Long Shan Temple

I'm in Taipei, Taiwan for the weekend. Temples are one of the main attractions of the city and the Long Shan (Dragon Mountain) temple is one of the must-sees. It's one of the oldest temples in the city, which is impressive considering the number of disasters it's survived in it's 260+ year history. Earthquakes, typhoons, even an Allied bomb in WWII has hit the temple, but they just keep rebuilding this place, and maybe each time they do it just keeps getting better, because this temple is pretty awesome.

The coolest thing about it are these dragons that are carved on the twelve main pillars of the temple.
There are also dragons on the roof to protect the temple. Doesn't seem like they're doing a very good job, though...


The main hall of the temple is ornate and filled with gold leaf.

This joss-stick urn is adorable! I love the little fat men holding up the lid. Didn't like the incense so much, though. Temples always make me feel like I'm going to walk out with lung cancer.

The quantity of offerings on this table shows how popular this temple is. I've never seen so many offerings in one place before. Not sure how appetizing I'd find this stuff though, especially if I were a god...
These little flower arrangements are available for sale outside the temple as an offering to the gods. The sickly sweet scent of their perfume provides a good counter-note to the incense. They remind me of Indian temples, though. Perhaps it isn't surprising considering that Buddhism and Hinduism have the same origins.

One curious thing I saw at the temple were all these people throwing little red, crescent-shaped blocks of wood on the ground. I think it's got something to do with divination of the future or immortal answers to one's questions, but I wonder how you're supposed to read these random patterns. Faith is a curious thing.