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?

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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)