In the evening of our second day, we decided to check out another oft-mentioned attraction in the area- Lotus Pond. Lotus Pond is a man made lake which is surrounded by a variety of temples and pagodas. We weren't able to get to the lake before the sun set, so unfortunately were unable to see it in full light, but it was still definitely a beautiful place after dark due to the bright lights and lanterns which lit up the temples. That being said, I'd definitely be interested in visiting again in the day time to fully appreciate the beauty of the lake!
Two of the most famous attractions at Lotus Pond are the Dragon and Tiger pagodas. The pagodas are connected, and you are meant to enter through the dragon's mouth and leave through the tiger's mouth, allegedly turning your bad luck into good fortune. Unfortunately the entrance to the pagodas was closed, so we were unable to see the artwork inside, but the pagodas were still great to see nonetheless! (And of course provided some great touristy photo opportunities.)
The Tiger and Dragon Pagodas.
My friends Sunny and Eliza posing in the mouth of the dragon at the entrance to the pagodas.
The Tiger!
Obligatory tourist photo.
When we were at Lotus Pond, there also happened to be a free outdoor performance being shown next to the lake. According to our friend Sunny, this type of play was a very traditional kind, enjoyed more by the elderly population of Taiwan. The performance itself was in Taiwanese, not Chinese, and seemed to consist of extravagant costumes and makeup with loud, traditional (and slightly shrill) music.
Another view of the pagodas.
At the other end of the lake were the Autumn and Winter Pagodas. Here was an even larger and more impressive dragon (again serving as the entrance to the pagodas), as well as numerous large states of deities.
This woman is supposedly a Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, who is riding the dragon. Our friend Sunny was very unimpressed with this statue, remarking on how ugly they had made her face.
Further down the lake, there was another temple which had a large bridge leading to its entrance. The bridge was covered in many small statues of a variety of men and women riding on animals. The statues were pretty fun to look at as each one was a little different and some of them were pretty comedic in terms of facial expressions and depictions of the animals!
Inside one of the temples. As you can see, the walls were all covered in artwork which depicted various stories.
A huge statue topping one of the temples, who upon later research, I have found out to be the Daoist God Xuan Wu.
I very well may be missing some of the buildings out as they all seemed to blend into one after a while and I might even have missed some of them since it was a little late when we went! All in all, there was a lot to take in at Lotus Lake, with interesting and colourful artwork and buildings everywhere you looked and it would definitely benefit from another visit at a later date.
After Lotus Lake, we headed to Ruifeng Night Market to have dinner. We sampled a variety of foods including xialongbao (a kind of soup Dumpling from Shanghai which is very popular in Taiwan) and I even managed to stomach a crab xialongbao and a fish dumpling!
After that, we went to a Teppenyaki stall where we had some amazing egg, lamb and vegetables cooked for us.
Finally we went to this bun stand where I got some sweet green bean buns for desert including one which was in the shape of a rabbit (see below).
After the night market, we headed back to Sunny's parents' house, feeling full and exhausted from our first day, but equally enthusiastic for the rest of the trip...
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