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Published: August 22nd 2010
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This short but sweet entry stands in defense of all major travel sights that are only denoted a sparse paragraph at best in the many travel books currently in existence. The Pu Tain Temple (in the Qe Fong area), though famous in the local scene, is hardly mentioned in my current standing library of texts concerning Taiwan. What exactly is it? A Temple that is no like no other and offers a great way to spend an afternoon, not to mention a chance to pray to the deity of ‘hooking up’ (under the notion of finding your future partner of course).
This temple was built in 1967 by a former Hsinchu City Council member. Of course, the most famous attribute is the very imposing 120 meter high statue of Guan Gong, a military historical figure of the Kingdom of Shu (222-263 AD). Within this huge statue, much of the museum exists within, containing 9 stories of various themed pieces. As many of my pictures show, the amount and range of the collection is quite impressive. Walking through the statue is a great chance to gain a brief review of some Chinese history in a quaint and simple setting. In many ways,
The Chinese New year symbol, White Tiger
For good luck, one is supposed to run their hands from the head to tail of this White Tiger. So far it has worked! this temple reminds of the off the road local museums one can run into while on a road trip through the US. A place that is very interesting and very unique all at the same time. While of course I can understand that travel books can not explain in depth everything that I worth your time while visiting a new country, perhaps this served as a reminder to me to not easily overlook a minor mentioning.
The most busy part of this entire temple (which spans a very large grounds in a few different parts), was the Matchmaker Temple. Here one can perform a mixture of rituals, all focused upon you finally meeting your match. What did I notice while here? Well, to be honest, there was a lot of late 20’s all the way up to late 30’s guys, here with their mother’s (whom I suspect brought them, due to the tradition of children living with their parents until they get married). While I considered doing the rituals myself, I was very thoughtful that if there truly was a matchmaker deity working their magic here, perhaps it was fair to let numerous mother’s gain their wishes first.
Much like
the Matchmaker Temple, this huge temple is in fact a collection of many smaller temples, a museum as well as a large gardens area. Visiting and taking close inspection of the assortment of temples represented to me the diversity and tolerance of the Taiwanese culture. For example, there is a small dedicated temple to the Deity of the underworld. Granted, this was not a very visited temple (save for a curious traveler and a handful of very spurned people asking for ‘a favor’). Point being, even the deities who may not be that popular are still respected in their own right. This is coming across to me as a very common trend of the country, giving the respect a person or deity is due, no exceptions. Perhaps this represents the modern day Confucius desire for harmony in society?
Besides the temples, a stroll through the gardens, heavily adorned with statues, made for a great way to get some fresh air. I was able to enjoy the gardens mostly by myself, as the majority of people came here to make offerings to the deity’s. While exploring the area, I came across many pictures and images that gave me a sense of
what I anticipated classic Asia to be like. The area was calm, nature seemed to blend with the man made adornments, creating their own mood together, instilling a sense of peace and enjoyment at what kind of atmosphere had been created. In other words, it would be a great place for a picnic date!
After spending an afternoon here taking in the various temples, history and gardens, I was not only quite impressed by what this humble local sight offered, but was tired enough to call it a good tourist day. The grounds of this temple can go on for sometime, so if you make it out here, certainly wear comfortable shoes and be ready to take lots of pictures. Quite close to this temple, Green lake stands, offering another great place to talk a pleasent walk, as some of last pictures show. Much like any other briefly mentioned local sights, underestimating the Qe Fong area could be a bad choice.
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Judith
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opening hours
Hello, I read about Guqifeng (Pu Tian Temple) in "lonely planet". In their 7th edition they wrote that this Temple only is open in weekends. I was wondering if this is still true???? I would like to go to this Temple on 22-12-2010, but this is a weekday.... Does anyone know the opening hours on this day or is it closed? Thanks a lot!