Hop on the bus to culture

Last year, mayors and cultural bureau chiefs from 44 cities representing 12 countries within the Asia-Pacific region signed a declaration paving the way for the inauguration this year of the "Cultural City of Asia-Pacific 2001" (亞太文化之都).

The event will be rotated among the signatory cities to give each an opportunity to profit from the promotion of interregional tourism.

As the inaugural hosts of the annual Cultural City of Asia-Pacific event, the Taipei City Government along with other Taiwanese city governments have organized their own special events and festivals. Until late December, cities nationwide will play host to wine, art, flower, food and cultural festivals and will hold concerts and performances.

The first of the events began Thursday, when the Taipei City Children's Amusement Park (台北兒童樂團) opened its doors for a four-day cultural fair. Visitors to the fair got the chance to see a series of traditional performances and sample a feast of local cuisine.

To ensure both city residents and visitors all have easy access to many of the inner-city locations highlighted over the coming months, the Taipei City Government has invested in a new fleet of shuttle buses.

These brightly painted tour buses will ply a so-called "cultural route" that encompasses many of the city's most historical and culturally significant spots. Passengers can either alight at the destination of their choice or remain on the bus as it traverses the city.

Popular stops along the buses' route include Ta-an Forest Park (大安森林公園), Taipei Fine Arts Museum (市立美術館), the Museum of Contemporary Arts (當代藝術館), the Presidential Palace (總統府) and the 228 Memorial Museum (二二八紀念館).

Along with parks and museums, the tour buses also stop at two of the city's most historical temples, the most famous being Lungshan Temple (龍山寺).

According to the temple's secretary general, Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏), since the Lungshan MRT station became operational the number of visitors to the temple has increased by roughly 40 percent. On any given day the temple sees 10,000 worshippers and over 1,000 tourists entering its gates.

One of Taipei's oldest temples, Lungshan Temple has served as a center for the local community since construction was completed in 1740. For nearly 200 years the original temple stood unscathed. During the closing days of World War II, however, an allied bomber dropped its payload on the temple, scoring a direct hit. The temple that now stands on the site was completed in 1955.

While the hall itself was leveled in the bombing raid, the image of Kuanyin (觀音), the Goddess of Mercy, miraculously survived the blast. To this day many elderly temple worshippers see this as a sign of Kuanyin's divine spiritual power.

Although the temple's host deity is the Goddess of Mercy, there are 160 other deities and idols of worship located within the temple grounds and Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian worshippers congregate at the temple to pay respect to the gods. No other temple in Taiwan boasts as many idols.

Due to the large number of idols housed at Lungshan, the temple has become known as "the meeting place of the gods" by many of the elderly devotees who worship there.

Until five years ago the average age of the majority of worshippers at Lungshan Temple was over 40. Over the past five years a marked change in the average age of the pious in Taipei has taken place.