There are dragon columns to symbolize harmony between heaven and earth near the entrance to the temple. There are elaborate wood and stone carvings throughout the temple as well as beautiful mural paintings.
It seemed that every surface was covered with some sort of artistic endeavor and we walked through the temple with a sense of awe as we tried to take it all in.
Seven passengers and nine pieces of luggage ready to load into the airport shuttle and begin our adventure to Taiwan.
We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in Taipei. It was a very modern hotel. Even the bathroom had the latest in technological gadgets.
The city of Taipei was charming and colorful. We saw random bits of street art and of course, a local McDonald's.
Most locals travel around the city on scooters and motorcycles. Taipei is said to have the highest density of motorcycles in the world with over 13.4 million registered motorcycles. Our group fit better in a large van and it was a very comfortable way to view the sights.
Our first outing was to Taiwan's first National Park, Yangmingshan. The area has many volcanic features, such as hot springs, fumaroles, sulfur deposits, and dormant volcanoes.
The area was originally called Grass Mountain because officials, worried about the theft of rich sulfur deposits, would regularly set fire to the area so that only low vegetation, such as grasses, would grow and thieves would not be concealed if they tried to abscond with the sulfur.
We meandered along a trail that took us near some active hot springs and fumaroles. In the distance was the highest point in Taipei at 3,674 feet, Seven Star Peak. We opted not to climb to the summit.
The National Palace Museum has a collection of over 696,000 objects of art. Only about 3,000 pieces are on display at any given time and the rest are rotated in on a regular basis. We saw paintings, jade, bronze artifacts, carved furniture, calligraphy, and silk screen prints.
We had lunch at a restaurant that was across the street from the museum. We could see the reflection of the museum in the windows of the restaurant. There were chopsticks on the table and some unique things on the menu.
The official residence of Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife, Soong May-ling, was a large two story western style building surrounded by many acres of botanical gardens. Soong May-ling's Cadillac was on display near the home.
