Day 16: National Taiwan University and Longshan Temple

Today at Yong Ping, the students continued to participate in an Eco-Camp - here students learned about environmentally safe buildings and how to make Taipei more "green."  We accompanied them to National Taiwan University to visit the Eco-House. The Eco-House is a "green building" on campus and it showcases green architectural design and thus, sets the model for eco-friendly building throughout Taipei.

We then took a tour of the campus of National Taiwan University (NTU). NTU is Taiwan's most prestigious, top-ranked university.  We took a stroll through the campus and visited a few buildings and stopped for some fresh squeezed watermelon juice to combat the heat.




Entrance of National Taiwan University



The Bell Tower - the symbol of the campus

After the university, I met up with my mom and headed over to Longshan Temple with my host family and Jacki #1 and Kelly.  Longshan Temple is one of Taiwan's oldest and most famous temples - it dates back to 1738.  Upon entering the temple, you'll notice the exquisite detail of the sculpture, woodcarvings, and bronze.  Crowds of people stop at the temple to pay homage and pray to the dozens of Buddhist and Taoist deities it houses.  The temple's main deity is Guanyin, the goddess of mercy.

Front courtyard of Longshan temple where worshippers offer food and bow in prayer

Waves of incense fill the air in the background of the temple

Longshan temple exemplifies classic Taiwanese style architecture at it's best It was such an experience to see how ornate the style really is.



With Kelly and Jacki outside the temple



With my mom and my host family, Amy (mom)  and Wendy (daughter)