Longshan Temple is big, busy, has some great artwork and architecture, and was first built in 1738. The outer court boasts waterfall fountains full of big colourful fish. The detail in the wood and ironwork was quite impressive to an architecturally-illiterate person like me. Some of the main supporting columns are covered with single giant spiralling dragons and countless smaller characters. Since it was so busy and a popular spot for local tourism, we were able to get photos of common religious activity that otherwise would feel a little too intrusive: incense and food offerings, casting lots, etc.
You can read about this temple visit here:
There’s a video below the photo gallery. Scroll down to read or write comments!
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Out of curiousity, is “LongShan” Mandarin for “Dragon Mountain”?
Gan bei
I think so, but I should check with Mingdaw. At least, Wikipedia (“bringing d-emocracy to truth”) shows those characters: ??. Hunan and Shandong provinces both have a place called Longshan, and this particular temple was originally built by immigrants from Fujian province. I’ll see if Mingdaw can sort it out.