1985
Taipei
The Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel, built in the classical imperial style of old China under the watchful eye of Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
Portrait Painter
It's popular to have one's portrait painted--from a photograph.
Temple Prayers
Temples and religion are part of daily life.
Lanterns
Typical temple decorations.
Lung-Shan Temple
Roof decoration on the Lung-Shan "Dragon Mountain"
Temple, built in the first half
of the 18th Century to honor the island's patron
deities, Kuan Yin and Ma Tsu.
Taroko Gorge/East-West Cross-Island Highway
The Highway
The highway clings to the sides of the Taroko Gorge.
Shrine of Eternal Spring
A memorial to the 450 retired servicemen who lost their lives
constructing the road,
known as the "Rainbow of Taiwan," which passes
through the Taroko Gorge.
Teh-Chi Dam Reservoir
View from the hostel above the Teh-Chi Dam reservoir in the Central Range.
Lukang
Dragon Mountain Temple
The oldest temple in Lukang, and one of the oldest in Taiwan,
dating from the 18th Century, constructed by early Chinese
settlers as an expression of gratitude to Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy, for
their safe passage from the mainland.
Sun Moon Lake
Wen-Wu Temple
Roofs on the Wen-Wu Temple, the Temple of Martial and
Literary Arts, a Taoist shrine,
dedicated to Confucius and the two great warrior deities, Kuan Kung and Yueh Fei.
Peikang
Ma Tsu Temple
The most extravagant of the island's 383 temples dedicated to
Taiwan's patron deity, Ma Tsu, the goddess of the sea. Koxinga
attributed the safe passage of his war fleet across the Taiwan Strait to the
divine protection of Ma Tsu, and ever since then she has been
a highly revered deity in Taiwan. In the picture, on the right, is one of the
temple's twelve image cones, most temples have only two.