Longshan Temple
艋舺龍山寺
Taipei's oldest temple, wreathed in incense since 1738
- Hours
- 06:00–22:00 (last entry 21:45)
- Tickets
- Free
- Address
- 211 Guangzhou St, Wanhua District
Step through the gate and the incense hits first. Guanyin presides over the main hall, and behind her sit Mazu, the matchmaker Yue Lao, the god of literature and more, Buddhist, Taoist and folk deities under one roof. In the courtyard people drop pairs of crescent-shaped wooden blocks to ask the gods yes-or-no questions. When an Allied air raid flattened the main hall in 1945, the Guanyin statue came through untouched, and the neighbourhood still tells that story. After dark the dragons and phoenixes along the roof ridges light up and the whole place looks twice as ornate.