Zhinan Temple — Attraction in Taipei

Located in a beautiful mountain setting with breathtaking views over the Taipei basin, the Zhinangong (指南宮) Temple Complex is a small island of solitude that overlooks a busy and noisy city.

On a day with good visibility, it's possible to see as far as Danshui (淡水) and Taoyuan (桃園). It's an excellent place from which to view the sunset, especially in summer time, when the air is clearer, and the view of the setting sun is unobstructed by hills surrounding the complex.

The temple complex itself is quite impressive, with classical Daoist architecture, mixed with several modern Taiwanese touches. There are three main buildings, connected together with pedestrian walkways.

However, the infrastructure is clearly showing its age. The walls and pathways around the temple buildings are dilapidated and have fallen into disrepair, with crumbling dirty paintwork and cracked pavements that clearly have not been maintained for years. Some of the outdoor pathways connecting different areas of the complex are covered by corrugated iron roof structures and strip lighting. There's also plenty of rusty metal and exposed electrical cabling: hardly fitting for a temple that's described as having a "stairway of a thousand steps".

Additionally, there's another source of irritation. At busy times, some temple visitors are in the habit of riding scooters and motorcycles up the pedestrian walkways of the temple, sometimes at particularly high speed. So if you're looking for peace and quiet and you're on foot, it's good to be mentally prepared for the occasional scooter to race by.

All in all, it's a bit disappointing compared with what this place could be, especially given the beautiful mountain setting. With investment and good management, this temple has the potential to rival such temples as Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, Japan, but it would require significant amounts of renovation. The roof structure of the northern-most temple building is currently under renovation, and there are new pathways being constructed, so perhaps there will be improvements in the future.

Overall, I'd still recommend a visit, especially if you're in the area. The architecture is perhaps not as inspiring as some other temples in Taiwan, but the view over Taipei certainly...

To get to the Zhinan (Chih Nan) Temple, you need to take the Maokong Gondola (cable car) from the station adjacent to the Taipei Zoo MRT station which is situated on the MRT Brown Line. The is the stop just before you reach the final Goldola station at Maokong. You could take the stop on your way back to Taipei, as my wife and I did. We got off at the Zhinan Temple station on our way back from Maokong, after having visited the area, having enjoyed lunch with panoramic views and also some traditional tea at one of Maokong’s many tea houses. The temple is but a short walk from the Zhinan Temple station stop. It is a very peaceful place with excellent views of the surrounding lush green hills. Some beautiful photo opportunities are available from the red-roofed walkway that starts at the temple and winds itself around the side of the hill. Worth the short but very...

Peaceful place. I went there on a weekday, so there weren't many people. Most tourists take the cable car from Taipei Zoo to get here. However, I took the 530 bus in front of NCCU to get to the hill and then walked the stairs, as my friend and I wanted to do a bit of hiking. It was quite tiring, but based on our research, they believe that each step of the stair can extend your life by 20 seconds! Haha. (If you start from the very beginning, the staircase has 1000 steps, but we started from the middle part.)

The view from my picture could have been better if the...