Taipei takes on a new air on Sundays. Gone are the swarms of taxis that buzz in and out of the roadside looking for passengers with all the menace of killer bees. Gone are the boy racers slaloming through traffic on their 50cc smoke machines in an attempt to impress their girlfriends. Even the smog that hangs over the city seems to head south.

Despite its seemingly gray facade, Taipei has many sights to offer. So last week I decided to give watching the grass on the side of the highway a miss, and took a look around my neighborhood.

Perched on a hill overlooking Neihu is Chinlung Tze, or Golden Dragon Temple. Although the Chinese customs, superstitions and way of life that make Taiwan Taiwan, can jade even the most avid cultural-experience seekers, the sweet smelling plumes from burning incense swirling around worshipers, and the passionately carved sculptures adorning the island's temples still weave their magic for me.

Golden Dragon Temple, built during the Ching Dynasty and dedicated to Chen Yuan-kwang, is one of the largest temples in  northern Taiwan. And like all good temples, it is perched upon a hill -- probably to test the faith of its flock.

A small road snakes up the mountainside to the temple, but if you're feeling energetic and want to rub shoulders with the devotees, you can trudge up a footpath that leads through the trees to the top of the hill.

The temple itself occupies quite a large area and is light and airy. In the prayer rooms, red lanterns carpet the ceilings and mounds of flickering candles burn 24 hours a day, creating a celestial atmosphere. 

Chinlung Tze's walls and pillars are excellent examples of the skill and imagination of Taiwan's masons. Everywhere you look, there is not a slab or pillar of stone that hasn't been lovingly carved with a contorting dragon and auspicious words; or a piece of timber that hasn't been vividly painted. Just the intricate carvings of dragons twisting themselves around six granite pillars at the front of the temple alone make the climb worth while. 

Besides admiring the skill of local artisans, Golden Dragon Temple also allows you to peek into the lives and beliefs of the Taiwanese. Here, whole families rub shoulders in prayer and then burn ghost money at the base of the many furnaces with chimneys pointing to the heavens.

The temple is also a good vantage point from where you can view the surrounding Neihu suburbs, Taipei city, and watch planes taking off and landing at Sungshan Domestic Airport.

It is also possible to tie a trip to Chinlung Tze in with a barbecue. The road that leads to the temple continues up the hillside to a barbecue area hidden in the woods. There, stone barbecue stoves, tables and chairs are scattered among the trees. The drive from the temple to the barbecue area takes about 15 minutes. A small shop there sells drinks and snacks, but you have to bring your own food and charcoal if you want to do any barbecuing.

Getting there

If you're driving, once in Neihu, get on Neihu Road, Section 3, and turn into lane 256 which will lead you to the temple. For public transportation, take bus number 267 or 247, and alight at the terminus. Signs for Chinlung Tze posted at the bus depot point you in the right direction. 

Walking up the road to the temple is quite a stretch of the legs, and for the less energetic, minibus number 2 runs up to the temple every 30 minutes from downtown Neihu.