Lotus Pond

After checking-in at the hotel, I took the subway to the Ecological District station and then waited about 20 minutes for the 10 minute mini-bus ride to Lotus Pond.  Lotus Pond is situated between Turtle Mountain and Half Screen Mountain.  Lotus Pond, named for the ‘Lotus Fragrance from the Water,’ opened in 1951 and is the biggest lake in Kaohsiung City and stretches for about 2.5 miles.  On one side of this man-made lake, there are a great many temples with Zuoying old city nearby, giving the area an ancient flair.  Zuoying has one of the highest temple densities in Taiwan.  There are more than 20 temples in the neighborhood, so ‘temples everywhere’ may be the best description for this area.  On the other side of the lake, there is a long, narrow green space and bicycle path.  Famous sites around the lake include: Spring & Autumn Pagodas, Jiuqu Bridge, Dragon and Tiger Tower, Guanyin Riding a Dragon, Syuan Tian Emperor, and the new Confucius Temple.  During the day, there are stalls around the lake selling food, drinks, and trinkets.  There is also a visitor center at Lotus Pond.

Directly in front of Dragon and Tiger Tower is Ciji Temple (aka Old Ancestor Temple).  Ciji Temple is dedicated to Great Emperor Bao-Sheng.  The temple has a long history but it was reconstructed in 1960 at its present site beside Lotus Pond.  Bao-Sheng was a successful doctor and herbalist.  Some pics of Ciji Temple are below.

Dragon and Tiger Tower (built in 1976) is one of the most well-known temples around Lotus Pond.  The dragon’s mouth is the entrance, while the tiger’s mouth is the exit.  By the way, I was told about this afterwards.  It’s back luck to go through the tower in reverse.  Thankfully, I chose to go left first when I entered.  Entering the dragon’s mouth and coming out from the tiger’s mouth symbolizes turning bad luck to good fortune.  Inside the Tower are traditional Chinese educational stories and paintings of deities.  I thought this Dragon and Tiger Tower was just so cool and may be my favorite of all the temples/towers/pagodas I have visited since I left the States.  The fourth pic of the series below was taken inside the dragon’s mouth.  While up in one of the towers, a couple of old men asked if I can take their picture, which I did.  To reciprocate, they wanted to take one of me, which I allowed them to do.

The Spring & Autumn Pagodas are two Taoist Chinese palatial pavilions in the middle of the lake, linked with Jiuqu Bridge, with a statue Guanyin Riding a Dragon standing in the front.  The pagodas were designed in the Chinese palace style and constructed in 1953.  These two pagodas, linked by a “nine turns bridge,” are examples of traditional Chinese octagonal architecture.  The Dragon and Tiger Tower is to its right and the Syuan Tian Emperor statue to its left.  It was a little hard for me to get shots of these pagodas but below is some pics.  Unfortunately, the dragon was closed so you could not walk through its body.

Right across from the Spring & Autumn Pagodas is Hu-An Temple.  See pic below.

Rising straight by the pond is a giant 236-foot high Syuan Tian Emperor.  It is said that the Jade Emperor issued an imperial edict to build the statue via his spiritual medium.  The Syuan Tian Emperor’s Seven Star Sword has a height of 125 feet, so it’s worthy of the title, “World Heavenly Sword.”  On the left and right sides of the bridge are 18 generals and officers as well as some deities.

After visiting the above statue, it started to drizzle and then really downpour.  I found some cover and waited about 20 minutes for the rain to subside and decided to try to catch the bus back to the subway as I didn’t really want to start my trip back to downtown while it got dark.  I decided I would try to come back the next morning to see the new Confucius Temple as I ran out of time to view it.  Look at the last two pics of the Dragon and Tiger Tower series above; one was taken before it rained and the last one taken while walking back after it rained.  I had a hard time locating the bus station to head back to the subway.  I thought I had found it and waited around 20 minutes for the bus but to no avail.  So I walked back to where the original bus dropped me off to see if I can find where the return bus station was and when can I expect the arriving bus.  While waiting, a mother and daughter approached me to see if they could help?  I tried to explain my situation; the mother spoke no English but her young daughter – I would say she was around 16 – spoke a little, as just like the mainland, English is now a required course for students in Taiwan, so the daughter could speak basic conversational English.  The mother then began gesturing with her hands and I thought she was asking if I drove and I said I do not.  I then realized that the mother was motioning that she could drive me to the subway station which was nice.  While in the car, they asked me the usual questions like; where are you from?  What was I doing there?  At the end of the 10 minute trip, the questions were then; when was I coming back?  That I could stay with them if I wanted to.  Very nice family…

I took the subway back to downtown near my hotel and went to the Love River to watch some fireworks for the Kaohsiung Lantern Festival which started at 8pm.  The mother had advised me to see it, especially since tonight was the last night of the two week festival.  The festival started in 2001 and there are large-scale activities.  Each year, creative lanterns with various ideas in different motifs decorate the banks of Love River.  The combination of the harbor view, the Love River, fireworks, and various lanterns and vendor stands stretching for almost 1.5 miles attracts visitors and tourists from home and abroad.

It had been an extremely long day; earlier that morning I had been in Taipei for goodness sakes.  I had took the high-speed train to Kaohsiung; took the ferry and visited Cijin Island; checked-in at my hotel while seeing the Dome of Light, took the subway to Lotus Pond; and now was back downtown to see the lantern festival and watch some fireworks.  I found a little outdoor café and gladly bought two Taiwan beers while relaxing watching the fireworks.

After the fireworks, I bought a ticket and went on a short river cruise via the solar-powered Love Boat.  There was a narrator on board that pointed out the sights of the city in Mandarin which didn’t help me any.  I think admission was 80 TWD ($2.60).

By the way, I do not have any pics of these nighttime events as it was too dark for my camera.  I then went seeking a couple bars I had in mind.  The problem was; could I find them?  I was able to locate one of them.  It was an English-style corner pub and I ordered a pizza (which was actually very good by the way – first time I had pizza since leaving the States) and watched the replay of the Super Bowl in HD.  I talked with an American at the bar that has been teaching English in Taiwan for over 20 years and has never been back to the U.S.  I told him that was unfathomable to me.  But he was married and didn’t want to leave.

And that was an end to a long day.  Tomorrow I would be leaving but would do just a little more sightseeing in the morning…