10 May 2023
Time for a view
Fo Guang Shan and Zhupu altar
Somehow, an accidental 40,000 steps day. Oh well.
Tonight I went to a place I went the last time I came here. I will go and review those pics at some point to see what has changed.
On top of a hill in Keelung is the Zhupu altar, it may or may not belong to the Fo Guang Shan temple below it, who also may or may not own the big Buddha which is also shown below.
Fo Guang Shan are the richest of all the Buddhist cults, I have previously visited their huge amusement park like palace near Kaohsiung, and in Australia I visited their branch near Wollongong on xmas day. So somehow, I am an accidental fan of Fo Guang Shan?
The view is great, and the light was excellent.
The walk down was also very interesting, many interconnected stairways through peoples living rooms.
Then it was time to go and eat some noodles made in the street, take one last shot of the night market, and now I have to work out how to get to my hotel in Taichung tomorrow.
Sadly, this has been made more difficult because a crane fell onto the above ground subway train carriage there today, and killed a person. So I presume it is not running. I am fortunate it did not happen tomorrow while I was on it. The high speed rail station in Taichung is far out of town, I had planned to take the subway to my hotel, instead I will have to transfer to the slow train and walk, or a bus, or both.
Very good light as I set out on my late afternoon stroll. I better head up the hill for the view then.
Here is the Zhupu altar. It is currently closed for repairs. However I snuck around the construction site anyway.
Great views already, that orange bridge thing on the left is under construction... I guess I will wander out along it.
Fantastic view from the orange gantry.
More view including all the cranes from the port.
Clouds, really nice clouds.
Proof that I walked out along the under construction orange viewing platform.
Next up, the big Buddha, just up the road from Zhupu altar. Not under construction / repair.
Last view shot! I got carried away.
I descended down the front of the hill along many stairways such as this.
A rather dystopian view of the Buddhist theme park viewing platform experience for the people who now live under it.
As mentioned, I decided on made in the street noodles for dinner. Many places have a few indoor seats, but generally the food itself is made just outside the shop, so the steam / smoke / oil / heat can just become part of the street rather than part of the shop. The wontons are allegedly vegetarian, hence green, but the soup has pork in it. Not a bad meal for $3.
Next I discovered that the canal near my hotel goes around a 45 degree bend and keeps going for miles. This became a newer part of the city, with a few nicer high rise apartment buildings. I probably should have investigated on another night, looks like where the rich people live.
Tonight's store dog. He's chained up, but gets a heap of attention.
FINAL shot of Keelung night market. Even busier than Tuesday on a Wednesday. As mentioned, tomorrow, I go to Taichung, a much bigger city.