Xianshan Lingdong Temple History

Xianshan Lindong Temple is a Taoist Temple located in Shitan Township, Miaoli. Like a fair few old temples in Taiwan, its history can be traced back to a dream. In this case, the dream of a Mr Xiao whose whole family had been suffering from illness for some time. One night, a deity appeared in Xiao’s dream to inform him that there was a spring up here on the mountain and if he and his family drank its waters, they would be healed. Medical care in 1930s Taiwan was patchy and beyond the means of many, so Xiao decided it couldn’t hurt to go in search of the spring in his dreams. When he reached the location indicated by the deity, Xiao found lit incense and a cup of tea which he took to be a sign that he was on the right track. After drinking the water, Xiao found his sickness had been cured. In fact, his family soon felt better.

News of the water’s restorative powers spread and a simple thatched pavilion — Xieling Temple (協靈宮) — was built at the site of the spring. The same year, Lingdong Temple was built a couple of hundred metres downhill. (I’m not entirely sure when Jiutian Xuannu Temple (九天玄女廟) was built next to the pavilion by the spring, but that is now the name of the bigger establishment further up the hill.)

These days, Xianshan Lingdong Temple continues attract believers from all over Taiwan. It’s also the start of a fantastic full-day ridge hike, the Shen-Xian Trail which starts here and finishes in the Hakka-Indigenous town of Nanzhuang. It also offers cheap, basic accommodation for pilgrims, hikers, and anyone else who fancies spending a night in the middle of nowhere.

---

Staying at Xianshan Lingdong Temple

The temple’s accommodation block has double and quad rooms on offer for prices that seem to range from NT$800 to NT$1,100 (as of 2025). To book a room, you need to call the temple on 037931373 (Chinese service only) and prepare to be patient — both times I’ve stayed here, the person who answered the phone was clearly hard of hearing. (If you need help booking, you can hire me via my commissions page on Buy Me a Coffee.)

When you arrive, you’ll need to head to the counter in the main hall of the temple to check in. If you walk in through the main doors, it’ll be on your right. We gave them our names and address, paid for our stay and were given our room key and a receipt.

The rooms are on the second floor of the long, ugly building next to the temple. And quite aside from the ugly exterior, I have to warn you not to go expecting luxury. They’re designed mostly to cater to unfussy pilgrims who take their deities on long-distance trips to receive blessings from parent temples. 

Inside, you’ll find hard mattresses with pillows of varying degrees of comfort and blankets (at least they’re all clean). The rooms all have a basic bathroom and a hairdryer, and at the time of our visit, the temple was still working through its stock of single-use toiletries, but since these have been banned, they’ll likely not be providing these much longer. Completing the amenities are a fan, an air conditioner, sockets for charging your devices (not beside the bed), and a TV. It’s far from fancy, but it’s enough to sleep. 

The temple doesn’t provide food, but there is a lively food court just across the road. Technically, it is open until 5 o’clock daily, but in reality, everywhere starts shutting shop at 4:30. Since it’s next to a temple, there are plenty of vegetarian-friendly choices, but I’d advise eco-conscious travellers to go prepared with their own utensils and bowls, since most stalls unfortunately use disposable everything. The market doesn’t open until about 10 am, so you’ll want to bring non-perishable provisions for breakfast. 

If you’re spending the night here, I highly recommend heading to the second, higher-up temple around dusk. If the weather is clear, you should be able to watch the sun set over the coast near Miaoli City, and if it’s not, you can enjoy the moody atmosphere of the lantern-lined trail. 

---

Getting to Xianshan Lingdong Temple

If you’re travelling by car, you’ll have to turn off Freeway No. 1 onto County Highway 124 (縣道124甲, then merge right onto Provincial Highway 3. Follow Provincial Highway 3 into the small town of Shitan, then look out for signs directing you left and uphill to Xianshan Lingdong Temple. 

To arrive here by public transport is a bit of a faff and involves transferring buses whichever way you do it, but it’s still doable. My suggested itinerary would be to start from Zhunan Train Station East bus stop and catch one of the morning buses heading to Nanzhuang. The 5804, 5805,and the 5806 all travel variations of this route and all have several buses each morning. 

It takes around an hour and a bit to arrive at Nanzhuang, so if you arrive around 10:30-11, that gives you a little time to explore, have lunch and buy snacks before making your way to the bus stop to catch the 5822 service up to Lingdong Temple. The journey takes about 20-30 minutes, and there are five services daily in each direction. The last two to depart Nanzhuang bound for Lingdong Temple leave at 14:30 and 17:40, but if you’re hoping to eat at the temple’s food court, you’ll need to catch the earlier of the two. 

To get back down, you could do the same in reverse (the three earliest 5822 leave the temple bound for Nanzhuang at 6:40, 10:10, 13:10), perhaps stopping at Penglai Fish Watching Trail or Lion’s Head Mountain on your way back. Alternatively, you could hop on the free local shuttle bus down to Shitan Xindian Old Street (services leave the bus stop in front of the temple at 8:20, 11:00, and 15:00 daily). This would give you the chance to explore a second old street — this one with grass jelly and connections to Taiwan’s most famous missionary, Doctor Leslie Mackay. You could also explore Mingfeng Historic Trail (part of the long-distance Raknus Selu route) or the bamboo-lined Zhonglou Historic Trail. Once you’re ready to head back to the city, you can hop on the 5657 back to Miaoli where you can catch an onwards bus or train to wherever you need to go. Services depart Shitan at 18:10 and 18:45 and take a little over an hour to arrive at Miaoli Train Station.