Hsinchu

Temples of Lions Head Mountain

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The Lions Head Mountain Scenic Area  (獅頭山風景區) or "Shitoushan" is one of Taiwan's designated national scenic areas covering over 24,000 hectares of land in both Hsinchu and Miaoli counties. The mountain is considered sacred to Taiwanese Buddhists and is a popular weekend tourist spot due to the amount of temples, shrines and monasteries that make their home throughout the mountain. 

The Shitoushan area is also well known for its importance to the Hakka communities which have settled in the areas around the mountain in villages like Beipu (北埔), Nanzhuang (南庄) and Sanwan (三灣) as well as being important to the Saisiyat Indigenous Tribe (賽夏族) who have traditionally inhabited the area.

There are eight well developed hiking trails all of which are several kilometres long and take you through beautiful mountain landscapes with lush forests and river streams. The trails are quite popular as they do not require much in the form of hiking skill or experience and seem more like a brisk walk than actual hiking. 

Quan Hua Temple and Fu Tian Temple

Aside from the natural beauty of the mountain and the well developed hiking trails, one of the main reasons why this mountain is such a tourist destination is because of the amount of temples and monasteries which can be found throughout the mountain. Lion's Head Mountain has been described as being almost "zen-like" due to the amount of temples and how they interact so peacefully with nature. 

While hiking the various trails you will find Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian temples which are either built on top of a cliff or actually built in caves. The construction of the temples and shrines took the preservation of the natural scenery of the mountain and protect the environment into consideration which contributes to the zen-like quality of the temples and a very modern approach to environmentalism for temples that were constructed over a century ago. This is a stark contrast to the "Nature-Loving Wonderland" monastery which is at the base of the mountain on the Hsinchu side. 

The gate to Fu Tian Temple

If you are following the trail you should make sure to pay attention to the markings to be sure that you don't randomly pass by something cool and not notice it. You shouldn't be surprised to find out that some of the monasteries aren't open to visitors on certain days of the week - I visited the mountain a few times while shooting these photos and both times a few of the temples weren't open to the public. If you are planning on visiting a specific temple, make sure to check before heading over that it will in fact be open on the day you are planning to visit! 

While you are hiking you are likely to overhear the sounds of Buddhist monks chanting sutras through the mountain trails. The chanting is quite peaceful and it just adds to the effect of hiking through a 'sacred' mountain. You are also likely to meet a few monks or nuns walking along the hiking trails as they need to walk back and forth between their residences, farms and temples.

The monks in Taiwan wear simple grey robes and have shaved heads. They will smile and greet you as they walk by. Don't be afraid to say hello or stop for a quick chat. They don't lead a very exciting life and they appreciate a bit of interaction with the outside world. You don't have to worry about them proselytizing to you or hitting you up for donations. 

A Buddhist nun walking up the long set of stairs to her monastery.

I'm going to split this blog up into two sections, the first section will cover two of the largest temples on the mountain and the following blog will cover the rest. I'll endeavour to explain as much as I can about the temples on the mountain as there isn't very much English information about them online. The second post will come later in the week and will have a lot more content and photos.  

Quan-Hua Temple (勸化堂)

Quan-Hua Temple (勸化堂)

Quan-Hua Temple, the only Taoist temple on Lion’s Head Mountain, was built in 1897 and is the oldest temple on the mountain. The temple is primarily dedicated to the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) but there are also shrines set up within the temple to other Taoist deities as well.

The temple is built directly into the side of a mountain cliff and the mountain rises up directly behind the temple, which would actually scare me a bit considering the amount of earthquakes Taiwan has. It would be terrible if the temple was lost to a random landslide. 

The abbot of Quan-Hua Tang

The inside of the temple boasts an impressive display of antique traditional stone and wood carvings and the view of Fu Tian Temple, the pagoda and the mountain from the courtyard in front of the temple is awesome.

On all my trips to Lion’s Head Mountain the majority of the shots I have taken were from the look off in front of Quan-Hua Temple. I love the view of the mountain below with the roof of Fu Tian Temple in the foreground. 

Praying at Quan-Hua Temple

Praying at Quan-Hua Temple

The majority of the temples on the mountain are simple Buddhist monasteries or shrines. Taoist temples in Taiwan on the other hand are extremely ornate. It seems like Quan-Hua Temple has tried to make an effort to tone down a bit of the bling bling to keep the simple and peaceful feeling on the mountain somewhat uniform - That however could be due to the age of the temple and its remoteness.

No matter how you look at it though, both Fu Tian Temple and Quan Hua Temple are quite well off and they have been able to expand to offer more services (including somewhat of a hotel and restaurant) than you usually get with a Buddhist or Taoist temple.  

Quan-Hua Temple Pagoda (勸化堂寶塔)

Quan Hua Temple Pagoda (勸化堂寶塔)

Quan-Hua Temple Pagoda (勸化堂寶塔)

The Quan-Hua Temple Pagoda is always easily visible from atop the mountain, but getting to it actually isn't that easy. The reason for this is that the pagoda is used to house burial remains of temple elders and followers. Truthfully the pagoda looks much better from far away and getting up close and personal with it is kind of disappointing as it looks much cooler rising up out of the mountain from far away. 

If you visit the temple, make sure to spend some time checking out the beautiful stone and wood carvings that line the walls at the entrance and around the shrines. Also, if you'd like to spend the night on the mountain, Quan-Hua temple (In conjunction with its neighbour) offer simple guest rooms to visitors with vegetarian meals provided. 

Website (Chinese Only)

Fu Tian Temple (輔天宮)

Fu Tian Temple (輔天宮)

Fu Tian Temple is a Buddhist temple built during the Japanese Colonial Period in Taiwan. The temple was completed in 1915 and despite having all the traditional Taiwanese design aspects of a temple adhering to Feng Shui (including the direction the temple faces, the courtyard style building, a main hall, bell tower, etc.) it is still a living testament to the Japanese influence on the people at the time.

The main shrine of the temple is dedicated to Ksitigarbha Buddha (地藏菩薩) a popular Japanese Bodhisattva commonly referred to as “Jizo” in Japanese - It is common to see Ksitigarbha in Taiwanese Buddhist temples, but not as common in China. 

If you are entering the Lion’s Head Mountain hiking trails from the Miaoli side, Fu Tian Temple will be the first temple to greet you on your hike. The temple (in conjunction with Quan Hua Temple) has a large parking lot for visitors and there are lots of vendors who set up shop on weekends selling (mostly vegetarian) snacks and drinks to the people who are hiking the mountain or visiting the temple.

The temple is a short walk up a steep set of steps and is probably the most arduous part of hiking Lion’s Head Mountain for people who aren't avid hikers. 

Website (Chinese Only)

A fortune teller taking a break at Fu Tian Temple

That will be it for the first post about Lion's Head Mountain. I will post the second and final part later in the week. The second part will probably be a bit longer than this one with a lot more photos so be sure to watch for it!

If you have any questions, corrections or comments don't be shy and contact me through the comment section below or through my contact page. 

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Nature Loving Wonderland (大自然文化世界)

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The Nature Loving Wonderland (大自然文化世界) is an extremely large Buddhist monastery and tourist attraction at Emei lake (峨眉湖) in the mountains of southern Hsinchu county.

The temple boast an ostentatious monastery, a large grounds paved in granite and the worlds largest standing statue of Milefo (彌勒佛), who is often referred to as the "Laughing Buddha" and is probably one of the most well-known images of a “Buddha” in the west. While not a historic figure like many of the other important Buddha’s, Milefo, who is of Chinese origin is considered by some to be the manifestation of Maitreya (彌勒菩薩) the "Buddha of the future."

While people in North America might think images of the Laughing Buddha are cute, he serves a role as a saviour-like figure for certain sects of Buddhism who believe that he (or she) will eventually appear to "save" humanity, just as Christians imagine their messiah will do. 

Buddhism isn't exactly a philosophy with a lot of predictions for future salvation and/or destruction, so it is actually a bit strange that there are offshoots of Buddhism that believe this kind of thing. Nevertheless, there have been quite a few religious figures (cult leaders) over the years who have professed to be the Maitreya and have amassed great fortunes in doing so. 

The monastery at Emei Lake is run by a group called "Maitreya Great Tao" (彌勒大道) which was founded by a monk named Wang Hao-Te (王好德).

Wang, like many other people of his generation escaped to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalists after the horrible Chinese Civil War. Upon arrival in Taiwan, Wang became involved with the Chinese religion Yiguandao (一貫道), which itself incorporates Maitreya worship (despite not necessarily being Buddhist).

In 1987, Wang opened the "Providence Maitreya Buddha Institute" (天恩彌勒佛院) which today boasts over a million members and over 2000 temples around the world.

The purpose of the sect, which adheres to aspects of Buddhism and Yiguandao is to promote “world peace”, “healthy living”, “environmentalism” and a “prosperous healthy nation”

All of which sounds really nice, but like all religions, words often speak louder than actions. 

The last time I checked, building a 75m tall bronze statue which requires digging precious metals out of the ground to go along with the huge granite base isn't exactly what I'd refer to as being environmentally friendly. According to the group though, their giant statue, the biggest in the world is meant to be a constant reminder that we should be “one with nature”.

75m tall bronze statue of the Medicine Buddha

To explain a bit of my confusion about this place, I’m going to explain a bit of the most basic tenets of Buddhism. The core philosophy of Buddhism is that 'life is suffering' and that suffering is caused by our attachment to things in this world.

The Buddha outlined what he called the four noble truths of existence: 

Four Noble Truths (四聖諦) 

  1. Suffering exists (苦谛)

  2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires (集谛)

  3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases (灭谛)

  4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path (道谛)

Buddhism's foundations are set in the four noble truths and they are the path that the Buddha promoted in order to attain enlightenment and achieve an end to suffering. Once you understand the four noble truths you are free to delve much deeper into Buddhist philosophy, which is quite interesting and appeals to a lot of people around the world.  

The problem though is that if you don't recognize the four noble truths, it'd be kind of difficult to consider yourself a Buddhist and it would be even harder to live your life as a monastic.  

Welcome to our "natural" palace.

Buddhists (no matter the variety) should be mindful of the four noble truths and attempt to put themselves on a path to freedom from suffering which the Buddha explained is caused in part by material attachments to earthly possessions. 

When someone becomes a monk, they are supposed to give up all their possessions and live a simple life dedicated to meditation and reaching nirvana. Therefore their only possessions should be those things that are required for a very simple quality of life. Monks are not supposed to possess things that could inspire negative emotions like possessiveness, greed or envy. 

The Dalai Lama explains: 

According to Buddhist practice, there are three stages or steps. The initial stage is to reduce attachment towards life. The second stage is the elimination of desire and attachment to this samsara. Then in the third stage, self-cherishing is eliminated

With this in mind, when you will see monasteries that look like palaces you may scratch your head thinking:

Is all this really necessary? 

If the primary cause of suffering, according to the Buddha is 'attachment' then why is it that a monastery like this has to be as huge and as ostentatious as it is? Shouldn't monks be leading a much simpler life? 

When it comes to material possessions and attachments, some may argue that times have changed and the latest iPhones are just as necessary as your rice bowl.

I can also completely understand that in modern times it isn't a great idea to seem like a homeless person walking around in robes looking for alms from others. The key thing is to not have possessions that cause craving or attachment. 

The question you have to ask yourself is how do you think these people would react if suddenly all of this stuff that they've constructed was destroyed or lost? How would the people who run this "wonderland" react if all of this was suddenly gone in the blink of an eye? 

The Maitreya Institute seems to keep this in mind, especially when it comes to their guests and they go above and beyond protecting their investment. They have instituted a list of rules that you have to accept to be permitted entry to their "Nature Loving Wonderland." 

Considering that the "wonderland" is also a monastery, it is normal to see a list of rules regarding dress or lack thereof. While it does bother me that religious places like this still try to attempt to dictate what a woman can or cannot wear - but for Taiwanese guests, I suppose they are less inclined to complain about that kind of stuff and are willing to accept the sarongs provided by the staff at the gate to cover themselves up.

Once you get past the gates you will be led into the basement of the monastery by a set of stairs adjacent to the main doors. You will be given a pair of slippers to put on and an area to safely place your shoes.

There are a few reasons as to why they want you to remove your shoes - The first being that they don't want you walking through the monastery dirtying up their shiny expensive floors and because they would prefer you to not have the ability to escape the tour (indoctrination session) you are about to experience.  

As you walk through the halls, you will notice a couple things: 

  1. The attention to detail in all of the decorations.

  2. How much cash they must have spent on decorating the place.

  3. The smiling secret service-looking volunteers standing guard a few meters apart from each other with headsets on making sure that you don't wander off or touch any of the bling bling.

Apart from the rules pertaining to clothing, they also don't permit you to bring in non-vegetarian foods, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, dangerous weapons and pets. 

Wait a second! 

Pets? Pets are not permitted? I can understand high heels not being permitted. But pets aren't weapons of mass destruction, nor are they poisonous or nefarious substances that will affect the spiritual life of the monastics.

Is this place not named the "Nature Loving Wonderland?"

While this is not uncommon in temples around Taiwan, most of the other temples you’ll come across weren’t constructed on the premise that they’re "Nature Loving Wonderlands.”

I mean, I’m not really expecting them to have a full-fledged zoo inside, but it does seem a bit strange to me.

Nevertheless I happened to have my dog with my the day that I visited. I figured that I’d be able to take him into the front garden area of the temple while my friends took the tour. The kind people at the gate instead informed me that I could simply leave my dog in the car while I was enjoying the tranquility of their fabricated natural garden.  

Can you imagine my reaction? These "nature loving" people actually advocated leaving my dog in a hot car on a 30 degree day so that I could come in and enjoy the monastery? No thanks guys, I prefer not to perpetuate the suffering of other living beings so that you can show off your vanity. 

You may think I'm being unfair - quite a few places ban pets, its not really a big deal, but when you call yourself a Nature Loving Wonderland, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to ban nature.

Other large monasteries around Taiwan allow pets in the garden areas, but not inside the actual monastery.

That is completely understandable. 

I didn't expect to bring my dog into the actual monastery and considering that photography is not permitted inside, I wasn't particularly interested in going in anyway.

The Buddha was clear when it came to materialism so it confuses me when you see these beautiful palaces constructed with the pretences of adhering to his philosophy. The money that was used to construct this place, all of which was donated by followers, could have been used in much better ways that are more humanistic, better for society and most importantly, better for the environment. 

To be fair, I realize that what I see as the irony of these massive monasteries may just be a modern approach to Buddhism. I can also certainly understand that if I spent that much money on something that I'd want to protect it as much as possible. 

My biggest issue is that the name "Nature Loving Wonderland" in both English and Chinese (大自然文化世界) is completely hypocritical. This complaint is not only based on the fact that they wouldn't allow my dog to enter to the grounds but because they have constructed such a gigantic temple to celebrate environmentalism, with absolutely no regard for the environment.

Although it does bother me quite a bit that a volunteer told me to leave my dog in a hot car.  

Nature after all is "natural" and the Emei lake area was quite natural and beautiful before this group came along and constructed their own religious version.  

I'll leave you with a quote from the "Dhammapada" - The Sayings of the Buddha: 

Indeed, the path that leads to worldly gain is one and the path that leads to nirvana is another. Fully comprehending this, the bhikkhu (monk), the disciple of the Buddha, should not take delight in worldly gain and honour, but devote himself to solicitude, detachment and the realization of nirvana. (Verse 75) 

誠然，一個是導向世俗成就之道，另一個則是導向涅槃之道。明了這一點，身為佛弟子的比丘，不應樂於世俗的成就與恭敬，而應培育捨離與不執取。

Getting There

 

The monastery is located in the mountains of Hsinchu County at Emei Lake (峨眉湖), a short distance from the popular Beipu Old Street (北埔老街). It is accessible by car, scooter and local public transportation.

Address: 新竹縣峨眉鄉湖光村快樂路1號

If you would like to make use of public transportation to visit the Nature Loving Wonderland, you’ll first have to get yourself to the Jhudong Train Station (竹東車站) where you’ll hop on the Jhudong - Emei Lake bus. Likewise, if you take the High Speed Rail to Hsinchu Station you can make your way to Exit 4 and wait for Bus #6 that will take you to Emei Lake.

For more information about public transportation options, check their website below which has very detailed information on how to get there.

It is also important to note that the monastery is really open to individual tourists on weekend - from Tuesday to Friday, they require groups of over fifteen people for their tours. So if you plan on visiting during the week, you may have to wait around for a while for other people to show up.

Website: Nature Loving Wonderland

Hukou Old Street (湖口老街)

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The Hukou Old Street (湖口老街) is the smallest of Hsinchu county’s three “old streets” which also includes the popular Neiwan (內灣老街) and Beipu Old Street’s (北埔老街) 

Hukou’s story is a lot like what I described with the Daxi Old Street – In the case of Daxi, the village was economically prosperous due to its position as a way station for goods coming down from the mountains and being transported up the river to Taipei. Hukou’s story doesn't relate to a river, but the reason why it became an “old street” is because the train station which used to be in the town was moved to another area closer to the coast when the Taiwan Rail System completed the newer “Ocean Line” (海線)

The loss of the train station was enough to divide Hukou between “Old Hukou” (老湖口) and “New Hukou” (新湖口) which is a relatively newer area with modern housing built up around the train station. 

In Taiwan, it is safe to say that the centre of most towns is the train station as most cities have been developed from the train station in an outward fashion. When Hukou’s new train station was completed, it pretty much killed the chance for Old Hukou to survive as it once had. 

Near empty streets on a "busy" day.

Due to the separation though, Hukou was left the way it way and didn't really develop the way most towns in Taiwan do (by tearing down the old buildings.) All the original buildings that were in the town are still left standing and are quite similar to what you would see in Daxi, except that the colour of the bricks are red, and the majority of all the houses are at least two storeys. 

Just like in Daxi, the buildings were originally built in the 1890s and had an exterior in the baroque style while the interior of the buildings were mostly Japanese-style.

Old style Baroque and a renovated building beside it.

When the Hsinchu county government designated the area as an “old street” they went about a project of urban renewal that was supposed to restore the old street to its former glory. The county government boasts that the baroque style facades on the buildings are the most intact of all the old streets – however I think that this is somewhat of a disingenuous statement due to the way the street was given a facelift. 

When I compare this street to Daxi, it is really easy to see that they tried a little too hard to beautify it and in the process lost some of its historical allure. Even though it seems to have lost some of its originality, the Hukou Old Street is still quite nice to walk around. 

The interior of the Hukou Old Street church

When I arrived at the old street I parked near a church which was erected in the same location where the train station had originally been. I walked through the old street rather slowly, but it didn't take long to come to the end. 

At  the end there is a Hakka temple called “San Yuan Temple” (三元宮) dedicated to the three earth gods (三官大帝) which represent water (水官), earth (地官) and heaven (天官.)

I found that walking down the road parallel to the temple had some examples of houses that were not as well-kept and as on display as those on the “old street” and figured that those were probably much better representations of what the street looked like before renewal. 

I think that the biggest problem with the Hukou Old Street is that there is nothing to really draw big crowds. Daxi Old Street has its dried tofu (豆干) and woodwork. Beipu has its Hakka restaurants and Hakka Leicha (擂茶.) Both attract tourists by the busloads – Hukou however doesn't really have anything to attract crowds other than the buildings, which would be enough for me, but the average Taiwanese tourist is one that loves to be fed delicious foods! 

I went on a Sunday, which by normal standards should be an extremely busy day for an old street, but it was almost empty which more or less proves my point.  

As you walk by all the old houses it seems that less than one in ten are doing any form of business and I think there was really one one vendor selling sausages to visitors and another selling fresh coffee from the back of his bicycle. 

A lazy Sunday with the dog.

History it seems isn't enough to attract tourists, so for Hukou to start attracting people, they need to come up with something to make the street “famous” for all the residents to capitalize on. If the Taiwanese news one day reports that there is something tasty to eat there, the next day will have people lined up! 

As it is now, I wouldn't really recommend Hukou Old Street unless you were passing through the area on your way somewhere else. If you are planning to make a day trip out of it, there  are much better options in a relatively close distance (Daxi, Neiwan, Beipu) so Hukou wouldn't be your best option! 

If you're on the fence about visiting, take  the time to check out all the pictures in the gallery below, or click on the link to my Flickr album and then make your  decision! 

Getting There