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After picking up from your hotel, you will be guided to experience the Taiwanese traditional folk arts. There is an old Chinese idiom that reads, "Touching a stone and turning it to gold." This phrase can have many meanings, but at its most literal, it applies perfectly to the exquisite Sanhsia Tsu Shih Temple (祖師廟) in the northern Taiwanese town of Sanhsia. There are finely detailed paintings and carvings; the ornate stone columns feature dragons, birds, squirrels, turtles, fish, serpents, soldiers, sages, generals and gods. Particularly worth seeing is the intricate ceiling of the inner sanctum.
Then our tour continues to Sanhsia Market (三峽市場), which is an indoor wet market. More edifying is the use of old-fashioned machines to manufacture various kinds of noodles, and the bubbling troughs of bamboo shoots. The streets hereabouts are crammed with local vendors and shoppers to sell.
Yingko, a small township in the southwest of Taipei County, is not known for its beautiful scenery or historic relics, yet every week it attracts hundreds of visitors. They all come to appreciate the exquisite pottery made in the town, for Yingko is known as the ceramics capital of Taiwan. Yingko's (鶯歌陶瓷) main attractions for visitors are the factories and show rooms producing artistic ceramics, especially copies of Chinese art treasures. The first factory to turn out artistic ceramics was set up by Hsu Tse-jan in 1972.
Highlights:
- Sanhsia Tsushih Temple
- Old Street in Sanhsia
- Yingko's Pottery Factory & Show Room
- Pottery Street in Yingko
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