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Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
One of Taiwan's largest and most impressive Buddhist monasteries, founded in 1967. Arrive early (09:00) before the hordes of tourists.
The Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, formerly known as the Buddha Memorial Center, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist cultural, religious, and educational museum located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The museum is affiliated with Fo Guang Shan, one of Taiwan's largest Buddhist organizations. The museum is located next to the Fo Guang Shan Monastery, the headquarters of the order. The museum houses one of the tooth relics of Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist faith. The museum was accepted as the youngest member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 2014.
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左營孔子廟
北極亭
This large statue of Beiji sits on Lotus Lake. The plank connecting the statue to the shore is lined with a series of beautiful sculptures of animals. The statue is hollow and contains a temple within. Although relatively modern, this statue is colorful, colossal, and well worth a visit.
春秋御閣
This Taoist temple complex contains a large dragon that you can enter. The inside of the dragon is beautifully painted with murals. Once you are done sightseeing within the dragon, you can exit out its opposite end. The nearby Dragon-Tiger Pavilion is also worth seeing, and features two pagodas you can visit as well.
高雄清真寺
The 2nd mosque to be built in Taiwan.
Take a walk or bike around Lotus Lake. The lake is surrounded by temples, some of which have built out onto the lake. Of note are the Dragon-Tiger Pavilion and Spring Autumn Pavilion, as well as Taiwan's largest Confucius temple. During the day the lake is surrounded with stalls selling food, drinks and trinkets. Across the street from the Dragon-Tiger Pavilion is a Taiwanese puppet shop that's worth checking out. Just south of the lake is one of the restored gates of the Old Wall of Fongshan, built in 1826. A few blocks down on Shengli Road is the North Gate, the best-preserved of the three. On the other side of the gate is a new park and the Military Dependents' Museum, which features many vintage Taiwanese household items.
國立科學工藝博物館
An enormous science museum, one of Asia's largest. It can easily keep kids entertained for a day.