Zushi Temple, Sanxia

One of Taiwan's finest temples

Zushi Temple 祖師廟 (pronounced Tsǔshī miào) in Sanxia is probably one of the oldest and most beautiful temples in Taiwan. It's dedicated to the goddess Matsu. It reminds me of the Mengjia Longshan Temple in Taipei, because of some similarities. They were both built in the 18th century by immigrants from Fujian and they were both destroyed and rebuilt several times. But aside from that, each of them bears a special place in northern Taiwan, one in Sanxia, the other one in Taipei. Zushi temple was built in 1769.

I visited the temple during my recent afternoon trip to Sanxia with my girlfriend. We walked around the area when the light was still ok (check the video above) and went inside when the sun already went down. My photos may not be the best, but they will give you a good idea, how magnificent the temple is. But photos and videos can't never replace the feeling, when you stand there in real and allow the breathtaking beauty to captivate you.

Check my photos of the Zushi temple in Sanxia:

This was taken while the light was still good.

At dawn the lights in the temple create a magical atmosphere.

A lot of people were coming to pray.

The wonderfully lit altar is the central part of the temple.

The upper part is beautiful as well.

Then we went up to the first floor and saw these details.

The view from above. I recommend you to take the effort and go up there yourself.

I will definitely revisit the temple in the future, hopefully at a more brighter part of the day. I guess summer would be a great time to do so. I generally recommend to visit Sanxia, because there are also many other beautiful temples found all over this cute little town.

[My TAIWAN page][My NEW TAIPEI page][All photos by MKL, 2011]