Return to Losheng Sanatorium (樂生療養院)

February 18, 2018 in Photo Post, New Taipei City, Urban Exploration, Taoyuan

Since I opened this website a few years back, one of my most consistently popular blog posts is the one I wrote about the abandoned Losheng Sanatorium in New Taipei City.

The Japanese-era sanatorium is one of the most accessible abandoned buildings in northern Taiwan and is one where beginner Urban Explorers are able to get their feet wet with an expansive hospital complex with a considerable amount of left bedding historic materials.

Even though the Sanatorium has been abandoned for several decades and offers easy access, it is important to remember that the area is still home to a community of people who suffered from leprosy and never felt like they were able to fully rejoin society.

The popularity of the abandoned hospital has become somewhat invasive into the lives of the people of the close-knit community that surrounds it and I’ve heard from friends that they have had to get guards to block access to large groups of people who show up on weekends to check it out.

When I took the photos for my first post about the hospital, I visited alone and made sure to take time to become acquainted with a few of the residents of the community. I think the fact that I showed interest in the hospitals history and made an attempt to get to know the story of the residents of the community helped out quite a bit.

It helped not only with my writing and understanding of its history but by becoming a recognizable face to some of the residents of the community, which made it easier to enter the building. If you plan on visiting, why not spend some time getting to know some of the people that it originally served and try to understand the history of the building a little better? I guarantee that you’ll feel better if you do and it is also helping out a group of people who have been marginalized by society due to the negative physical effects of leprosy.

So what was the reason for my most recent visit to the Sanatorium? Well its quite simple - I’m in the process of updating quite a few of my blog posts and as I’ve heard that things are changing at the hospital, I decided to go back and check it out to see what’s new and if I needed to update any of the information I’ve provided.

With the renewed interest on the national level for preserving historic buildings from the Japanese Colonial Era, it seems that the efforts of civic activists over the past decade to have the abandoned hospital preserved for future generations has met with a bit of success as of late. That success however is not fully decided yet and discussions are ongoing about what course of action the government will take to preserve the building and what is best for the community around it.

Unfortunately information about all of the most recent developments are only in Chinese and as nothing is yet concrete, I’m not going to spend a lot of time translating what is going on - Here are a few links however that explain current events with regard to the preservation of the community and the MRT depot that is encroaching on its space as well as (in my opinion) one of the best English blog posts about the place.

Since my last visit a large canopy has been constructed above the building which is meant to help preserve the original building and its beautiful Japanese-style roof from the elements until the restoration efforts commence. The interior of the hospital has also been cleaned up with several rooms being emptied - most notably the former library - with quite a lot of the original historic documents being removed.

My photos this time focused on aspects of the hospital that I may have missed in my previous visits, so if you want to see the full set of photos from the hospital, make sure to click the Flickr link below that has both my older photos as well as these new ones.

I’ll continue to update the original blog post as planned, but I won’t make another visit to the hospital until it is fully restored which I hope is sooner rather than later considering the condition of the roof in some areas of the building.

If you plan on visiting, make sure to be respectful of the residents of the community and be reminded that if you visit on a weekend with a large group that you may be denied access

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

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Water Buffalo Valley (水牛坑)

June 24, 2017 in Photo Post, Landscape, Travel, Mountains, New Taipei City

I was a little late to the Instagram game but since I started posting photos there over a year ago I've used the platform to not only share photos but also meet up with quite a few well-known Instagrammers as well as used the platform to stay on top of what's happening around the country.

As a social media network, if you take follow the right people, especially here in Taiwan, you're likely to learn about a bunch of new locations and interesting places to take photos. Instagrammers (for the most part) are a special group of photographers that constantly have their fingers on the pulse of what's viral in photography not only here in Taiwan but all over the world.

In recent months I have paid close attention to some of the places that have become Insta-popular for the Instagrammers of Taiwan and have visited on my own and blogged about them.

These spots have included mountains like Kite Mountain (鳶山) and Jinmian Mountain (金面山) as well as scenic locations like the one just outside of Beipu where Taiwanese Cypress trees grow and we're in the process of changing colours.

If you pay attention there is always something interesting to learn.

Thanks to Instagram I have added quite a few locations to my list of places and always feel inspired when I see photography thriving within social communities.

Today's post is about one of those hot spots - A beautiful valley that sits between the mountains and the ocean and has the added feature of being the home for a bunch of wild water buffalo.

Water Buffalo Valley (水牛坑) sits alongside the West Coast Expressway (西部濱海快速公路) and is easily accessible for anyone who wants to visit.

The valley is popular not only for its scenic landscape but also for the docile and human-friendly water buffalo that graze on the grounds.

When something goes viral in Taiwan, the local media isn't far behind looking for a scoop and in this case several articles have been published about the area fueling the popularity of this small tourist attraction over the past few months.

Dubbed the Taiwanese "Grand Canyon" (大峽谷), the small valley has become an instant hit with both the young and old of Taiwan who come for the scenery but also to take selfies with the water buffalo who graze and enjoy the sun in the valley.

Whomever in the media decided to dub the place "Taiwan's Grand Canyon" is probably missing a brain cell or two though because there is very little in terms of similarities between this place and the actual Grand Canyon.

I'm guessing that whoever gave it the nickname "Grand Canyon" has never been to the actual Grand Canyon nor have they seen any pictures of it.

This type of behaviour isn't really a new thing with the Taiwanese media which has a habit of naming Taiwan's beautiful landscapes after places in other parts of the world as of Taiwan's tourist spots were somehow inferior to those overseas.

Examples of this behaviour are when people refer to Shifen Waterfall as the "Niagara of Taiwan" or Qing Jing Farm (清境農場) as the "Swiss Alps of Taiwan" or Yushan (玉山) as the "Mount Fuji of Taiwan".

It seems that when the media compares a tourist spot to somewhere else around the world, it suddenly makes that place more attractive.

As far as I'm concerned, Taiwan doesn't have to compare itself to anywhere else in the world.

As a person who comes from a country that is often considered one of the 'most beautiful' countries in the world, I can attest that Taiwan has a lot going for it and the natural beauty of this country offers so much to visitors.

Even after a decade of living here I haven't seen everything that I want to see and no silly comparisons are necessary.

Anyway, back to the Water Buffalo Valley.

Before I start, I suppose I should probably explain my reasoning as to why I call it "Water Buffalo Valley."

There isn't actually an English name for this place and I was at a bit of a loss of words for what to actually call it.

The problem with the English translation of the name lies not with the "水牛" part which directly translates as "Water Buffalo" but with the "坑" part which refers to a "pit" or a "hole".

This place isn't really a 'pit' or a 'hole', but more like an actual valley that sits between mountains and the west coast of the country.

If you can come up with a better name, let me know in the comments below - I'll gladly change it!

From what I've seen there are a couple of reasons why this place has become so popular as of late:

The Landscape

The watering pits with cows and tourists.

The landscape of this area is a bit different than what you'd typically see in a mountainous area in Taiwan. There are a few reasons that the valley looks like this - First, it is likely a result of a mixture of erosion and weathering due to its geographic location in a cove next to the ocean.

It is also possible that the mountain was once much larger than it is today and was dug up for purposes of making cement.

The nearby industrial area full of cement trucks and the dirt roads that lead further up into the mountains are likely evidence enough of that.

Nevertheless, the shape of the mountain and the way that it looks like it was cut on one side shows allows for some good looking photos with a colour that I suppose could be interpreted as looking something like the Grand Canyon if you have a really good imagination.

The Cows

The water buffalo that roam freely through the valley are probably the main attraction to people who want to visit the area. The cows are quite docile and seem like they're used to human contact.

They're wild animals though, so I wouldn't recommend pissing them off.

For the most part the cows move around really slowly and spend most of their time grazing or taking a dip in the two small lakes. They pose for photos pretty well and confusingly gaze at the young girls who strike up their strange 'Instagram poses' next to them.

As a viral location there are a few areas with this place that I think will eventually become issues. The first is that the mountain isn't particularly stable - I walked up to the top of it and looked over the ledge and felt that the ground beneath me wasn't particularly strong enough to support the amount of tourists walking up and down it.

I imagine that if quite a few people are walking up and down the mountain that eventually something might happen which will cause the land owners or the local authorities to shut it down.

The next issue has to do with the cows - The water buffalo are quite docile. They don't move very quickly and they're more interested in grazing than they are the people who are hanging out on their turf.

The problem is that even though these animals are docile, they are also naturally protective of each other - If someone shows up and starts bullying or chasing around one of the young calves then I imagine that one of the bulls might take exception to that and take care of the situation.

While I was visiting a mother and grandma showed up with their two boys and started chasing around a calf which started calling towards its mother and tried to escape to safety.

For the most part it isn't common for people in Taiwan to come in contact with wild animals like this and I assume that because of this they don't really know how to react when they see them.

On the day I went not only the two boys were chasing the calf but so was the mother and the grandma - This type of behaviour will eventually result in someone getting hurt and having the place shut down.

In both cases, I hope neither happens but with the sudden popularity of the spot and the amount of people showing up on a daily basis, an accident is bound to happen. If you do visit, please remember to respect the animals in their natural environment and also be careful walking up the slope.

Getting there

Getting to the valley can be a bit difficult if you don't have your own means of transportation. If you are driving a car or a scooter all you have to do is get to the West Coast Highway and you'll eventually arrive.

If you're coming from Taipei you'll have to pass the valley and make a U-Turn at some point as you can't cross the busy divided highway.

If you need to rely on public transportation to get there, I think the best way to get there is to probably take a YouBike from Guandu MRT station and cross the Guandu bridge and follow the coastal highway until you arrive. It may take you more than an hour to get there but at least the route is scenic.

The other way to get there is to take bus F236 from Linkou and back the bus only runs five times a day (during the weekend) and you might end up getting stuck in the middle of nowhere for a while if you do take it.

The valley is a pretty cool place to visit and if you're into Instagram, it has become one of those go-to places to visit as of late.

Even if you're not an Instagrammer, it is a cool place to visit with the mountain, the cows and nice views of the ocean.

If you plan on visiting, remember that it likely will be quiet crowded on the weekend and that you should make sure that you don't bother the animals or get hurt.

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

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Xing-Xiu Temple (白雞行修宮)

March 18, 2017 in New Taipei City, Temples, Travel, Photo Post

While in the process of doing research for my recent post about Taipei's popular Xing-Tian Temple, I was surprised to learn that the popular religious and tourist landmark was the headquarters of an organization that consisted of three temples, several libraries and a hospital which were all built thanks to the charitable donations of the organization and its vast group of followers.

Though most temples in Taiwan achieve "famous" status due to their age and their historical significance - Xing-Tian Temple has been able to become one of the most highly-visited places of worship in Taipei and also a popular destination for people who are visiting the city and want to experience a bit of Taiwanese culture in action. According to the temple's own estimates, over 10,000 people walk through its doors each day making it one of Taipei's busiest tourist spots despite only being half a century old.

The temple has been able to use its relative youth to its advantage and has taken a leadership role in promoting progressive policies that aim to help protect the environment. The organizations decision to ban the usage of burning incense and paper throughout each of its three temples ultimately caused a ripple effect among some of the other larger temples in Taipei which have been reluctant to change but have since made plans to follow suit and contribute to help make Taipei a more environmentally friendly place to live!

While Xing-Tian temple gets the majority of the attention - the other two temples that belong to the organization are equally grand and visually very similar. These two gems have not really become tourists attractions in the same way that Xing-Tian temple has but are equally worthy of receiving the same amount of attention.

Xing-Xiu Temple (行修宮) is nestled in the mountains near New Taipei City's Sanxia district (三峽區). The area which is known as "Baiji" or White Chicken (白雞) is one that is known historically for the coal mining industry (of which there are still a few in operation) and is significant for the Hsin-Tian organization (恩主公) because its founder Master Hsuan Kung (玄空師父) was brought up and made a fortune in the mining industry before becoming a popular religious figure.

The construction of Xing-Xiu Temple started in 1962 and was finished three years later in 1965. This means that it actually predates its popular Taipei sister-temple by a couple of years but is still not the oldest temple in the group as the Beitou branch (北投行天宮) opened its doors to the public a few months earlier. All three temples however were built within a few years of each other making their age somewhat insignificant.

When it comes to the design of the temple, Sanxia's Xing-Xiu Temple is almost an identical twin to what you see in Taipei - The only major difference is that one is situated within a large metropolitan city while the other sits on the side of a mountain meaning that the environment that surrounds the temple makes it seem much larger than it actually is.

When you arrive at the temple you are greeted by a large market where vendors are set up selling various types of local food, vegetables and products that make it seem almost like a carnival-like atmosphere.

Once you pass by market you have to walk up a short but steep set of stairs that brings you to the temple - The first thing you'll notice when you arrive is that it looks brick-for-brick identical to the temple in Taipei. I seriously had to step back for a minute and look around to realize that I wasn't actually just visiting Xing-Tian Temple in Taipei for the hundredth time.

Even though the two temples are almost identical there are a few noticeable differences - The first is that the wall that surrounds the Taipei temple is non-existent and is replaced by a beautifully made natural garden on either side with the courtyard in front giving the area a much more natural look. The next difference is that there are two smaller buildings on either side of the main temple that act as shrines to the Earth God (福德正神) and another dedicated to the late founder of the temple Master Hsuan Kung.

One of the most attractive differences between the two however is that there are several hiking routes behind the temple on popular Baiji Mountain Hiking Trail (白雞山登山步道). Even if you aren't interested in taking the four kilometre hike up the mountain you can walk up the mountain for a few minutes to a platform behind that temple complex that gives spectacular views of the temple grounds. The short walk up the hill made the day for me as I was able to see the temple from above with the mountainous landscape all around it.

Shrines

Xing-Xiu temple is dedicated primarily to Lord Guan (關聖帝君) who is also known as Guan Yu (關羽) or Guan Gong (關公) and is one of the most recognized figures within Chinese culture. Guan was a leading general who served under Liu Bei (劉備) during the Three Kingdoms period and is now immortalized as a deity within Taoism and has also become a celebrated figure within Confucianism and Buddhism as well.

Guan who lived from 160-221AD was deified by Taoists sometime during the Sui dynasty (隋朝) between 581 and 618 and is worshipped in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and pretty much any place where people of Chinese descent have migrated.

Stories about Lord Guan have been passed down through the generations and he has become somewhat of a legend thanks to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (三國演義) a masterpiece of ancient Chinese literature.

The important thing to remember about Guan Yu however is that while there are a lot of superlative stories that deal with his exploits, he is widely respected within Chinese culture as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness. Today he is not only worshipped as an all-knowing and all-powerful deity but also as the god of war and a patron saint of business people and scholars. This is why statues of Lord Guan have become almost synonymous with Chinese businesses around the world as his presence is thought to help bring success.

As the god of war, he has also become a patron figure for the many different organized criminal groups within Chinese society and paying respect to Lord Guan is important for keeping discipline within the ranks.

The shrines at Xing-Xiu Temple differ a bit from Xing-Tian Temple so if you take a look you're going to see something that you probably won't see at other temples in Taiwan. The part that might amaze you the most is that the right shrine has statues dedicated to a few figures that you may not have seen before and have names that might have you scratching your head if you understand Chinese. The confusing thing is that the names "聖父“ or "聖母“ are typically used for Christians when we talk about "God" or "Mary" but in this case they are referring to the family of Lord Guan. The left shrine has statues dedicated to Lord Guan's Grandfather (聖公), Father (聖父), Grandmother (聖母) and Mother (聖媽).

The main shrine and the one most visible to people on the outside is dedicated to Lord Guan's son (關太子平), Lord Guan (關聖大帝) and Zhou Cang (周恩師倉) who was one of Lord Guan's right hand men during the Three Kingdom's Period.

The shrine to the right has statues dedicated to people who were also important during the Three Kingdoms period and were close allies and friends of Lord Guan. The three statues are dedicated to master strategist Zhuge Liang (諸葛武侯孔明), Kingdom of Shu Emperor Liu Bei (漢昭烈帝劉備), and General Zhang Fei (桓侯大帝張飛).

The shrine at this temple is somewhat more interesting if you've read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義) or have seen any of the various movies that have been made about it, including the most recent Red Cliff (赤壁) which did an excellent job portraying the characters which are enshrined at this temple.

Temple Disciples (效勞生) / Cleansing the Spirit (收驚)

One of the most noticeable aspects of a visit to any of the three temples belonging to this organization are the blue-robed "Xiaolaosheng" (效勞生) or “helpers”. In the past the helpers would walk around with large bouquets of incense to hand out to people who came to the temple to pray but today their roles have changed a bit in order to reflect the environmental policies of the temple.

They continue to be a constant fixture of the temple and no matter when you go or what time of the day you are there they will always be there providing services to the people who visit. While most temples in Taiwan have volunteers of this sort, Xingtian Temple is a bit different in that the "helpers" are a much more organized group who perform quite a few duties throughout the temple - Its common to find them reciting sutras, chanting verses, assisting visitors, answering questions and performing Taoist rituals.

The helpers stated purpose is to work for the 'benefit of others as well as cultivate their hearts and minds'. While "helper" is a simple translation, you might want to just refer to them as 'Temple Disciples' to make things a little more easy to understand. The helpers comes from all walks of life and speak many languages, so if you have a question they will be happy to answer but before they do so they'll say "ping'an" (平安) which means "safety" as a way to give a blessing to anyone who they come in contact with.

One of more interesting duties for the helpers is for a ritual called "recalling frightening souls" (收驚) which is an age-old Taoist ritual meant to help purify oneself and bring calm to your soul. The thought process behind it is that from time to time, something might happen which frightens you so much that your soul (one of them) attempts to 'escape' from your body. It could be anything from a good scare during a horror movie to a close call on the road. If you feel yourself suffering from this sort of shock, it is quite normal for people to visit a temple to have this ritual performed on them.

The ritual which is a 'cleansing' or even an 'exorcism' of sorts is meant to calm your soul and bring it back into your body so that you are more at ease. The women who perform the ritual at this specific temple will wave a stick of incense around all of your chakra points and whisper a prayer signifying that it is safe for your soul to return to your body.

Design

As mentioned above, the design of the temple is almost identical to the one in Taipei. If you walk into this temple having visited some of Taiwan's other Taoist temples, the simplicity will be a stark contrast to the amazing detail of some of Taiwan's other places of worship. While it is a young temple and a simple one at that, it doesn't mean that there aren't minor details in the design that you shouldn't pay attention to and appreciate. The minor details are the areas of this temple where you're most likely to notice the slight design differences.

The temple was designed in a traditional way with a front hall (前殿) and a main hall (正殿) which are joined by two long corridors which are known as the "guardian dragons" (護龍). The middle of the temple which serves as the courtyard is where people will go to pray. The main hall of the temple is off-limits to guests, so if you want to see the main shrine you are going to have to peer in from the courtyard.

While the temple is quite plain the things to notice within would be the dragons and phoenixes on the roof which act as guardians which ward off evil. Dragons specifically help to prevent fires and pray for rain while phoenixes appear when he earth is at peace and have long been considered auspicious symbols within traditional Chinese culture.

When it comes to stone work, Taiwanese temples spare no expense and this temple is no different. The temple boasts twenty-seven beautiful stone columns in the front hall which have beautiful calligraphy poems carved into them by various Taiwanese artists. The poems on the pillars are meant to glorify Lord Guan and are an important addition to the design of the temple.

Apart from the columns, you'll find two stone "Qilin" (麒麟) at the main entrance to the front hall. Taiwanese temples are typically protected by stone lions but this one is a bit different - Qilin which are also known as Chinese unicorns are mythical Chinese creatures that have the head of a dragon and the body of either an ox, deer, or horse with scales and hooves. While extremely cool-looking, Qilin symbolize prosperity, serenity and that the nation is at peace which I think fit in well with this temple.

If you have been to Xing-Tian temple in Taipei it is quite easy to compare the two - With the temple in Taipei you have the convenience of riding the MRT and walking a short distance to reach the temple. Xing-Xiu Temple on the other hand is a bit more difficult to get to but I'd argue that a visit to this temple is actually a much more peaceful and enjoyable experience.

The temple has the aesthetics that you're familiar with in Taipei but blends in extremely well with the natural environment around it. When you think of peaceful Zen-like temples nestled in the mountains, you'd probably be thinking of a place like this. If you are in the Sanxia area and have the opportunity to visit, make sure check this one out!