Expo Market Gallery – Today is Saturday 19th of November and we had arranged to meet our dear friends Holly, Bastian, the kids (Paul & Anna) and Holly’s Mum to head further our than the thermal springs of Beituo to the end of that rail line, Tamsui.
Shane and I decided that it would be a good idea to head to our meeting place, Yuanshan MRT Station exit 8 early and look around that area. This turned out to be a good decision because in the two hours we had to wait we got to peruse the local Farmers Market held at the Taipei Expo Grounds.
Most markets around the world are the same but we live in hope that each one has a local secret or surprise that makes our day. The first thing that I saw that opened my eyes was the King Baby Electric Intelligent Bricks. Like Lego you make object out of them but these bricks are powered by an ‘AA’ battery and the motor drives cogged wheels so what you make moves as the cogs intertwine. I had just 3 words to say about these, “I want one”! So cool.
The rest of the markets consisted of produce from Yams to fruit to Honey and home remedies. There were woodcrafts, cultural dancing, sewing crafts, artwork and the usual assortment of stalls and people. By the time 3 o’clock came (our designated meeting time with Holly) we’d had a feed and were ready to move on.
Meeting up with Holly and the family we grabbed the first train to Tamsui. Tamsui is a waterfront town where locals like to wander the esplanade checking out these local markets and then settling in to watch the sunset.
There was people everywhere and fortunately the foot traffic split into two paths. One stuck close to the water’s edge while the other was on the other side of the park where there were many more stalls. The two paths merged again further downstream on the waterfront and the stalls from here were not just all about food (though I did like the look of the “Squid on a Stick”) but there were shooting alleys, mini-cars for the kids, novelty stands, balloon stands and much more making the whole thing more like a carnival than a marketplace. At one of the stands young Paul got a “bubble gun” and proceeded to continuously shoot me with a dense screen of bubbles. Feigning shock and horror Paul kept going all the time laughing away.
As sunset drew to a close we had a feed and then drifted back to the railway station to head home. By this time Bastian had finished work and had caught up with us. We took a different route to the station visiting an art gallery then lazily walking back through a tourist street where Bastian and I grabbed a beer each to drink as mates on their way homewards. In the train on the way back Bastian suggested some options for tea and then the family alighted at their station while Shane and I stayed aboard to move to another attraction as it was still early.
After a change to another MRT line Shane and I ended up at Longshan Temple. Now we’ve seen some magnificent temples and shrines but this one is up there with the best. Longshan Temple was founded in 1738 and is dedicated to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guan-Lin (Chinese name) or Avalokitesvara (Sanskrit name). Today’s Temple is not the original 1738 buildings but a re-build done in 1919 – 1924.
It has 3 halls. The first being the entrance and a prayer space. The second is the main hall and is holds a statue of Guan-Lin as the main piety. She is accompanied by 2 bodhissattvas (deities) Manjusri and Samantabhadra. There are also 18 ‘attendants’ in position here. The third hall was added later to venerate the patron Mazu to pray for the protection of their businesses. This 3rd hall is interesting in that it is crowded with deities from other temples destroyed over the past.
There is also two spectacular water features in a waterfall and a fountain just inside the entry gates and numerous statues of dragons, relief carvings in stone, helmet shaped rooves on conical buildings, decorative screens and even Corinthian columns.
As it was dark we decided we’d need to come back tomorrow and get some daylight pictures.
After a look around the Temple we hit the streets again looking for the food markets that were somewhere nearby. They were right outside the front gate! Little did we know that what we could see from the Temple was a tiny piece of a market that took up several blocks in a never ending maze of alleys and laneways.
Pigging out took on a new meaning when we came across “Pig’s blood soup” but we dined on free tastes offered by many vendors which meant we didn’t need to buy much. Happily though we baulked at the Wok Fried Snake especially when we could see some beautiful specimens of pythons caged up waiting for dinner (ours not theirs!). The yellow and white snakes were particularly gorgeous and I really felt sorry for these lovely creatures. I know at home I’ll be looking at the pythons we get in our yard often in a different way.
After 3 markets, a temple and some pretty snakes we headed home calling it a day.
Markets may be just markets but you never know what you’ll find if you don’t take time to look.
Hopefully back soon with another posting on Taipei. So watch www.volitans.net.au