Day 23: A City of Temples

 Today was a very long day indeed! The morning was free, which meant we got to split up and choose our own adventures! Sam, Savannah, Fiona, Annie, and I found a very nice little cafe which served us a cute European-style breakfast, complete with latte art. Then, many people went to the Tainan Art Museum, where I am assured they had a wonderful time admiring art in the AC. 

However, I went on a bit more complicated of an adventure this morning. I got out the handy dandy travel book Dong Lao Shi recommended we get before the trip, and was in fact not disappointed. Lonely Planet led me on a “Town Temple walk”, which was both a fun and culturally enriching experience, even if I did get a little lost along the way. 

Stop One was the Confucius Temple, a place for students to pray for knowledge, and for tourists like ourselves to be very impressed by the large space and awesome tower. We returned to the Temple during the scavenger hunt, so I’ll mention this space again. It was super close to our epic Book Capsule hotel, which made it even more convenient! 

Stop Two was one of my favorites. Nanmen is the south gate, and not only is there a gate as promised, but a tower/temple on top, and a wall with an excellent view of the surrounding park.

Of course, a visit to Nanmen could not be completed without stopping by the extensive plant market, which, unfortunately, we cannot buy from due to import laws. Still, it was pretty great to walk around, and the shade was nice and cool. 

Wandering in about the right direction lead me to the next stop on my list, a 300-year-old temple called Fahua. Its insides were a shady maze of connected rooms and courtyards. While uninspiring from the outside, it was an amazing retreat, and while I was inside I nearly forgot i was in the city at all! 

Next to each other waere Koxinga shrine, honoring you guessed it, Koxinga, the Ming Dynasty General who kicked the Dutch out of Taiwan; and Lady Linshui’s temple, which caters to mothers and those who seek for protection of their children. 

I also managed to make it to the City God temple, which boasts a famous plague on its entryway: “爾來了”, translated by my guidebook poetically as “You’re here at last”. Perhaps intimidating, perhaps welcoming, the temple is larger than it appears, with alters and courtyards going back what I can only assume was forever (lol). 

Another famous plaque is to be found at the Alter of Heaven, with a single stroke on it: 一. Continuing the trend, this temple is bigger than it seems, and was a pretty welcoming place as well. 

Only one more temple to go, I promise! The official God of War temple has (according to the signs) the most impressive red gables in Taiwan. I have to agree, I doubt even the tallest on our trip would be able to see over. 

The final stop before I rejoined the group for our planned activities was the Chihkan towers, whose foundations were laid by the Dutch, and while much of it was under refurbishment, I did get to feed the Koi fish and go to the top of an epic tower. Here’s the thing, I lied earlier. This was also a temple! 

Anyway, onto the actual planned activities: we got a tour of the National Literature Museum. Our tour guide’s name was Terry, and in addition to telling us all about how Taiwan’s literature has changed over the years, gave us all little rolled-up fortunes. Mine said “Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Move quickly across the bridge.” Just a tad ominous, don't you think? We also got to project our ideal books and pen names on the wall, via a neat bit of scanning. 

The museum tour even included free merch! We got free pins! The day’s activities concluded with a scavenger hunt, wherein we all got very invested and had a lot of fun! Luckily, the scavenger hunt also included instructions to buy snacks, so we got little energy boosts from rice cakes and green tea throughout. The hunt led us back to the Confucius temple, as well as to the 228 memorial galleries, the outside of the art museum, 2 temples through very fun alleyways, and a department store, whose roof held a view of the tallest building in Taipei and, you guessed it, another temple! 

Tanan is the city of temples, and I am tired. 

Night Y’all!

~ Karina