Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣) @ Kaohsiung City in Taiwan

(Visited in January 2025)

The blazing sun stopped us in our track, underneath the tentage, and I can sense the hesitation from Alex, who had absolutely no interest in checking religious structures. 

But I was unwilling to waste the opportunity; given how far Taiwan was from Singapore, it would at least be a year or two before I would return to check out the Spring and Autumn Pavilions, although I was more curious about the humongous structures of dragon, Guanyin Bodhisattva and her attendants.

So here we went; braving the bright sun!

It was winter; why so hot?! 

Oh, the dragon had a mouth that we can enter too!? This would be similar to the nearby Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔) with one major difference; it was open for entry! 

Let's step in and see what's inside the dragon's body! 

It was surprisingly heavily decorated, with bright, colorful murals depicting deities, gods, and of legends from Buddhism and Taoism, typical of a syncretic religion common even in amongst the Singaporean Chinese. 

Straight path; just a number of staircases going up and down. Not much description for the murals so it might be quite boring for visitors who can't read Chinese, and didn't understand the meaning behind some of the murals.

Chinese angels signifying the end of the passage. The two couplets expressed "favorable wind and timely rain" which was used more for agriculture and "prosperous country and peaceful citizens"; favorable blessings for a country. 

Damn, we came out of the dragon's ass as if we were poop! 

Checking out one of the Spring and Autumn Pavilions which was built in 1953 and featured, two four-storey pagodas! I can't wait to check out the upper floors for better photo taking.

Accessible only for staff! This riled me as the main reason for having pagoda would be to climb up right?! At least for me. Whatever the case, it was a bummer for me. :(

Main attraction would actually be the dragon for sure. According to Wikipedia, there was a local legend  of :Guanyin riding a dragon appeared in the clouds and instructing her followers to build a representation of her between the two pavilions"; hence, the construction. 

The not too far away Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔).

More photographs, and a closer look of Guanyin Bodhisattva and her attendants; two children; girl was called Longnü (dragon girl) and the boy was Shancai (child of wealth). There's also a bird which could have been a condor or eagle, and it was holding on to what appeared to be a pearl necklace. 

A half moon pond said to have hundreds of tortoises.

Maybe too hot; I didn't see that many suntanning. 

I don't know what you call this? A column / totem with a statue of an ancient Chinese general. Was this a reference to the patron deity for the main temple of Spring and Autumn Pavilions, Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War?

=====

Address

No. 36, Liantan Rd, Zuoying District, 

Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 

Map

As above.

Operating Hours

7.00 am till 9.00pm

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)

Zhi Wei Xian Zion Road Big Prawn Noodle (知味鲜) @ Zion Riverside Hawker Centre [Singapore] #zionroadhawkercentre #michelin

A rainy evening, and a decision for dinner was almost apparent as I quickly checked out all the stalls that were open, at Zion Riverside Hawker Centre! 

Zion Road Big Prawn Noodle would be an easy choice. The low temperature would have been a perfect match with a bowl of slurpy prawn noodle soup, although the queue was still a bummer as I was getting a tad hungry.

And it has been awarded michelin bib gourmand in the past few years! Given our love for prawn noodles soup, it's also no brainer for both Alex and I.

Even though it was a one-man show, the queue cleared pretty fast and I was already front of the line in less than 10 minutes! Something caught my attention - what was that pot full of slimy looking things?! 

Our prawn noodle soup with thick bee hoon, and with only prawns. Turned out the slimy stuff was pork fats! When the owner mentioned if I wanted some, I agreed and thought they were just crispy pork lard. p.s. didn't cost us extra.

   

Let's talk about the pork fat first. Gelatinous and braised, they were okay tasting but I am not a fan of the texture, much preferring crispy over slimy. 

Soup was seriously not bad; richly flavored with the goodness from prawns and pork, it was appetising, not overly sweet and not cloying, with a light touch of pepper and a strong dose of darkly colored yet aromatic shallots! And don't forget the amazing crispy pork lards too! 

Eight halved prawns that were fresh and firm; and we paid S$13 for the bowl, which I thought was pricey for just four full prawns. Next time, maybe I tabao (takeaway) home and add in more fresh prawns myself for extra shiokness! 

=====

Address

70 Zion Rd, Stall #04,

Zion Riverside Hawker Centre,

Singapore 247792

Map

As above.

Pricing

Big Prawn Noodle Soup - S$13.00

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔) - They Were Closed Though @ Kaohsiung City in Taiwan

(Visited in January 2025)

Searching online for attractions at Kaohsiung City, there's one place that's always mentioned; the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔), and I was excited to be finally checking them out! 

Facing the pagodas would be the Chiji Temple (左營城邑慈濟宮) which honored the Poh Seng Tai Tay (保生大帝), also known as a the God of Medicine. Do also take pictures of the gigantic door gods that were protected with plastic cases. 

Now back to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas; honestly, the seven-floor pagodas would not have attracted much attention. The eye-opener would have to be the two humongous creatures in front of the pagodas! 

Before that, let's pay homage to the stone turtle. Oh wait, that could be a pixiu. Sometimes, hard to differentiate but this has a shell. So i stand corrected. 

Stepping closer! Can't wait to climb up the pagodas! 

Mallards in the water! 

Nearest to us was a male, given its green head. 

Instead of a straight path leading to the pagodas, we were made to walk zig zag! Darn, I wouldn't have complained that much if the temperature was 10 degrees celcius. It was around 25 and the heat was unbearable! 

Those were big mouths for the dragon and tiger, and something was amiss. I have watched enough YouTube to know that the key activity for the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas was to go into the dragon head, and exit from the tiger, for good luck! 

However, both mouths were shuttered with a notice, in Chinese.

Both pagodas, plus the mouths, were closed for renovation! 

Didn't stop us from taking photographs though.

Here's the gaping dragon mouth! 

Body for the dragon was a bit stunted though... Oh well, this was built back in 1976 and back then, maybe the technology could only do so much....

Tiger would be more realistic. Now I know why the route was to exit from the tiger's lair, because it would seem as if you are escaping from the tiger, whereas going in appeared as if one was eaten up by the ferocious feline! 

Goofing around the tiger's mouth.

As if to dare it to eat us! 

Took a picture of the inner mouth of the tiger. Guess it would be a vibrant journey filled with Chinese folk legends and fables. Damn, I so wanted to check it out.

Closer look of the eyes for both dragon and tiger.

Guess they would light up at night. 

While I was already quite sad that I am unable to check out the inner workings of the "stomachs" of both tiger and dragon, it's even more saddening that the pagodas were closed too! :( 

Lotus Pond has more than just the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. There's also an impressive pavilion known as 五里亭, the Spring and Autumn Pavilions, and a towering statue of a Chinese god.

The translated message that one should go down the dragon's throat and exit from the tiger's mouth in order to reduce bad luck and correspondingly increase one's good luck.

Last few photographs of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, identified by the smaller statues of dragon, and tiger above their main signages. Next time; I shall visit next time! 

=====

Address

No. 9, Liantan Rd, Zuoying District, 

Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 

Map

As above.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)