com/tag/longshan-si-temple/
http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002090&id=93