The last stop on the MRT (Taipei's subway) is Danshui, a lovely, little place that we've been to before and done a previous post about. A couple stops before that was apparently a town (or suburb) called Guandu that was supposed to have the oldest temple in Taiwan, built in 1661!
We decided on Guandu and after a quick transfer and a bite to eat at the Taipei Main Station we were on our way. Something that we've noticed that's true about Taiwan is that you never know what you're going to get. The sign could say "resort" and you get a mattress on the floor and ants on the wall. The picture could show what you think is meat but instead you get brown jelly cubes. Now, our guide book said that this temple wasn't supposed to look "very impressive" from the street so we weren't expecting much, but this is what we saw as we approached...
I feel like they were wrong, don't you? This wasn't just a temple, it was an entire temple complex, complete with tunnels, a park and balconies overlooking the adjacent river scene. To get an idea of just how many buildings were in this complex, here is a picture from an upper floor of the main building, looking out at the surrounding rooftops.
The main temple was a-mazing. The intricate detail in the carving was unreal. I took a quick picture because I didn't want to disturb the worshippers and it really doesn't even come close to displaying what all the carving looked like. But maybe you can at least get an idea...
There were also domed ceilings that were carved and painted and had these enormous chandeliers. 
In addition to all the carving and detail the temple buildings were filled with sculpture and art.
After wandering around inside, we headed up to a park that overlooked the temple complex and the nearby river.
After enjoying some peace and quiet up here we decided to head down in to one of the tunnels that our guide book had talked about and see what we could see.
We emerged out of the tunnel and were in another area of worship with a fifteen foot high, many-armed, golden Buddha, surrounded by attendants and looking very serene in spite of the many weapons he was holding in his hands.
At this point we had spent quite a lot of time in the temple complex and decided to take a relaxing stroll down by the river. It was a Sunday so there were plenty of people who had the same idea. Eventually our feet tired and we looked for a place to sit. Having put down our bags, we started peacefully surveying the river and its boardwalk when all of a sudden I see Luke's head start to bob up and down, then I hear it...the tinny, metal sound of a lyre being beaten by an elderly Chinese woman. Yes, that's right. A lyre. She is dressed all in black even though it's 100 degrees out, Ray-Bans on and belting out some kind of Chinese opera into her cordless mic that hooked around her ear, a la Britney Spears. Here is a bad video of it. I wish it was better but I didn't want her to know I was video-taping her. This went on for at least 45 minutes before we decided to go. Wow...we really did not want to get back to JuBei. ; )
1 comment:
LOL at the Luke headbobbing!
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