Wuji Tianyuan Temple | 無極天元宮

On a Sunday in November, I joined a group of enthusiastic photographers called Photowalkers, a group I found on Facebook roughly a year ago but since it was the COVID pandemic, there were no activities going on. People were just sharing photographs on their own. This time, when an activity was announced to tour some cool temples in Danshui and Sanzhi, I jumped at the chance to join.

I met up with the gang near Zhuwei MRT station and we first drove to Wuji Tianyuan Temple. This gorgeous temple is a very popular spot during the cherry blossom season, usually in February or March. As this temple is located on a mountain in Danshui, there was a stunning view of the Danshui river. You could see that half of Danshui is now filled with high-rise buildings, while the other half is not as developed and looks very calm and peaceful. 

What I loved about this temple is its unique architecture. Very rarely do you get to see a 5-7 story temple that is circular in shape in Taiwan. There was a staircase that led to the other floors, so we slowly made our way to the top. 

Each floor is dedicated to different deities such as the Jade Emperor. The farther up we went, the fewer people there were. However, I did observe that a lot of Taiwanese people and even Taiwanese religious groups came to make their offerings to the deities and then were busy snapping group photos. 

I also loved the colors used in the temple. The pillars were golden in color while the temple also used the color green quite a bit. 

Surprisingly, there was also a 7-11 near the temple so it was super easy to grab something to eat and then head on to our next destination: Thousand-Hand Guanyin Bodhisattva Statue.

How to get there: Getting there was easier than I thought. There is a bus stop right at the bottom of the temple. You can catch buses 875, F103, or 876 directly from Danshui Station and then walk up the hill to get to the temple. 

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