Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
I had a slow morning and started with brunch at the hostel owner’s wife’s café. It was great-
My tea came with a sweet foamy topping which was just the tea itself all whipped up-
I still don’t like tea!
I decided against any kind of bike and started walking along the west shore of the lake-
I came across these trees that were alive but obviously often in water. They are Warburg willows that are an endemic aquatic species and the branches grow upwards-
Once I thought I’d gone far enough, I stuck out my thumb and the seventh car picked me up. He thought I should see where the former president used to live when he came here and so that’s where he dropped me off. First I saw a Christian church, the Sun Moon Lake Church of Christ that former president Chiang Kai Shek built for his wife in 1971. It was damaged in 1999 by the Ji Ji earthquake but has been restored and is now open to the public. They have one service each week and Roman columns-
It’s a popular place for weddings partly because of the view-
Afterwards I had a pearl black tea, then started walking east. Along the way-
Wenwu Temple is in the distance-
Nearby are some floating islands. According to the Legend of Fish Woman and the Floating Islands the locals overfished the lake and made the lake spirit, who was a mermaid, angry. After arguing for three days, they came to an agreement to build bamboo rafts covered with vegetation to give the fish somewhere to spawn. They also help prevent erosion and clean the water-
Two large red lions protect it-
There are other unnamed stone statues outside-
There are three floors and on the first floor is the Prayer Palace housing five different deities including the God of War, God of Wealth, Emperor Wenchang, Guan Ping and General Zhou Cang-
From afar, the ceiling looks like heads-
but on closer inspection they are actually carvings of fairies-
Next were these men masked with paper but I have no idea why-
There are booths where you can buy offerings such as paper to burn-
and incense. There is a format for praying explained on a sign out front explaining how to pray.
1. Light two incense sticks on the tip using the lighter at the incense lighting station.
2. Face towards the entrance and pray to all Gods above for a peaceful world, favourable weather and a prosperous future for all.
3. Place one stick in the sensor.
4. Enter from the righthand side and walk towards the inner hall. Light the second stick, introduce yourself to the Gods and tell them your wishes.
There are hanging tokens offered by devotees asking for wishes-
The second floor has a room for matchmaking! Yue Lao-
is a Chinese mythological character from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). He is one of the deities in Daoism/Taoism which is a religion emphasizing harmony with “the way” and living in accordance with nature. It encourages naturalness, simplicity and non-action. Yue Lao oversees the fate of marriage between men and women-
Nearby is a stone statue of a tortoise that should be touched in certain parts when asking for certain wishes-
There are lots of carvings with dragons because the Chinese believe we are all descendants of them-
On the third floor there are altars respecting 3 religions: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The altar to Confucius-
who as a philosopher had a huge impact on East Asia with many dynasties following his ideas.
There’s also an altar for the Medicine Buddha or the Blue Bodhisattva, all in ultraviolet blue-
The third altar is for Taoism-
At the very top are arches and carvings reaching up to the heavens-
There’s a three tortoise statue - see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, a Confucius saying-
and lots of koi in the pond-
The roof’s architecture is very cool-
and so is the view-
I hitchhiked back to town and a pastor picked me up. That’s all he could say in English and that was after using a translating app. I stopped at 7-11 and picked up lupper. Lots of travellers have raved about the selection-
which might be true but the taste is less than mediocre. My meal-
I spent the rest of the late afternoon and evening at the hostel sitting in the sun and visiting. Tomorrow I will take a bus to Taipei, my last stop of this grand adventure!