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In many places, a superlative like "largest" or "tallest" would all but guarantee a steady stream of tourists. It's why so many tourist attractions claim to be the first or best to do something, anything.

Taipei is a bit different in the superlative game. Tourists swarm the Mengjia Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺), but largely ignore or misunderstand the Shandao Temple (善導寺), despite the fact that it is the largest Buddhist temple in Taipei and has its own metro station for easy access.

Appreciate Shandao Temple

In fact, when travelgasm.com first wrote this piece, every single review was in Chinese on the world's search engine, and about half the photo results for Shandao Temple actually show the Mengjia Longshan Temple. Furthermore, there were only two English language reviews — both one star — on one of the big tourist advisory sites. One reviewer dismissed it as three statues in an "office building" and nothing more, and the other didn't manage to find the museum and said it didn't exist. Cringe-worthy examples of ugly tourists, for sure.

As well researched by Filipino architect and travel writer Benjie Locsin Layug, the Shandao Temple was first built in 1926 during the Imperial Japan era, largely rebuilt in 1986 and expanded in 2002-2003. Consequently, the Shandao Temple effectively is a modern building, but we found something to admire about its quiet elegance and simplicity that provides a compelling contrast to the older and more ornate temples dotting the city.

How to Find The Museum

To get the most from the Shandao Temple, it would be helpful to understand some Mandarin and have at least a passing interest in Buddhism, but even if you just are the type to appreciate a religious site that is quiet and genuine for respectful contemplation, it is well worth a visit at almost any time. Well, except for Mondays. It is closed on Mondays.

In addition to special celebrations for major Chinese holidays like Lunar New Year (春節), and small personal ceremonies in the lower level of the temple like the one in the travelgasm.com photo above, the Shandao Temple has two major ceremonies a month — the Samadhi Water Repentance Ceremony (慈悲三昧水懺法會) and the Eight Precepts Ceremony (八關齋戒法會). Be sure to double check the official site for the current schedule, but we believe that these take place consistently on the first and last Saturday, respectively, of each month.

Oh, and the museum? The museum of Buddhist History is on the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors of the Mercy and Kindness building. If you can't read Mandarin, it's still quite possible to appreciate the artefacts. The Mercy and Kindness building is the one with the balconies to the right of the Mahavira Hall. The Mahavira Hall is the "office building" with the three Buddha statues, as the reviewer minimized.

Incidentally, there is an internationally famous "Soy Milk" (豆漿) restaurant across the street from the Shandao Temple. Fuhang Soy Milk (阜杭豆漿), on the second floor of the Hua Shan Market (華山市場), just outside Exit 5, where tourists, and maybe the occasional local, line up for 30 minutes to an hour for a breakfast of soy milk (豆浆机) and youtiao (油条). Youtiao is literally "oil stick," which is described commonly in English as a cruller or fritter, although youtiao are not sweet like a donut. We never actually tried this particular place because there are respectable traditional Chinese youtiao (油条) all over Taipei that don't involve queuing. There's almost an entire street of this type of restaurant near Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園), for example.

Particularly if you're the foodie type and you're drawn to the area for the famous youtiao, take some time to visit the Shandao Temple. It's called Shandao Temple Station (捷運善導寺站) for a reason. It's not Youtiao Station (捷運油条站), after all.

How to Get Here: Take the Blue Line (Line 5, Bannan Line) to Shandao Temple (善導寺). Exit 6 is immediately in front of the temple.

Cities > Taipei > Taipei Overlooked 7 > Next: (2) Appreciate the Garden Metro Station... >>

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Live in Taipei? What's your favorite "local" thing to do? 謝謝. Spotted anything out-of-date or inaccurately translated? 對不起我是老外. Please tell travelgasm.com. Thanks!