Lotus Pond or Lianchi Lake (莲池潭) is an artificial lake in Zuoying District of Kaohsiung, which is popular with tourists. One of my favourite tourist attraction in Kaohsiung. There are more than 20 temples around Lotus Pond, worshipping different deities and each with its own unique characteristics.
I visited 3 of the more representative temples namely: Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, Spring and Autumn Pavilions and Pei Chi Pavilion but missed Confucius Temple and Chun Qiu Hall.
Dragon Tiger Pagodas (龙虎塔)
The vibrantly-coloured Dragon Tiger Pagodas can be considered one of the most well-known tourists’ spot of Kaohsiung. Built in 1976, it consists of 2 seven-storey pagoda, one with a dragon model and one with a tiger model in front.
Follow the signages to enter through the dragon’s mouth and exit through the tiger’s which is believed to rid off bad luck and increase good fortune.
Pictorials depicting Buddhist and Taoist stories and characters lined the internal walls of both the dragon’s and tiger’s ‘body’.
The dragon pagoda is decorated with small colourful dragons and the tiger pagoda with smaller versions of the cat. There are also little figures of sagely-looking riders on mythical looking animals and also another hybrid animal which looks like a pixiu.
Both pagodas are accessible. I climbed up the spiral staircase in one of them and was greeted by a scenic view of the lake.
Spring and Autumn Pavilion (春秋塔)
The Spring and Autumn Pavilions are part of a Taoist temple, built by Chi Ming Palace (启明宫), which is just across the street from the Pavilions.
Chi Ming Palace mainly worships the 2 sages, Confucius and Lord Guan. In 1628, Qing army occupied Taiwan and the magistrate built Chi Ming Palace to promote Confucianism.
The 2 Chinese palace-style Spring and Autumn Pavilions were opened in 1953. According to local legend, Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva also known as the Goddess of Mercy or Guanyin, appeared one day riding a dragon in front of the pavilions. The Bodhisattva then asked devotees to build a statue to commemorate the event. Today, a statue of Guanyin riding a winding fortune dragon, flanked by her 2 disciples Longnü and Shan Cai, stands in front of the Pavilions.
The 4-storey high Spring and Autumn Pavilions are richly decorated with auspicious symbols of dragons, carps and floral motifs.
Similar to the Dragon Tiger Pagoda, enter the dragon via its mouth. Pictorial representations of Buddhist characters and stories lined the walls. There is also an altar inside the dragon where offerings can be made to the Bodhisattva.
A long bridge joins the two Pavilions to a smaller one known as ‘Five Mile Pavilion’ or 五里亭, where we can enjoy a scenic view of the lake.
Here is a view of the surrounds of Lotus Pond I took from Five Mile Pavilion. Dragon and Tiger Pagodas are on the left and Pei Chi Pavilion on the right of Spring and Autumn Pavilions in the video.
Pei Chi Pavilion (北极亭)
Pei Chi (北极) means North Pole in Chinese. Aptly named Pei Chi Pavilion, it was built to honour Taoist deity Xuan Wu, the God-Emperor of North Pole.
Pei Chi Pavilion is located at the end of a bridge with the imposing statue of Deity Xuan Wu above the temple. The 72 metres tall statue was at one point the tallest statue on water in the world before before being surpassed by Moscow’s 98 metres tall Peter the Great Statue. See the seven star sword in Xuan Wu Emperor’s hand? That is at a height of 38.5 metres.
Lined along the railings at both sides of the bridge are statues of other Taoist deities.
Since there are more than 20 temples around Lotus Pond, if you have time, do try to visit a few of them. I was hopeful to be able to cover more but the scorching hot weather made me turned back. With sweat dripping off my chin and arms getting sun-burnt, I had a real experience of Kaohsiung’s hottest month.
Getting There:
Alight at R16 Zuoying MRT Station and take bus no R51 to Lotus Pond.
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Read about my trip itinerary and the places visited in Taiwan – City of Kaohsiung Itinerary 2018 .
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