Exploring Fo Guang Shan and Qishan Old Street
Table of Contents
We wrapped up our time in Kaohsiung with a train ride back to Taipei, discovering a surprisingly charming cat corner at Zuoying Station along the way. The journey was smooth and comfortable, but I started feeling unwell during the ride. Despite that, it was a calm and memorable transition back to the capital.
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Planning the Day Trip
After trying to sort out plans for the day, we quickly realised that all major sites were already covered. My wife and I decided to explore one-day tours, and we quickly discovered three popular destinations: the Alishan Mountains, Kenting National Park, and Tianliao Moon World. We had already visited the Alishan mountains, so this option was eliminated pretty quickly. Personally speaking, I don’t mind returning there, but for the long term. Kenting National Park looks extremely interesting, but it’s a long trip without a car, so we decided to eliminate it. Lastly, Moon World seems like a fantastic place in photos, but after a quick research of the reviews, I realized that it’s quite a small place with a limited number of things to do. The tour to the mountains also included a few stops, such as E-DA Theme Park, which appears quite outdated. After another round of research, we identified that Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum and Meinong Folk Village are worth exploring. Also, Google Maps indicated that there is a Qishan Old Street and a Meinong Hakka Cultural Museum nearby, so we decided to dedicate a day to these places.
Breakfast and Journey
The plan was pretty straight forward: breakfast, a cab to Fo Guang Shan, and a cab to the Folk Villages. After that, we had a plan to take public transport back to Kaoshiong as taxis were reasonably costly, around SGD 50. Before “the grand journey”, we returned to the same street food place, where we had breakfast the day before. The food was outstanding, and we still had options to try. And, obviously, we wanted to interact one more time with cute little dogs. This time my wife ordered a pancake and an omelet with different filling, and a porridge. Lastly, she also got some soup with a sour taste, which was very uncommon for my taste buds. I never tried anything similar to this, neither in Russia nor in Singapore. After a short interaction with doggos, we ventured on our trip to Fo Guang Shan.
Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum
Originally, I was under the impression that Fo Guang Shan is an active monastery, and, actually, there is a monastery. But, mainly, it’s a Buddha Museum. Consequently, the place has quite a lot of interesting, unusual exhibitions. But let me start from the beginning. Firstly, the place is huge. It’s actually HUGE.
There is a long gallery with pagodas on one side and a gigantic pyramid-like structure with the Buddha statue at the end. The statue is actually in the museum. I’m not a religious person, but I very much enjoyed the exhibitions here. Personally, my two main highlights are an exhibition about Buddhist celebrations and about underground palaces.
The underground palaces were the most eye-opening. I didn’t know that Buddhist temples have special, sealed areas. It’s actually a time capsule with a particular time when it should be opened. One of these palaces will definitely be on my visit list. The museum also has a small, but very beautiful and tranquil temple. And, obviously, there is a breathtaking view at the top of the pyramid. This place definitely is a must-visit on my list!
Change of Plans
After Fo Guang Shan, the plan was to go straight to Meinong Folk Village, a cultural museum, or Qishan Old Street. We discovered both places through Google Maps, and both places are surprisingly highly rated, about 4.2 stars with thousand reviews. All three places are clustered in the same area, so we planned to visit one place and take public transport to the other ones. Based on Google Maps, we realized that different places have different opening times, and the best place to go is Yong’an Old Street. Also, Google Maps indicated that the Hakka Cultural Museum is temporarily closed, so our only option was the old streets.
Qishan Old Street Experience
During the taxi ride, the driver mentioned to us that Meinong Folk Village consists only of a few old, renovated buildings, but the place isn’t really worth spending half a day there. Without second thoughts, we decided to limit ourselves to Qishan Old Street. Before starting our exploration, we quickly check the way to return to Kaoshiong, and, luckily, there is a direct bus. There were a couple of options for the return trip, but we quickly decided not to spend more than 2 hours there. Why did we make this decision so quickly? Actually, there are a couple of reasons. If you look at the google photos, the place looks really nice with a unique, vibrant vibe, with decent pedestrian zones, etc. But, actually, it was a completely different place. Either we walked in the wrong area (but the place was quite small) or the place is just over hyped. Firstly, the town doesn’t look like a great place for exploration. There are pedestrian areas, but they are fully occupied by motorbikes or street vendors, leaving extremely narrow areas to walk by. Secondly, we didn’t manage to find the vibe from the photos. We are a gray, unwelcome, messy town. I truly believe the place has a lot of good food, but at that time, we were already full, so we haven’t had a chance to taste local cuisine. Eventually, we didn’t spend too much time at the famous Qishan Old Street, and decided to get a public bus to return to Kaoshiong. I still had some discomfort from my knee, so we just returned back to the hotel to rest and pack our bags.
