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 (continued)
On the third and last day, we visited the
Chung Tai Chan Monastery (中台禪寺) in Puli (埔里). The
recently built Zen Buddhist monastery can be seen from most anywhere in the
Puli valley and was built to resemble the body of
a sitting Buddha. The massive
structure houses numerous statues of the Buddha and prominent
bodhisattvas. There is even a
full-sized wooden pagoda under the gilded dome at the top. Later in the afternoon we toured the 921
Earthquake Museum of Taiwan (921地震教育園區).
There we learned of the devastating destruction wrought by this 1999
earthquake and the impact it had on the lives of thousands of Taiwanese
people. The tour guide also
explained various recent improvements in anti-earthquake technology. We ended the tour by experiencing a
simulated earthquake.
As we boarded the bus for the final time, we
were sad to see our three-day journey come to an end. We headed back to Taipei having gained a deeper understanding
of Taiwanese culture, and unique insight into Mazu’s
significance in Taiwanese folk religion.
I hope that even more students will be able to share the same eye-opening
experience in years to come.
DIY, Dajia’s Cake
Factory
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