On the first day of the Year of the Rabbit (yes, this post is long overdue), my partner and I took her mother for a short leg stretch in Taoyuan’s Daxi District. Paying a visit to a temple is a must during this period of celebration, so we picked something short and easy and with a pretty temple.

Jump to the bottom of this post for a trail map and GPX file.

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With so many people coming to visit Zhaiming Temple, the car park had been extended and several workers in high-vis jackects were directing drivers. We parked up and decided to head off on our little walk first before heading to visit the temple.

If you follow the outer southeastern wall of the temple complex, you’ll soon find yourself at the top of Zhaiming Temple Historic Trail.

Steps that are somehow simultaneously neat and organic-looking lead down a curving channel amid tall bamboo and sprawling tree roots.

Mother-in-law required a little gentle coaxing to encourage her to start the descent. She can go down steps, but not up them, so we had to make her believe that we wouldn’t be climbing steps on the way back to the car. Unfortunately, she does not get out very much (we spent a couple of hours persuading her to leave her bed for this mini adventure) and has almost entirely lost confidence in her abilities. We brought a walking stick with us, more for her peace of mind than because she needed it, and she clung onto it as if it were some kind of magic talisman — just holding it rather than actually using it seemed to help her.

Just before the path crosses over Taoyuan District Road 64, it passes through an old concrete archway, the style somewhere halfway between the Japanese torii arches and the kind you see on regular temples all over Taiwan.

We headed diagonally over the road, then continued down more steps. Just on the far side of the fence, there were a few chairs where we paused to take a rest, as well as an elegant tomb occupied by members of the Su family.

The remainder of the steps leading down here are less steep and the land beside the trail is agricultural. We heard chickens crowing and the gentle flow of water in an irrigation channel.

At the end of the trail, turn right onto Rui’an Road and follow it along an almost non-existent pavement until you reach a petrol station. Take another up Rui’an Road, Lane 266 just before you reach the petrol station.

From here, we followed the road as it sloped upwards. Teresa had to pretend to be struggling in order to make her mum feel more confident in her own abilities. (I could write a whole essay on how I think it’s amazing that she managed to grow up into a relatively well-rounded adult given her bizarre family dynamics, but this is probably neither the time nor the place. Instead, I will choose to celebrate the small win of having got her mother to leave the house and do something she enjoyed.)

When the road splits in two, take the one on the right. This is the start of Yucheng Road Historic Trail (御成路古道).

Yucheng Road Historic Trail used to be one of the trading routes used between Longtan and Daxi, in 1923, when Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito did his grand tour of Taiwan, local residents paid to rebuild it as a broad and gently sloping road in commemoration of this important event. (There are many such monuments around Taiwan that were built especially to welcome the Japanese VIP. I’ve encountered a couple of others close to Xiangtian Pool and Mount Shamao.)

Beside the monument, there is a spot where you can see across the shallow valley of Dahan River towards the low hills that shelter Shimen Reservoir.

The little temple here is a particularly neat one. Rather than being enclosed, the jolly-looking deity (Fude Zheng Gong), is enshrined in what looks like a repurposed pavilion.

On the floor in front of him we spotted Huye guarding an impressive bounty of eggs.

The paved section of trail zigzags its way up under the shade of more tung trees.

There are plenty of benches for resting weary feet, and close to the top, we saw signs of the area being used as an old guard post at some point in the past.

At the top end of the trail, take a left turn onto the road and follow it for a couple of hundred metres before turning right onto Zhaiming Street, Lane 62.

The whole length of this street is taken up with factory units, one of which had a rather cute short-legged dog that Teresa stopped to make friends with. Partway along, a rustle in some dry grasses alerted me to the presence of a beautiful rufous-capped babbler, it’s rusty orange cap perfectly setting off the dominant olive-yellow colour of its plumage. At the far end of the lane, we turned right past a small temple onto Zhaiming Street.

A marker at the front of a park and some low buildings announced it to be Qinfen New Village (勤奮新村).

Continuing along Zhaiming Street, we soon found ourselves back where we’d started and decided to take a little wander around the temple grounds.

Architecturally speaking, the temple sits in a small but beautiful sanheyuan (a type of three-sided house built around a central courtyard that is often seen in the countryside of Taiwan). You can take a look inside but photos are prohibited.

Since 1999, the monastery has been managed by Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山), a Buddhist foundation that seeks to further the practise of Buddhism around the world and they have built a new accommodation wing and worship hall to the left of and behind the original temple. If you’re into the ascetic aesthetic of modern Buddhism, it’s definitely worth taking a little wander along the exposed concrete arcade walkways. Finishing touches are sparse, but where they exist (like the red lanterns and plum-blossom-shaped rain chain with a beautiful turquoise patina), they bring a small burst of happiness.

Like the original temple, no photography is allowed inside the new hall, but as long as you’re polite and respectful and do t get in the way of the nuns, you’re allowed to wander around.

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Zhaiming Temple Trail Map and Transport Info

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Nearby trails:

• Mount Xizhou
• Raknus Selu Trail — Day 1
• Raknus Selu Trail — Day 2
• Raknus Selu Trail B Route — Longtan Lake to Sankeng Old Street
• Xiaocukeng Historic Trail