4ever Discovering
Longshan Temple Tour
Try to leave your worries behind at Longshan Temple Tour
The third tour we went on was “Longshan Temple Tour” and it’s been my favourite so far. (Still two lefts) The tour is with “Tour Me Away”, the same company as the previous tours, and it lasts around 2 hours. The tour guides- (Jon and Ruby were amazing btw)
Note: This post might be a little long because there is so much to talk about.
The best part of this tour was that you actually felt like a local- instead of just touring around Taipei, you felt like you were apart of Taipei. There is so much history in this area, and you are doing things, so many people have done before you.
The tour started at the MTR station, if you go to Longshan Temple MTR station, you will notice a lot of homeless people and older people. This is because the people believe that if they are close to the Temple and to the Gods that no harm will come to them.
We walked through the old Manka District where the Indigenous people would do their business. At night, it is completely abandon, with some art work on the brick walls of the three main gods : the God of Health, the God of Wealth, and the God of Happiness. Along with the art work, there is also an old movie poster; it’s done in some short of paint which makes causing to last through all the rainy days.
Next we moved on to the herb alley. Back in the “old days”, when medicine wasn’t as advanced, people would come to the Temple to worship and to pray for their health and the people “working” at the temple would give them a prescription of natural remedies, for example; bitter tea for a week. Now it’s a little alley way of organic fruits, veggies, roots, and anything really. There is a lady that serves 3 kinds of herb teas
- the “beauty” tea: a hibiscus tea which is supposed to help clear your skin
-the green grass tea: which is just healthy… (Danielle and I got this one, I enjoyed it)
-the bitter tea: the more bitter the better, it cleanses your whole body ;) (it was quite tasty)
Then we arrived at the Longshan Temple, it’s pretty hard to miss because of its size. It was originally built in 1738, and then rebuilt 3 things- once because of an earthquake, once because of a typhoon, and once because of a bombing during the war. It is so detailed and made of stone, the amount of detailed that is carved into the columns, the roof, and the doors is mind blowing.
When you walk into the Temple, you walk in on the right side and you exit through the left side. The right hand side represents the dragon; which is a very sacred animal- the myth is if you eat their whiskers you will live forever. && you exit through the left side, the side of the lion, because the lion is a very dangerous animal!
When you walk into the temple, you will receive 3 incense. You go to the side and light them up using the flame. Then you face the main God; Guan-Yin, and bow 3 times, say your name and your birthday (so the God knows who is talking) and your wishes or worries. Then you go put your incense into the middle of the pot, the closer to the middle the better; but before not to burn yourself. In the front of the Temple, it is the Buddhism Gods, but in the back, it is the more local Gods from Taoism.
In Taoism, there are many different Gods, each has it’s own specialty. In the rear of the temple, there was the God of the Sea (travel), the God of Health, the God of Fertility, the God of strategy, and the God of Relationship. People bring food, and flowers to the Gods to show appropriation. You can contact the Gods through these stones, and depending on the way they are placed on the floor, is their answer. Danielle asked the God if she could have a boyfriend, and they simply said no. (She was happy with the results!) I on the other hand, asked if I could keep my boyfriend, and the God said YES!
Then if you have any other questions or worries you need help addressing, you can go to back to the front of the temple, and do this process.
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Get the stones
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Bow 3 times - say your name and birthday then throw the stones and if they land one face up and one face down continue; if not, stop and try again another day.
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Get a stick
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Bow 3 times - say your name and birthday then throw the stones and if they land one face up and one face down continue; if not, stop and try again another day.
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If you were successful again- there is a number on the stick, go to that number at the bookcase and there will be a poem.
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Go to the “office” to get it translated into English or ask the tour guides :)
It’s quite a process to get an answer :)
After, we exited the Temple, we went to somewhere surprising, the “red light” district of Taipei. On this street, the cops turn a blind eye to prostitution. The street is not like Amsterdam or anything, it’s built with tea shops to make it more settle, but walking through it, you know!
You end up at the Night Market, Wuzhou St Night Market, where you can get a lot of unique dishes- specifically snake and alligator dishes… There is a 5 snake challenge. It’s not a coincidence the location of these snakes restaurants because apparently snake generates manpower… LOL.
We ended our tour by going to a traditional hotel, pretty famous in Taipei, it is known for not being on any websites and for folding blankets. You can even ask them to fold a blanket in the lady parts design, it’s their specialty.
I hope you learnt something reading this, but I really recommend you going to this tour if you’re in Taipei!
Feeling like a local worshiping in the Longshan Temple
