Taipei Travel

This temple wasn't on our to-do list at all, but on the last day of our stay in Taiwan the sky cleared up and we decided to get out and about. We stumbled across Ciyou temple and are glad we did, it was a great way to finish our day. The temple is beautiful, with 6 levels to explore, all with a different theme and different deities to worship. At the time we arrived a lovely lady behind the counter (where the paper for burning is stored) spotted us and took it upon herself to be our personal guide within the temple. She was an absolute wealth of information and made the experience all that much more meaningful. The temple is well worth visiting, be sure to take the time to explore it all and see if someone can help explain some of the rituals and blessings to you, it's quite unique and interesting.

We visited this temple one saturday night during Chinese New Year, after attending the nearby night market. The temple was adorned with lanterns - make sure you head to the rear of the temple and climb up the stairs on the right hand side - you'll encounter 6 floors of shrines plus an amazing view at the top - you can even see the top of Taipei 101 in the distance.

This temple is supposed to give you good luck in romance. I hope my offering was good enough! Great example of traditional architecture hidden away among the hustle and bustle of the urban sprawl. Ladies, I'm waitin'....

The Ciyou temple was build in the 18 century and well preserved, the temple is dedicated to the Black Faced Mazu and you can find many themed decorations inside, the building is stunning. There were people singing in the temple during our visit and the experience was amazing! A great taste of local culture and religion.

This temple is just a small but totally informative temple, with full of great memoirs in every corner. During our visit they are somewhat doing an offering for the dead where they place food and prayer items to invite the love ones for the rituals. Amazing to see they culture.