Taiwan (2008-2025): New Taipei City and Keelung City

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To see the locations of the places pictured below, click here. (A Google map with red markers will open in a new tab.)

New Taipei City is a special municipality in northern Taiwan, which covers a vast territory that entirely surrounds Taipei City. This territory is only partially urbanized. Keelung City is the second largest port of Taiwan. Its territory is bordered by New Taipei City and the East China Sea.

The photos on this page are presented in ascending chronological order of the years they were taken.

In the sculpture garden of the Juming Museum, New Taipei City (2008):

Cape Yehliu, New Taipei City (2008):

Right: Famous limestone formation (known as the Queen′s Head, or Nuwang Tou) in Cape Yehliu‛s Geological Park.

Village of Jinguashi, New Taipei City (2009):

Village of Jioufen, New Taipei City (2009):

- Roof of the Jioufen Xia Hai City God temple.

- Views of the northeastern coast of Taiwan from the village.

Mount Cising in Yangmingshan National Park, New Taipei City (2009):

Left: Hiking trail to Mt. Cising. Right: At the summit of Mt. Cising, the park's tallest peak.

Turtle Island seen from a boat, located in Yiling County, east of New Taipei City (2009):

Sanxia Qingshui Zushi temple, Sanxia district, New Taipei City (2014):

This Taoist temple was first built in 1769, destroyed by an earthquake in 1833, rebuilt in 1867, burned down in 1895 by the Japanese Army, and restored after World War II. Its main deity is Master Qingshui, a former Buddhist monk from the Anxi region in China (see Qingshui temple in Taipei).

Waterfalls in Manyueyuan National Forest, New Taipei City (2014):

Tamsui, New Taipei City (March 2025):

- Market scenes in the old streets of Tamsui.

- Tamsui Longshan temple, built in 1858. Like in the Longshan temple of Taipei, the main deity is Guanyin, but other non-Buddhist deities are also worshipped here.

- Tamsui Qingshui temple, another temple dedicated to Master Qingshui from Anxi.

- Tamsui Fuyou temple built in 1796. It is dedicated to Matsu.

- Former residence of Tada Eikichi built in the 1930s. Tada Eikichi was a Japanese entrepreneur and civil servant during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. The house is built with cypress wood.

- Massive church of Aletheia University, a private university founded on 1872 by a missionary from the Presbyterian Church of Canada.

- Freshly renovated 19th-century house at the Tamsui customs wharf. (The belltowers of the Aletheia University's church are visible in the background.)

- Hobe fort. It was built in 1888 under the Qing dynasty to reinforce the coastline defense of Taiwan, following attacks by French military during the Sino-French War of 1884-1885.

- Fishing boats at the fisherman's wharf of Tamsui.

Wuji Tianyuan temple, New Taipei City (March 2025):

Nestled in the hills east of Tamsui, this temple is best known in Taiwan for its cherry blossoms in March. But it also features an impressive five-tiered pagoda-like building, known as the Altar of Heaven, completed in 1985. Each floor of this building features a praying hall dedicated to a distinct group of deities.

- Woman performing ritual steps upon entering the temple grounds.

- Views of the Altar of Heaven.

- Pictures from the prayer halls on the five successive floors of the Altar of Heaven.

Fufudingshan temple (富福頂山寺), New Taipei City (March 2025):

This temple, completed in 1996, is truly unique, bordering on the bizarre. Built largely within a man-made cave, its surfaces are entirely covered and decorated seashells and white coral. It is primarily dedicated to the Chinese Buddhist monk Daoji (1130-1209), popularly known as Ji Gong. This monk is said to have fought injustice and helped the poor using supernatural powers acquired through Buddhist practice. He is also known for his eccentric behavior: he consumed alcohol and meat, contrary to Buddhist teachings. Could it be that the temple's strangeness is intended to reflect the eccentricity of its patron god?

- Entrance of the temple.

- Main altar in the back of the cave. The niches in the wall contain statues of the 18 Arhats, considered the first disciples of the Buddha (only 9 are visible in the photo).

- Close-ups of parts of the temple.

Zhulinshan Guanyin temple, New Taipei City (March 2025):

This grandiose temple dates back to the 18th century, but the current buildings are largely the result of a reconstruction carried out between 2000 and 2012. The current temple resembles a grand Chinese palace. Its carved stone walls and pillars, decorated beams and lintels, and magnificent ceilings are testament to exceptional craftmanship. Clearly, nothing was denied to its main deity, the highly popular Guanyin.

- People praying to the most important statue in the temple, a statue of Guanyin with 18 arms. (Multi-armed representations of Guanyin are not uncommon. They symbolize her power to alleviate the suffering of many people.)

- Closeup of the statue of Guanyin.

- Views of other parts of the temple.

[Ghost money burner.]

- Taiwanese opera singer performing on a movable stage in front of the temple. 

Guishan Lingyun temple (靈雲寺哲學廟), New Taipei City (March 2025):

This weird temple was founded in 1991 by Xie Shide (1920-1998), a native of the Lugu township in Nantou county (central Taiwan). Xie Shide founded a sect that blended Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and other religious beliefs. Through his spiritual abilities, he attracted many followers, who called him Master Yohuazhi. In his later years, he followed an extreme diet aimed at purifying his body, apparently to initiate his own mummification and preserve his spiritual power in the afterlife. After his death, his mummified body was covered in gold leaf, clothed in a robe, and installed in the temple in 2002, where he now sits behind a protective glass case. The temple's main deity is Xuantian Shangdi (玄天上帝), the Taoist god of war during the Ming Dynasty. The temple also houses many odd deity statues, some linked to the creation of the world, such as the goddess Nuwa, who is said to have created humanity.

- View of the temple building with a large statue of Xuantian Shangdi on its roof.

- Giant snakes and dragon at the foot of the temple.

- Robed mummified Xie Shide, a.k.a. Master Yohuazhi, in the temple.

- Giant dragons wrapping tall columns. Note the smoke in the air.

- Statues of odd deities scattered throughout the temple.

[The rightmost statue above represents Chiang Kai-shek. A red inscription (barely visible in the photo) states that it is the statue of a deity and should not be vandalized.]

- Statues of deities against the back wall of the temple. The dominating (18m-high) statue on the left represents Xuantian Shangdi.

- Cohort of deities at the foot of the tall statue of Xuantian Shangdi.

Hongludi Nanshan Fude temple, New Taipei City (March 2025):

This temple is dedicated to the Taoist earth god, known as Tudigong. Originally a small temple established around 1900 for tea farmers, it expanded in the 1970s into a large temple featuring a giant outdoor statue of Tudigong (the largest in Taiwan). Unfortunately, during my visit this statue was undergoing renovation and was surrounded by scaffolding. So, I focused my camera on the colorful exterior murals of the temple.

- Some of the exterior murals in the temple.

[Mural representing Yue Lao, the Chinese god of love and marriage.]

- Fountain in the temple.

- Prayer room in the temple.

Port of Keelung, Keelung City (March 2025):

The port of Keelung forms a 2km-long, 400m-wide waterway from its mouth in the northeast to the extremity of its inner section in the southwest. It also includes a shorter lateral waterway on its northwest side. The two following photos show two parts of the inner section the port. The lateral waterway visible in the second photo.

Central Keelung City (March 2025):

- Buildings in downtown Keelung facing the southwest extremity of the port.

- Dead-end canal connected to the inner section of port.

- The 148m-high Lih-Rong An Imperial Crown Tower (a.k.a. the Hua Guan Tower), the highest building in Keelung City.

- Shopping street.

- Scenes of the Miaoku night market.

- Dianji temple. Located next to the Miaoku night market, this Taoist temple is mainly dedicated to Kaizhang Shengwang, a deified general named Chen Yuanguang (657-711), who served under the Tang Dynasty. Its main hall was completed in 1923, but destroyed in 1940 by Allied bombing, reconstructed in 1957-1964, and expanded in the early 2000s.

[Left: Large entrance gate that separates the temple from the Miaoku night market. Right: Equestrian statue of General Chen Yuanguang.]

[Statues on the roof of the temple.]

- Fo-Guang-Shan-ji-le temple.

Badouzi Dutian temple (八斗子度天宮), Keelung City (March 2025):

This temple is located roughly 6km east of Central Keelung. Built on a hillside facing the Badouzi fishing port, its main deity is Matsu, the popular goddess of fishermen in Chinese religions, in particular Taoism.

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