Guandu Temple in Chi-lung

If it’s your first time to come to Guandu, the Guandu Temple with give you an awe by its beautiful ancient. Being the oldest temple in North Taiwan, you will feel the ancient time everywhere in this huge temple, together with the unique design and all of the Buddha statutes in the temple, giving you the respectful atmosphere.More special, Guandu Temple has both the front and back view looking down to the Guandu Port and Tamsui River.To get there, get on MRT Redline and get down at Guandu Station, get out at Exit 1 and turn right, walk along alley 296 and 301 of Dadu Road Section 3 (About 10 minutes). After visit Guandu Temple, you can rent a Ubike or walk to other spots such as Guandu park or Guandu Nature Park nearby.

The original Guandu Temple was founded in 1661 in homage to Mazu, worshipped on both sides of the Strait as the Goddess of the the Sea.Note the delicately carved dragon columns, stone lions and wall relief.Note too the gods on the gate: here they are carved in relief, whereas in other temples they are merely painted. Once inside the temple, pay special attention to the apex of the ceiling and the ends of the roof-beams, delicately carved and painted.The peaceful, serene image of Mazu is in sharp contrast to the savage mien of her warriors, All-Seeing Eyes and All-Hearing-Ears.

The Temple, registered as a Taoist temple, worships Mazu or Goddess of the Sea as its primary deity in front worship hall, although the Temple also worships various Buddhist deities, including Bodhisattva, and other folklore, Medicine God, and other deities, including Supreme Emperor, Lad God or Earth God, Literary God. It appears that the Temple is the first temple in north Taiwan to worship Mazu, because its fishing port location for the early immigrants.Although the Temple was first built in 1712, it was damaged and rebuilt a few times at various sites in Beitou area, and, it was rebuilt in current site in 1922. Then, the Temple has various new additions of the worship halls at side and in rear where is facing Danshui River. Thus, the Temple is composed of ancient or classic deity sculptures or statutes with rather "new" religious building structures. It is recommended that visitors walk to the rear section of the Temple where visitors can overlook the Danshui River and nearby area.The Temple provides free incense and other worship material, and has free toilet and parking spaces for the visitors and worshippers.The Temple is NOT crowded in weekend or weekdays unless it is Chinese new year, special religious days for the worships, such as Mazus birth day celebration week [farmer calendar- March 17 to March 25].From Guangdo Transit Station, visitors can walk to the Temple within 10 to 15 minutes, while there are bus lines running between subway station to the Temple.

A great temple!

Amazing place. Highly recommended. Keep some time to work by the river and spend time around the temple!

Very beautiful temple, worth spend half day and enjoy the natural and great temple building. If you want to experience the local culture, come around CNY period, lots local events here.

the view are good

A Historic Dao temple,also the eldest Ma Zhou temple of Northern Taiwan, established in Qin Dynasty

Guandu Temple is the oldest Mazu temple in northern Taiwan. Many historic stories were carved into the walls,pillars and stone lions.

Very big, beautiful and old temple in Beitou District.

Good

Very majestic building. Enjoy the architect of the celling inside.

Good place for a ride

Must visit temple in Taipei. Recommend to rent a bike to get there and ride along the riversides. Weather determines a lot.

Beautiful temple, it is one of the oldest temple almost 300 years old. Architecture is so creative and mind blowing. You will be in awe of the craft on the walls. Visit at peak time and you will see lot of people performing rituals. Front of the temple offers beautiful city view and backside has a riverside food stalls, large kids area to enjoy. Temple has a tunnel inside it which takes you to the back. Temple has four floors and all floors are equally beautiful. Best part is the skywalk from the top floor. What a wonderful views and feel the wind breezes.

Love this temple. Beautiful view from atop. Architecturally interesting with passages through the hill representing cave complexes. Attention to details from every ornamental shrine and carving. A little out of the way but well worth the visit,Spectacular views of the area from above and detailed artwork. Take the tunnel through the mountain to see more of both.

This beautiful temple is quite big and 3 floors. Many instagrammable spots with detailed artwork. This temple is located at the end of the road. Theres free restrooms and free refill water machine and lucky pond.

HUGEEEEE AND BEAUTIFUL

Very good

The best and most beautiful place I saw in Taipei in 4 days.Lots to see and you can spend there a lot of time. Mostly local people there. Many places to sit down and enjoy the river or temple view from the top of the hill and many gardens halfway there. Highly recommended.

one of my favorite temples in taipeigreat location, beautiful temple, nice restrooms, friendly staff

There are many birds here and a nice place with good View point

Such a beautiful place! Large, multilevel temple where you can spend hours...

It’s famous in this area!

Beautiful temple with lots of things to explore. Its bigger than a lot of temples I visited.

Great view of the city. Beautiful statues and quiet space.

The best temple that we visited in Taipei. Large, multilevel complex that astounds with colour and detailed carving, including on top of the roof. Make sure you explore the tunnels and the garden at the back of the temple. We took the Metro and then a 80 NTD taxi ride in from the station.

Spectacular views of the area from above and detailed artwork. Take the tunnel through the mountain to see more of both.

A large and beautiful temple. It is definitely worth visiting.

From the outside, it initially didnt seem like much. I was even wondering if I want to make a stop. But it was way beyond expectation, its huge inside and the view is spectacular. You can see Taipei 101 on a clear day.

Out of all the Temple in Taiwan, this one is a stunning example of modern architecture modeled after history designs. It is a massive complex of temples, shrines and gardens is nestled on a hill side over looking a river.

Every time I come here, I feel relief and peace :)

Love this temple. Beautiful view from atop. Architecturally interesting with passages through the hill representing cave complexes. Attention to details from every ornamental shrine and carving. A little out of the way but well worth the visit.

Breathtaking. When I arrived it was dark and eceryone was leaving, while we were inside we heard fireworks and went downstairs, right when we got down a huge parade showed up and had a huge celebration. And we were given free soft pretzels. It was like something from Spirited Away but not creepy. Then everyone sort of walked away and vanished and we went to the pier and I saw a guy who was about 30 just dissapear infront of my eyes. And we saw no one on our way back to the train station. It was so eerie but in a good way.

A stunning example of modern architecter modelled after history designs. This massive complex of temples, shrines and gardens is nestled on a hill side over looking a river. With beautiful views and lots of room to walk you will be taken by the elaborate designs on top of each building. It eventually leads into a park if you follow the trails long enough. This is must see.

Must see

Beautiful temple. The most impressive Ive seen in Taiwan. Easy to get to from the nearby metro station, just follow the lanterns and theyll take you there.

Beautiful temple in Taiwan. Close to Danshui and has a lot of traditional Taiwanese food around.Great view for the Danshui river. Sometimes have festival going on within the temple area.If you are riding a bike this is also a great stop for wondering around and rest.

Big, famous place, beautiful art, free water, free restrooms

One of the most beautiful temples I have ever had the privilege of seeing

Amazing view! Amazing energy here!

One of the best temples in Taipei, very big and beautiful

Oldest, well maintained, huge (can sleep here if no place to staytemple. Great stop over after bicycling to explore and pray.

Big temple , Beautiful

Well maintained temple, has a lot of buildings and statues. I was amazed by the roof and wall ornaments and carvings (probably recent work / renovated, but impressive nonetheless). There are free guidebooks available in english, japanese and chinese, explaining a lot about the temple, the gods, and how to pray. Nice experience to do!

One of the oldest Mazu temples in Taiwan, this is a popular destination for devotees of the goddess of the sea. It does not feel the need to profile itself as a tourist destination, so dont expect elaborate tourist brochures, but outsiders are always welcome. Groups can book a free tour guide. Especially for an English guide this is best done well in advance. Insanely busy on Chinese New Year and during celebrations.

Fascinating temple! I try to visit every time Im in Taipei.

Every Chinese new year we must go there and pray for the good luck for the whole year

Splendid temple, well worth the trip. Also, I highly recommend going up the steps to see the gardens at the top. Great views

A spectacular ,peaceful and local religion center. I feel my mind cleaned whenever I come over.