Beitou (北投) is a district of Taipei City at the foot of Yangmingshan (陽明山 or Yangming Mountain), a collection of mountain peaks that make up Yangminshan National Park. These include Seven Star Mountain (七星山 or Qixingshan), a dormant volcano that last erupted around 700,000 years ago.
Xinbeitou (新北投), the hot spring village around Xinbeitou MRT station, occupies a lush valley that is home to 1200 species of plants, 110 species of bird, and 160 varieties of butterflies.
Beitou Thermal Valley (also called Beitou Geothermal Valley or Hell Valley) is a second, highly acidic “green sulfur” hot spring that is a major tourist attraction in Beitou and the source of the hot creek running through Beitou Hot Spring Park.
The spring water is high in radium, which in the past underwent a corrosive reaction with the andesite rocks on the river bed about 150 meters downstream, creating layers of cream and white diamond-shaped crystals named Hokutolite or “Beitou stone”, ...
Xianse Temple, also known as Sanchong Xianse Temple or Wugu Xiandi Temple, stands as a cherished historic landmark in Sanchong District of New Taipei City.
This mixed Buddhist-Taoist temple primarily venerates Shennong, the legendary Divine Farmer and Emperor of Agriculture and Medicine, who is revered for teaching ancient people the arts of farming and herbal healing.
Its serene presence near the MRT Xianse Temple Station offers visitors a peaceful glimpse into Taiwan’s agricultural heritage and immigrant history, with exquisite traditional architecture that has earned it recognition as a New Taipei City-designated historic site.
The temple’s story dates back to the mid-18th century during the Qing Dynasty. Around 1745, immigrants from Quanzhou in Fujian Province began reclaiming land in the flood-prone Taipei Basin area. By 1755, they erected a simple thatched shrine to Shennong, seeking blessings for bountiful harvests.
Over the decades, repeated flooding prompted relocations, and the ...
The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 國民革命忠烈祠 is a shrine in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan, dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China.
Built on Chingshan Mountain and overseeing the Keelung River in Taipei's Zhongshan District in 1969, the Martyrs' Shrine recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing's Forbidden City. The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises.
A changing of the honor guard from the various branches of the Republic of China Military, similar to the rituals at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, take place at the shrine every hour from 9:00-5:00 pm.
Although the Martyrs' Shrine is located in Taiwan, most of the soldiers were born in mainland China. Taiwan was ruled by Japan throughout World War II, ...
The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 國民革命忠烈祠 is a shrine in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan, dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China.
Built on Chingshan Mountain and overseeing the Keelung River in Taipei's Zhongshan District in 1969, the Martyrs' Shrine recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing's Forbidden City. The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises.
A changing of the honor guard from the various branches of the Republic of China Military, similar to the rituals at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, take place at the shrine every hour from 9:00-5:00 pm.
Although the Martyrs' Shrine is located in Taiwan, most of the soldiers were born in mainland China. Taiwan was ruled by Japan throughout World War II, ...