Monday, August 12, 2013

Taichung Prefecture Hall

Taichung Prefecture Hall (台中州廳), one of the most attractive Japanese colonial-era buildings in central Taiwan, served as Taichung's local government headquarters for decades, and still houses the municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. It was designed by Moriyama Matsunosuke, the architect behind what's now the National Museum of Taiwan Literature.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Sun Moon Lake

Several weeks back, I took a motorcycle trip from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake via Puli. Shown above is Wenwu Temple, one of the lake's most popular attractions.
Inside the temple, there are hundreds of these golden pendants bearing auspicious messages like "hundreds of years of harmony." You're unlikely to see them in other Taiwanese shrines - probably because few are nearly so touristy as Wenwu Temple. 
The tower on the ridge on the left of the photo above is Cien Pagoda. Leaving Sun Moon Lake, I took Highway 16 (shown below) to Shuili.