Shitoushan

Temples of Lions Head Mountain

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. 

In the first post about Lion's Head Mountain I covered the first two and the largest of the temples on the mountain. In this post I'm going to briefly introduce some of the other places and things to see on the mountain. 


Yuan Guang Monastery (元光寺)

Yuan Guang Monastery (元光寺)

I've been to Lion’s Head Mountain several times and each time I visited, Yuan Guan Monastery wasn't open to the public. You can walk past the monastery, which is a large one that consists of a large temple in the middle with residential areas and farming areas to the sides.

On one of my visits I took a peek inside the main temple and it was just a large room with a lot of meditation cushions on the floor. It seems like the Yuan Guang Monastery is a very busy monastery and quite a few monks and nuns live there, but so far I haven't really seen any of them. 


She Li Cave (舍利洞)

The Shrine in front of She-Li Cave (舍利洞)

She Li Cave looks just like a normal temple when you are walking past. It has a courtyard covered by rooftop and there is an incense burner in front of a shrine to Guanyin. It is another one of the mountains shrines built into a cave, but there is something a bit special about this one and truthfully even though I've been past this temple several times - I hadn't actually realized there was a cave! 

The Shrine inside the cave

On my most recent visit to the mountain I had a short conversation with the groundskeeper who was not only excited to see someone on a weekday, but that that person was also a foreigner. He told me not to miss the cave inside and to my surprise he led me past a small door on the right of the shrine and brought me into an actual lighted cave behind the shrine.

The shrine in the back has another Guanyin statue and it reaches in behind the shrine in front. The cave however isn't very large and it was a bit damp so I didn't spend much time inside. As I mentioned in the previous post, you have to be careful on this hike that you don't randomly miss some cool stuff. 


Ling Yun Cave (凌雲洞)

Ling Yun Cave and a strange looking statue of Guanyin (觀音)

Ling Yun Cave is a small cave with a shrine built in front of it. There really isn't much to see here as you can just look into the cave through a window in the small shrine they constructed in front of the cave.

Inside the shrine there are some Buddha statues and to the side there is a life size statue of Guanyin. The statue of Guanyin is a little strange looking and is in the design of what I like to call "Catholic-inspired" Buddhist art. The statue doesn't look like a typical Buddhist statue and the lifelike design of it can be a bit scary - kind of like Catholic art. The cave is just a smaller attraction along the road, so you don't necessarily need to spend much time there, especially if you aren't Buddhist - If you are hiking Taiwanese people however they will probably want to stop at all of the shrines and offer their respect. 


Kai Shan Temple (開善寺)

Kai Shan Temple (開善寺)

Kai Shan temple is a Buddhist temple that was built in 1927 and is aesthetically-speaking my favourite temple on the mountain. The temple is quite special compared to a lot of the other temples in Taiwan as it was designed in the style of Northern Japanese temples and thus different from what you'd normally see here in Taiwan. 

The view from the courtyard

The temple is a short walk from the She Li Cave and like the cave it is another temple built into the side of a mountain. The temple's courtyard is really cool with some giant zen-like bonsai trees (盆栽) that are taken care of by the monks who reside at the temple. If you're familiar with the Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi was really fond of his trees and cutting them was a form of meditation for him. Likewise, the monks and nuns at this temple will spend their time practicing the ancient art with the trees and they will look different each time you visit.

A monk and nun chanting sutras

A monk and nun chanting sutras

The inside of the temple has some really large statues of Amida Buddha (阿彌陀佛), Shakyamuni Buddha (釋迦牟尼佛) and the Medicine Buddha (藥師佛.) Considering that this temple is part of a monastery, there are often monks and nuns working or performing religious activities at the temple as well as cleaning up and taking care of the grounds. 

Peeking in through the front doors

The inside of the shrine room.

The monks will chant a few times a day and the chanting is played on speakers so that the whole mountain can hear. If you visit the Kai Shan temple, try to be quiet and enjoy the scenery and don’t walk around the inside of the temple if the monks are inside chanting as you could distract them. 

Also, don't forget to enjoy the view of the look off from the courtyard in front of the temple. There is a great view of not only the temples and pagodas below but also of northern Miaoli county. 


Ling-Xia Cave (雲霞洞) 

Ling-Xia Cave (雲霞洞)

Ling-Xia Cave is probably one of the most well-known of all the temples and shrines on the mountain. The shrine was initially set up in 1917 during the Japanese occupation period with a Japanese-style Buddhist shrine in a cave. In 1932 (明治35年) a baroque style gate was constructed in front of the cave. As I've mentioned in previous posts (Daxi Old Street and Hukou Old Street) Baroque-style architecture was popular in Taiwan due to the economic prosperity of the day so I guess it seemed only natural to apply that form of architecture to the front of a popular Buddhist shrine. 

The gate constructed in front of the cave has the name of the cave in the middle with the words「山虛」meaning something along the lines of “mountain emptiness”  and 「水深」meaning referring to the depth of the water. There are several translations and I could have the meaning completely messed up, but the meanings are meant to reflect emptiness and the void which are important words in Buddhism.

The shrine inside the cave

There isn't much to see in the cave, it's not that big and if you're tall, you should watch your head while inside. There is a temple/monastery to the left of the cave but each time I've been to the mountain it hasn't been open to the public.


Rock Face Calligraphy (獅頭山大石壁)

Buddhist sayings carved into the mountain

While hiking along the trail between Kai Shan Temple and Yuan Guang Temple you will come across a giant rock face cliff where you will have to walk up a steep set of stairs to continue along your path. The rock face has some pretty cool Chinese calligraphy carved into the side and while you are making your way up the hill be sure to stop and take notice of the beautiful job the artist did. 


Shui Lian Cave (水簾洞)

Shui Lian Cave (水簾洞)

Shui Lian Cave is on a completely different hiking trail and while it is on Lion’s Head Mountain, it isn't part of the main trails where you will find all of the other temples and shrines. I thought I'd include the shrine though as Shui Lian Cave is the largest cave on the mountain. The cave is a short walk up the road from the main gate to the hiking trails on the Hsinchu side. There is a parking lot where tour buses usually park and the cave is a short walk down a steep set of stairs which brings you to somewhat of a river gorge.

The temple from beside the river

If you pay attention to the river you'll be able to see fish swimming around in the river and this is a great spot for seeing different species of birds. The shrine is built into the cave and like all the other caves on the mountain the shrine was built to accommodate the mountain but not destroy the natural environment. The shrine has some large statues of the Buddha and Taiwanese people like to make the trek down the stairs to pay their respects. I'd recommend checking the cave out, but if you are tired from hiking the trails up above, you might feel that there isn't that much to see here. 


I couldn't introduce all of the temples, shrines or monasteries on Lion's Head Mountain due to the fact that on the days I went they weren't open to the public. I tried my best though to explain as much as I could about the temples from what little information there is about them. If you are planning on taking a day-trip to Lion's Head Mountain, don't be afraid that it will be an arduous day of hiking. The trails are quite easy and you can finish it from front to back in a little over 2-3 hours and there are buses from Hsinchu or Miaoli that will transport you between the cities and to the trailhead. 

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


Temples of Lions Head Mountain

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.