龜山

Guishan Lingyun Temple (靈雲寺哲學廟)

While on assignment at a media event late last year, I was introduced to a journalist who works for one of the worlds largest news organizations. My friend said: “This is Josh, he’s the guy that you mentioned you’ve been wanting to meet for so long” to which she replied: “So you’re the photographer who writes about temples and all that strange stuff?

Yeah, I guess that’s me. Guilty as charged. 

Over the years, I’ve tried to ensure that my website would include information about some of Taiwan’s most important tourist destinations, but I’ve also focused quite a bit on some of the quirkier sides of the country that most travel writers don’t bother with. 

With so many articles about Taiwan’s temples already published on this site, this modest little space has become one of the largest English-language resources on the subject and people seem to think I’m somewhat of a temple expert.

I apologize if I’ve fooled any of you into thinking that.  

Even though I’ve spent a considerable amount of my travels in Taiwan exploring temples, I don’t really consider myself an expert on the subject and if I were to be one, I’d probably need another twenty years of extensive travel and study to come even close to that. 

Admittedly though, I’m a bit worn out.

I don’t really get the same enjoyment from visiting and writing about temples that I used to.

This might not be something that lasts forever, but at this point, I feel like I’m only going to write about a temple if it is special or in some way peculiar.

Part of the reason for this is because writing about temples takes a considerable amount of time, thanks to all the research and translation I have to do. 

Another more nefarious reason is that places of worship in Taiwan have become a prime target for Chinese interference in Taiwan’s politics - There have been quite a few temples identified in recent years as having links to the “United Front” (統一戰線), a Chinese political warfare department that seeks to destabilize Taiwan. 

I’ve already written about one of the temples identified and have since taken that blog down. 

I refuse to help promote these temples, no matter how historic, or significant they are, if they’re going to take part in such traitorous activities.

Recently, Russel Hsiao, the Executive Director of the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) wrote a brief about the subject in English, which has already been widely reported in the local Taiwanese media. 

Link: Political Warfare Alert: Is China Using Religious Organizations as Proxies to Funnel Political Donations and Influence in Taiwan (Global Taiwan Brief Vol 4, Issue 21)

The article sheds light on specific temples that have been identified as collaborators as well as some of the people and religious organizations that have willingly taken part in China’s interference. 

One important thing to remember is that the temples that have been identified thus far are likely only a fraction of those that are actually collaborating and that this isn’t just some minor operation to infiltrate the nation - This is something that is quite serious, and its sad to see.  

So, even though people might refer to me as the ‘Temple Guy’, I’d much prefer to be known as someone who loves Taiwan and does his best to promote this beautiful, free and democratic nation to the world.

So, unless it’s some grandiose or peculiar temple, I’m probably not going to be writing about it for the little while.   

With that in mind, the temple I’m introducing today is ironically very much a political one. 

But it’s also one of the most unique places of worship I’ve visited in Taiwan.  

Why is it so unique?

You’re just going to have to read on and find out for yourself!

Lingyun Temple (靈雲寺) 

What makes a temple strange or unique? 

For the uninitiated, Taiwan’s temples tend to be quite exotic and feature quite a few oddities.

For me though, it takes something truly out there to phase me. 

I’ve seen people in drunken trances beating themselves bloody with weapons of torture. 

I’ve seen giant “God Pigs” butchered with their carcasses spread out, painted and put on display for thousands of spectators.

These kind of things don’t really surprise me anymore. 

Walking around this temple though, amongst the collection of life-sized statues of deities from the Taoist underworld and all of the rather strange decorations on the walls and the in-your-face politics.

I was feeling a little out of place.

What if I told you that this temple is one of the few places of worship in Taiwan that is home to a statue crafted of the flesh of a deceased religious figure?

A real-life Taiwanese mummy.

To be honest, I didn’t even know about this important fact until I got back home and started doing some research about the temple.

It’s possible that part of my uneasiness about the temple while walking around was caused by this, but in fact, it was probably an accumulation of several elements that makes this temple quite unique, and also very strange. 

Lingyun Temple certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. 

It is however quite a photogenic temple.

Lord Guan guarding the window.

Constructed in 1992, Lingyun Temple is located within an industrial area of Taoyuan’s Guishan District (龜山區) on a mountain that divides Taoyuan (桃園) and New Taipei City (新北市). 

The temple is primarily dedicated to the high-ranking Taoist deity “Xuantian” (玄天上帝), who also goes by the names “Xuanwu” (玄武), “Xuandi” (玄蒂), “Zhenwu” (真武) or the “Zhenwu Emperor” (真武大帝).

Highly regarded as one of the Taoist pantheon’s most powerful deities, he is known as the “perfect warrior” and is known for his ability to control the elements as well as his magical ability. 

Worship of Xuantian is quite popular in China, Taiwan and most of South East Asia and is also ubiquitous with the Chinese diaspora.

Its safe to say that anywhere you find a large population of people of Chinese ethnic descent, you’re also going to find shrines dedicated to the all-important deity. 

Link: Xuanwu (Wiki) | Origin of the Great Perfect Warrior Emperor - Xuantian (Taoist Sorcery)

Xuanwu

At this temple, they’re not really messing around with their Xuantian worship as they have a 18 meter tall wood statue of the deity surrounded by a large group of friends to keep him company. 

As is tradition with Xuantian Worship, you’ll always find his two guardians, General Wan Gong (萬公) and Wan Ma (萬馬) protecting him. Typically in a large shrine room, you’ll find both of them on either side, but in this temple you’ll find them on either side of the middle shrine instead.

One of the areas where this temple is unique is in its eccentric display of life-sized figures from Taoism and local Taiwanese Folk Religion. As you enter the shrine you are automatically met with them standing in front of you and have to navigate your way through their presence to get into to the shrine. 

Even though I know my fair share about this stuff, there were quite a few images of deities that I couldn’t recognize as the way they appear here is unlike other temples in Taiwan. 

The temple is home to large statues of the Demon King (鬼王) and his two guardians “Ox-head and Horse-face” (牛頭馬臉), Emperor Bao-Gong (包公), the Three Princes (三太子), the Four Guardian Warriors (四大金剛), the Goddess Nuwa (女媧), Lord Guan (關聖大帝), the God of Thunder (雷神) and a plethora of others. 

Likewise the exterior of the temple is home to giant bats, tigers, snakes, dragons, stone lions, and Qilin (麒麟).

There are also two odd-looking golden dudes in modern suits at the entrance and exit, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever really seen at a Taiwanese temple before. 

In most temples, there is always a reason why you’ll find certain deities or images placed in a particular locations - which is based on thousands of years of tradition.

With this temple, it kind of feels like they threw most of that tradition out the window and just randomly added a bunch of images based on how they felt rather than adhering to any sort of tradition. This might be another reason why this temple comes across as so unique - Its a wonderful hodgepodge of randomness under one roof. 

Master Kaishan (開山宗師)

While it might seem strange that you can find a “mummy” in a temple like this, its not entirely an uncommon practice in countries throughout Asia to find “Sokushinbutsu” (即身仏) or “Flesh Body Bodhisattvas” (肉身菩薩).

The practice is an ancient one that obviously isn’t as common as it used to be, but is a method of venerating a religious leader who was considered to have exceptional “power” in the dharma. 

In Thailand, these so-called mummies are put on display within temples for everyone to see.

Depending on how old they are, they tend to look exactly like they did in life.

In other countries, the mummies are regarded as relics and are often placed within a statue of their likeness to help preserve the ‘power’ in the body.

There are of course variations on how the mummification process takes place - In some cases the bodies are covered with clay or salt to help preserve them after death. In more extreme cases though, the monks take part in a method of self-mummification that involves prolonged starvation and slow self-suffocation. 

In Japan, monks would even go as far as burying themselves alive in a pine box full of salt connected to a tube of air that would allow them to breathe until they died.

This practice has since been outlawed, but mummification of Buddhist monks is a practice that continues today in certain Buddhist traditions across Asia.  

Link: Buddhist Mummies (Wiki)

In this specific case, ‘Master Kaishan’, who passed away on February 28th, 1998, spent a few months prior to his death taking part in a process similar to the one mentioned above where he only ate porridge water (粥水) and drank a local type of salty root beer (沙士) to help preserve his body.

If you live in Taiwan and haven’t tried HeySong Sarsaparilla (黑松沙士), you’re missing out.

Born in Nantou (南投) in 1920, not much is known about Hsieh Shi-de (謝石德), who would later become known as ‘Master Kaishan’. 

As is the case with cult-like religious leaders, there is conflicting information available about his life, and it’s difficult to report much in terms of facts. It appears though that the consensus was that despite a modest upbringing and a lack of a formal education, he was considered to have ‘exceptional spiritual ability’ and had full command over the tenets of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and local Folk Religion. 

Considering the cult of personality surrounding Master Kaishan, I’m not really going to go into much detail about his life, because truthfully, its all quite sensational and I doubt even a fraction of it is true.

Long story short, he was able to attract a significant amount of followers and that translated into a comfortable lifestyle and the ability to construct Lingyun Temple, which doubles as his final resting place.

From the literature about his life, what I will say is that two years before his death, he suddenly announced to his followers that the end of his life would be coming soon. So, in order to preserve his ‘spiritual power’ for later generations of his followers, he started preparing for the process of preserving him body. 

Likewise he issued an order to his followers to construct a “Shou Grave” (壽墳), a funeral pyre of sorts, which he would use to convert into a throne for his body after it became a ‘Golden Bodhisattva’ (金剛舍利).

Today, Master Kaishan sits directly in the middle of the shrine room of Lingyun Temple on that grave and is encased in glass to protect the body from the elements. 

Chiang Kai-Shek Statue (蔣中正銅像) 

One of the reasons that I was originally drawn to this temple was because I had learned that it was home to a statue of Taiwan’s former President Chiang Kai-Shek, which is used for worship. 

Even though the notorious mass-murderer is reviled among a large percentage of Taiwanese society, there are temples throughout the country where you’re able to worship him as a deity.

In most cases these temples are motivated more by political affiliation to the Chinese Nationalist Party (中國國民黨) than they are to religion, and while it may be hard for most to understand, there are still quite a few who are ideologically dedicated to the man and religion is a means of honouring him. 

Link: Abandoned Chiang Kai Shek Temple 

Amongst the crowd of other Taoist deities, you’ll find a wooden statue of a standing Chiang Kai-Shek with the phrase “總統是天庭虎頭星 你不可假瘋” oddly painted on his chest. 

The phrase, which loosely translates as: ”The President is member of the Heavenly Court, act accordingly” is a response to the anti-Chiang attitude among a portion of the population, which openly seeks out images of the former president to vandalize them.

As the people who run the temple believe that the statue has spiritual power, they had the phrase painted on his chest in the hope that they could save it from vandalism. 

I highly doubt that those destroying statues of the prolific mass-murderer really care.   

Getting There

 

Address: #16, Lane 201, Alley 3. Chazhuan Road. Guishan District. Taoyuan (桃園市龜山區茶專路201巷3弄16號)

Lingyun Temple is located within an industrial area in Taoyuan’s Guishan District (龜山區).

If you have your own means of transportation, getting to the temple is relatively simple but if you’re relying on public transportation, its a little more difficult. 

If you have a car or a scooter, you can easily get to the temple by inputting the address above into your GPS or on Google Maps. 

The temple has a large parking lot in front, so unless they’re having an event, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about finding a parking spot.

If on the other hand you’re relying on public transportation to get there, your options are a little more limited.

There is one bus that will get you close to the temple, but will require a bit of a walk.

There are likewise two free buses that will stop at the entrance, but the service is quite limited, so if you take this option, you should pay attention to the schedules so that you don’t get stuck. 

  1. Taoyuan Bus #5068 (Taoyuan Train Station to Fushan Temple) 

  2. Taoyuan Lohas Bus L322 (Guishan District Office to Taipei Xiaocheng)

  3. Taoyuan Lohas Bus L323 (Guishan District Office to Taipei Xiaocheng) 

In terms of the first bus, you’ll be able to conveniently take it from the Taoyuan Bus Station to its terminal station at Fushan Temple (福山宮). From there you’ll get off and then walk up the hill to the temple.

For the two free “Lohas Buses”, you’ll have to be extra careful as there are only a few shuttles every day.

There also aren’t any Youbike Stations nearby, but you could easily grab one somewhere in Guishan, ride over and then ride back when you’re done checking out the temple. 

As I mentioned above, I’m not going to spend much time over the next few months writing about any of the ‘historic’ or well-known temples that tourists like to visit.

If I find one that is strange or unique in some way though, I’ll consider it.

This one certainly falls under both of those categories. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a strange or more unique temple in Taiwan.

From the life-sized statues to the fringe political views expressed on the walls, it was an odd place to visit. 

If you’re looking for a Taiwanese temple experience like no other, this one might be an interesting one to add to your list of places to check out.

Although you may just want to enjoy the photos, because if I get weirded out by a temple, I can’t imagine how other less experienced temple lovers would feel.

I leave you with these last two photos, which were taken at both the entrance and the exit and appear to be the temple’s way of giving the middle finger to Christianity.

「玄天上帝中國主神」

「玄天上帝代理十字天關」

Odd, but hey, go big or go home!


Xianguang Second Village (憲光二村)

One of the most unfortunate aspects of Taiwan’s modern history is that even though it is (for the most part) well-recorded, it hasn’t been very well preserved. What I mean by this is that while history books have lots of information, they mostly just feature diagrams instead of photos as sadly, many of the historic places of interest around the country have long since vanished.  

One of the main reasons for this lack of preservation is that ‘history’ is often dictated by those in power and when you’ve been colonized as many times as Taiwan has, it shouldn’t really be surprising that much of what once existed has already been torn down, most often to better suit the interests of those in charge.

Its all too easy to make scapegoats of the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists for the damage they caused, but even today, decades after the country has transformed into one of the most stable democracies in Asia, places of historic value continue to disappear, now though, its due to modern development. 

Such is the case that it doesn’t particularly matter if something was constructed by the Spanish, the Dutch, the Qing, the Japanese or the Chinese Nationalists - its open season if its considered to be in the way.

Fortunately there are vocal civic groups all over the country that are determined to protect Taiwan’s cultural and historic assets by any means necessary - This doesn’t mean that they always win, but the work these groups are doing now is helping to preserve important pieces of Taiwan’s history for future generations.

The government has likewise started taking a more proactive approach to the preservation of (some of) Taiwan’s historic properties. In recent years a considerable amount of public funds have been allocated for the restoration and repair of many of these places of interest. Sadly though, these projects don’t seem to be funded equally with poorer areas having a hard time keeping up.  

If you’ve been around for the past few years, you might have noticed that many former buildings constructed during the Japanese Colonial Era have been (or are in the process of being) restored and likewise several of Taiwan’s former Military Dependents Villages have been brought back to life with initiatives to convert them into tourist attractions. 

Links: Mazu New Village (馬祖新村) | Rainbow Village (彩虹村) 

I may be somewhat partial, but as far as I’m concerned, there are few places in Taiwan where those efforts have been more obvious than here in Taoyuan. The local government has spent a considerable amount of money renovating and restoring buildings of historic and cultural value.

Taoyuan, which has a reputation as an industrial area, was actually at one time better known for its high concentration of these ‘Military Villages’ and was home to a large portion of Taiwan’s new immigrant population when the Chinese Nationalists fled here after 1949. Only a handful of these villages currently remain though, so the fact that a ‘rich’ area of Taiwan has only committed to saving three of these villages goes to show how dire the situation can be with places of historic significance.

The three military villages that were lucky enough to be preserved in Taoyuan include Mazu New Village (馬祖新村) in Zhongli, Dawu New Village (大武新村) in Daxi, and Xianguang Second Village (憲光二村) in Guishan. Each of which is currently run under the ‘Military Village Iron Triangle’ project funded by the city government. So far though, only Mazu New Village has been completely restored and reopened the public while the other two are currently undergoing restoration with their official opening dates to be determined within the next few years. 

Link: The Taoyuan ‘Military Village Iron Triangle’ (桃園眷村鐵三角)

The topic of today’s blog post is Guishan’s Xianguang Second Village, which is located a short distance from the downtown core of Taoyuan District. The restoration project on the village started around the end of 2019, but in the few years prior to that, it was opened to the public on a trial basis a few days a week to allow people to check out what the village looked like and learn about its history.

That being said, in its current state there really isn’t much for most visitors in terms of things to see, learn or enjoy - So if you live outside out Taoyuan, I don’t think a visit to the village is worth a day trip.

If you’re here because you saw a cool-looking photo on Instagram, you might want to reconsider and wait until it officially opens within the next year or two. 

You probably know that I’m a bit weird by now though, so I made sure to visit the village a couple of times before the restoration project started. The reason for this was not because I wanted some cool instagram photos, but because I wanted to document the condition of the village before construction workers started tearing it apart.

The photos I’m sharing today in this post are meant to show the village in its abandoned condition before it reopens, which means that you can expect an update to this post a few years from now when it reopens to the public looking new and shiny. 

Before we talk about the village though, lets take a minute to talk about what Military Villages are:

Military Villages (眷村)

When the Chinese Nationalists retreated to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War (國共內戰) they brought with them over two million refugees, who were in quick need of places to stay.

Most of the people who were able to make the journey from China could only do so because they were part of the social elite or members of the Republic of China Armed Forces.

The new arrivals learned quickly that the government clearly wasn’t prepared to house them, so plans were made to hastily construct shoddy villages which would serve the purpose of 'temporarily' housing them until they could triumphantly return to their homeland when the communists were defeated.

Or so was the plan..  

The villages which are known as Military Dependents' villages (眷村) were constructed all over Taiwan in the 1940s and 1950s for members of the military and their families.

The Nationalist dream was that they would only retreat to Taiwan and ‘regroup’ for a short time in order to retake China from the communists. Unfortunately that would never come to pass and these so-called 'temporary' villages became 'permanent' settlements for the less privileged of those refugees.

The villages though ended up becoming important centres for the preservation of traditional Chinese culture, art, literature and cuisine and many of Taiwan’s older generation grew up in them.

Despite the refugees receiving preferential treatment from the government, the homes were sloppily put together and were property of the state, which meant that the tenants had no possibility of land ownership.

Over the years the tenants did their best to improve their living situations but as Taiwan's economic miracle was taking place, villages started to become abandoned as people sought a better, more comfortable life elsewhere.

Link: Military Dependents’ Villages (Wiki) | Military Villages (Spectral Codex)

As more and more of the homes were abandoned and left to the elements, the conditions at these villages became an contentious issue of public debate as it seemed that those who remained were living in government-owned slums. The government thus decided to improve the public-housing situation and tear down the majority of the villages, which would be replaced with modern high-rise apartments.

In recent years though, the people of Taiwan have taken interest in the preservation of the remaining villages and several civil groups have been set up to protect them. These groups have become somewhat of a thorn in the side of the government and (in some cases) the public pressure they have applied has forced the government to come up with alternative plans.

Unfortunately, the future of many of Taiwan’s remaining Military Communities is still undecided - with almost 90% of them having already become a faded memory. Its important that the few that remain are preserved to ensure that these important pieces of Taiwan’s history are preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. 

Xianguang Second Village (憲光二村) 

Xianguang Second Village was constructed in 1968 (民國57年) and was the only Military Dependents Village in Taoyuan that was built solely for the housing of the Military Police (憲兵).

  • Note: The first character in “憲兵” is “xiàn” (憲) which is where the name for this village comes from.  Military Police - “憲兵” (xiàn bīng). Xianguang - “憲光” (xiàn guāng)

When the initial construction was complete, the village was home to about fourteen narrow rows of homes that were interconnected with each other housing over 100 families. 

The homes were constructed in the typical ‘military village’ style that was common throughout Taiwan, which meant that the space inside was limited and that families lived together in close quarters with little to no privacy.  

Later in 1973 (民國62年), a block of four story high rise apartments was added and provided space space for an additional 40 families. The fact that this village showcases both the basic single-floor cramped ‘Military Village’ style of architectural design with the addition of a more modern style, allows it to stand out from the others in terms of what you’ll see when you visit.

Layout of the village from the official website

Layout of the village from the official website

As was the case with pretty much every other military village constructed around the country, people eventually got tired of living in such small (and poorly constructed) residences that they eventually opted to instead make the most of the Taiwanese economic miracle and purchase their own homes elsewhere. 

In 2006, after all of the residents of Xianguang Second Village had already vacated the village, the government designated it as a historic property and started coming up with plans to preserve the site for future use and its inclusion into Taoyuan’s Military Village culture network. 

In the thirteen years since, not much has happened at the village, but as I mentioned above, the restoration project to bring the village back to life has only just started, so it looks like the future of this quaint little village is looking quite promising and will be an attractive destination in the near future!  

Visiting the Village and Future Plans

Xianguang Second Village opened to the public a few years ago, under the Taoyuan City Government’s “Military Village Culture” initiative but when it first opened, public visits were limited to only two days a week and most of the village was off-limits. In the few years since, they gradually increased the amount of days that people could visit as well as planning a number of activities in order to attract more visitors.

I visited a few years ago when the village first opened to the public and unfortunately arrived only about an hour before they were about to close. I figured that would be enough time to check it out, but when the staff saw me wandering around they decided to approach me and ask if I needed help or a free tour.

I ended up having a long conversation with the friendly ladies who work there but unfortunately that didn’t leave me with much time to take photos as they chatted me up until closing time. 

Unlike Mazu New Village (馬祖新村) in nearby Zhongli, this village has yet to receive much attention in terms of fixing it up to make it look nice or giving it much promotion. So when people visit, especially foreigners, the staff get really excited.

As part of the Taoyuan City Government’s ‘Military Village Iron Triangle’ (桃園眷村鐵三角) mentioned above, it seems like this particular village had to wait in line (for funding) behind the renovation projects on Mazu New Village and Dawu New Village before it got its turn.

A typical military village style living room.

In November 2019, the long-planned three-year renewal project finally started at the village, which will see many of the buildings within completely renovated and transformed into a museum. From what I’ve read, the museum will be dedicated to ‘immigration’ in addition to being used as a space for various events, exhibitions and learning about the history of Taiwan’s Military Villages.

Knowing that the village would undergo this period of renewal, I thought it was best to make an effort to visit and get photos of what the village looked like before work started. Given that I have an interest in urban exploration and exploring places with historic value, it was nice to be able to freely explore the abandoned military village to see what the homes were like in their dilapidated and lived-in states.

I also knew from experience with the Mazu Village in Zhongli that once renovations started, it would difficult to gain access to any of the older buildings. 

Suffice to say when it comes to the future plans, all that has been mentioned is that the military village is slated to will become the ‘Xianguang Second Village Immigration Museum’ (憲光二村移民博物館) around 2022 and will focus on the modern history of immigration in Taiwan, especially with respect to all of the military villages in Taoyuan and the diverse ethnic groups of refugees who came here when the Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War. 

I may seem like a broken record by now, but I’m guessing that the situation will be similar to what happened at Mazu New Village with the majority of the village being beautifully renovated and opened to the public with coffee shops, art displays and weekend activities on-site.

Only one of the buildings ended up being reserved to become the Taoyuan Arts Cinema (桃園光影電影館), so if I’m right, the actual ‘Immigration Museum’ will probably just be a permanent exhibition in one of the buildings while all of the others will be opened for tourism or commercial activities.  

Whatever the future holds, I hope that once the renovation project is completed and the village is reopened that whatever they plan to do with the space is well thought out and that it will be put to good use.

As it is, sections of the village will remain open to the public as the renovation project is underway but it should be obvious that if you plan on visiting before the official re-opening, you’ll be going at a time when there will be quite a bit of construction work going on at the same time. 

Getting There 

 

Address: Lane 138, Datong Road, Guishan District, Taoyuan City. (桃園市龜山區大同路138巷) 

Xianguang Second Village is located just outside of Taoyuan and is a short distance from the train station - It is a bit of a distance though, so if you’re heading into town and you don’t have a car or scooter, you’ll probably want to take some form of public transportation to get there, instead of walking. 

Taking a bus is quite simple, from Taoyuan Train Station (桃園車站) walk to the Tonlin Department Store (統領百貨) where you’ll find a bunch of bus stops to the right of the main entrance. From there get on Bus #137, which (should) come every fifteen to twenty minutes. You’ll want to stay on the bus until you reach the Datong Bus Stop (大同路口) where you’ll get off and walk down the hill to the village.

You could also easily take a YouBike from the Taoyuan Train Station and park it at the village when you get there, or simply returning it at one of the Youbike stations nearby.

The village is open to the public every week from Wednesday to Saturday (closed on Sundays / Mondays and Tuesdays) from 9:00 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 5:30. 

I would caution you though that in my experience, the hours of operation are quite fickle and once they start the renovation project, it is likely going to much more difficult to visit the village.

If you plan to visit Taoyuan just to check out this village, I highly recommend that you call first to confirm whether or not the village is actually even open to save yourself from disappointment. 

Phone number: 03-319-7132

Links: 桃園眷村鐵三角憲光二村 (Chinese-language only)

While you’re in the area, I also recommend taking some time to visit the Taoyuan Confucius Temple (桃園孔廟), Taoyuan Shinto Shrine (桃園神社) and exploring the Tiger Head Mountain (虎頭山) area which are all a short distance away from the village

The popularity in recent years for the renewal of historic properties like Huashan (華山), Songshan Tobacco Factory (松菸) and Mazu New Village (馬祖新村) as new cultural villages for art and design has most certainly been a welcome turn of events.

The problem though is that when the rebranding of these villages isn’t well thought out, it makes for a situation where the staff struggle to attract visitors. Over the past couple of years I’ve visited this village on a few different occasions and got the feeling each time that the staff are dedicated to the promotion of the village and its future and (even though they were a bit chatty), they’re always excited to have guests. 

Keeping in mind that the village is currently undergoing a renovation process similar to what happened at Mazu Village in Zhongli, I expect that some of these issues will be resolved when the village officially reopens in the next few years.

When it does reopen, I hope that I’ll be able to visit again to get photos of the renovated buildings and how they’ve gone about making it more attractive for visitors.


Sanjiaopu Mountain (三角埔頂山)

A few years ago I posted a blog about the beautiful Silver Grass (芒花) that appears during the Autumn and Winter months in Taiwan turning the country’s lush green mountains white.

I might have been a bit ahead of the curve as the blog post was the only English-language resource available at the time that introduced the beautiful weeds.

Since then ‘Silver Grass tourism’ has sort of become ‘thing’ around here and people are flocking to mountains all over the country taking photos of the tall grass.

I’d like to think my humble blog post played a small role in that.

Actually no, I jest.

The sudden popularity of Silver Grass-related tourism as of late is probably thanks to what I’ve started to refer to as ‘Insta-tourism.’

To put it simply, trends in domestic tourism in Taiwan these days is almost completely driven by trends on Instagram and Social Media - Think Pokemon Go, but instead of catching a monster, you get to take photos.

In the the west we’ve taken to referring to those people who earn a living from their Instagram following as ‘influencers’ while here in Taiwan they are known as “Internet Beauties” (網美) or “Internet Celebrities” (網紅).

In Taiwan these so-called influencers play a lot of the same advertising roles that they do in other countries but are also very much engaged in driving new trends and introducing new photo locations to their followers.

A single photo from one of these people has the ability to turn what was once a quiet destination (enjoyed mostly by locals) into a social-media sensation.

As an avid hiker, I’ve found that I’ve always been able to climb mountains on weekends and never really had to deal with traffic jams on the trails. Now though, you have to be very selective of what mountains you are climbing as some of them have become popular spots for Instagrammers to roam around.

As I’ve mentioned before, Jinmian Mountain (金面山), Kite Mountain (鷹山), the Sacred Mother Peak (聖母山步道), Yuanzui Mountain (鳶嘴山) and the Pingxi Crags were all hiking trails that were pretty much only frequented by hiking groups. Today they are all filled with people looking not for a good day of exercise but to increase their follower counts.

Whether or not this kind of tourism is a good thing remains to be seen.

As Silver Grass tourism became a popular trends over the past few years, the mountains where it grows in abundance have been filling up with visitors.

Traditionally, the most popular locations to go and check it out has always been on Taipei’s Yangming Mountain (陽明山), Cixing Mountain (七星山), Datun Mountain (大屯山) or on the historic Caoling Trail (草嶺古道).

This year however there was a new contender for the most popular spot thanks to Instagram.

Like many other mountains in Taiwan as of late, what was once a quiet hiking trail frequented only by locals, Sanjiaopu Mountain (三角埔頂山) has became yet another internet sensation thanks to the power of social media.

The mountain which sits on the border of Taoyuan and New Taipei City was once most well-known for its panoramic cityscape views of the Taipei basin. These days however not many people really care about those beautiful views as Silver Grass tourism has completely taken over.

Interestingly enough, despite the local government having constructed a well-maintained hiking path on the mountain, it was never really that popular as most people stayed away due to the fact that the mountain is also home to a cemetery - which in Taiwan automatically means there are ghosts!

Rising only 285 meters above sea-level, Sanjiaopu Mountain isn’t a very big one and doesn’t actually require much hiking. You can drive your car or scooter almost all the way to the top where there is a parking area at the trailhead.

From the trailhead you only really need to walk about five minutes to reach the peak.

Not really a day trip if that’s what you’re looking for. 

There are however several trails on the mountain that allow visitors to walk around the perimeter where you’ll get different panoramic views of the cityscape.

On a clear day you’ll be able to see as far as Guanyin Mountain (觀音山) to the north and Datun Mountain (大屯山) and pretty much all of Taipei City to the east.

The views on top of this mountain are ideal for landscape or cityscape photographers.

While most people enjoy the views of Taipei City from Elephant Mountain (象山), this mountain provides a completely different perspective than what most are used to seeing and is justifiably very popular after dark for unparalleled night views of the city.

These days however its all about the Silver Grass.

Silver Grass (芒花)

Silver grass or ‘Miscanthus Sinensis’ is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to East Asia growing in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China. In both Taiwan and Japan, the plant is widely respected and when it is in bloom people will flock to the mountains and hillsides to see it.

Coincidentally in North America attitudes toward the plant are the polar opposite as it is considered an invasive species and is usually destroyed to control its growth.

It's interesting that the so-called “weed” is reviled in one area and highly respected in another.

Between the months of October and December you can pretty much see wild silver grass growing all over Taiwan - Its literally everywhere you find a patch of grass.

If you want to see it growing in abundance, or you want to get some photos of yourself in a field full of it - you're going to have to head to the mountains where it grows without impediment.

Check out my blog post from a few years ago where I posted photos of the beautiful Silver Grass from the top of Datun Mountain in Taipei.

Getting There

 

As I mentioned above, Datun Mountain and Yangming Mountain in Taipei have always been most popular thanks to their accessibility when it comes to public transportation.

Unfortunately for the ‘influencers’ of the world, if you want to visit this one, you’re not going to be able to rely on public transportation to get there.

I mean, you could take a bus from Shulin (樹林) to Taoyuan (桃園) and get off somewhere in the middle and then walk a few kilometres up the paved mountain road.

But thats not really the best idea if you want to enjoy your time on the mountain.

If you do insist on using public transportation it’d be best to first take a train to Shulin Train Station (樹林車站) and from there take bus 701, 843, 985 or Orange 26. While on the bus watch for the “New Village” bus stop (新村站) where you’ll get off and begin your 2km walk up the mountain.

On the other hand, if you have your own means of transportation you’ll want to take Provincial Highway #1 (省道台一線) from either Taoyuan (桃園) or Xinzhuang (新莊) and turn off at the Dadong Bridge (大棟橋) where you’ll be transported behind some factories and up the mountain.

The mountain has quite a few side roads though and its easy to get lost, so its probably a better idea to input the words “三角埔頂山“ into Google Maps, which will guide you up the mountain where you’ll be able to park.

I realize that by (purposely) posting this blog well-after the Silver Grass season has ended won’t really help you out very much - especially if you’re an Instagrammer looking for a cool new spot to take photos - You’ll have to wait until next year for that.

This mountain however is a great spot all year long, so if you’re looking for somewhere to take cityscape photos that are going to turn out different than everyone else’s - you’ll definitely want to consider visiting this mountain!

Likewise, if you’re reading this blog just in time for Silver Grass season make sure to visit for the Silver Grass but remember to stay for the cityscape photos - especially at night!