北港明信片

Postcards From Beigang

January 15th, 2015

Beigang is a historic town on the riverside border between Yunlin and Chiayi in southern Taiwan. I made a brief, unplanned stopover in Beigang while riding north to Changhua in the summer of 2014. I was only vaguely aware of Beigang’s existence, having at some point read something about Cháotiān Temple (朝天宫), one of Taiwan’s most famous Mazu temples, but I had a hunch that there might be more to see—and I was right! If you enjoy visiting traditional towns with a lot of history then Beigang should definitely be on your list.

Beigang tourist bridge 北港觀光大橋 — Entering town from the south by way of Beigang Tourist Bridge (北港觀光大橋).

The impressive Beigang tourist bridge 北港觀光大橋

The western statue — With-The-Wind Ear (順風耳).

The eastern statue — Thousand Mile Eye (千里眼).

The first thing you will see when approaching from the south is a rather striking pedestrian and cyclist-only bridge formally known as Beigang Tourist Bridge (雲林縣觀光導覽). The two guardians standing watch are Thousand Mile Eye (千里眼) and With-The-Wind Ear (順風耳), two demons commonly associated with Mazu. The story, according to Wikipedia, is that both demons were in love with Mazu who offered herself to whomever could defeat her in battle. Mazu won both bouts and they became good friends. Since then both demons offered their services to help Mazu find seafarers in distress.

Chaotian temple 朝天宮 rooftop — Outside the famous Chaotian Temple.

Chaotian temple 朝天宮 — Beautiful and historic Chaotian Temple in Beigang.

Temple truck in front of Chaotian temple 朝天宮 — A truck in front of Chaotian Temple.

Smoke fills the air inside famous Chaotian temple 朝天宮 — Incense smoke fills the air inside Chaotian Temple.

An inner courtyard in Chaotian temple 朝天宮 — Deeper inside Chaotian Temple.

Beigang's famous Chaotian temple 朝天宮 — More incense smoke fills the air here. You can also see the traditional style of the big building beyond. I believe this is either a hotel or quarters for the many monks that visit here.

Submit your test scores here — Students come from all over Taiwan to pray for good scores on tests. These are apparently copies of their student ID so the gods know who to lend some assistance to.

Wall detail at Chaotian temple 朝天宮 — A close look at a wall inside Chaotian Temple. You can really feel the age of this place whenever you see the stuff that hasn’t obviously been renovated.

Chaotian temple 朝天宮 figure — One of many figures inside Chaotian Temple.

Cháotiān Temple (朝天宫) was originally built in 1694, making it Taiwan’s oldest temple dedicated to the goddess Mazu, the most widely revered deity in Taiwan. Mazu, also known as Tiānhòu (天后), or Empress of Heaven, was originally the patroness of seafarers and fishermen—which should explain her popularity in coastal areas places like Fujian, the origin of many of the early Han Chinese immigrants to Taiwan. Nowadays people seem to worship her for all kinds of reasons. I’ll stop here as I’m about to get way outside of my areas of expertise—but if you’d like to read more about Chaotian Temple check out this article by Rachel Chang.

Back on the main tourist beat in Beigang — Back on the main tourist beat at sunset.

Old streets in Beigang — Wandering through some of the old streets of Beigang. There are many sights that I did not manage to see on this short walk.

Famous duck restaurant in Beigang — Fu’an Duck Rice Restaurant in Beigang.

I hadn’t done my homework prior to visiting Beigang so I seem to have lucked out by stopping for a tasty snack at Fú’ān Duck Rice (福安鴨肉飯). While nibbling away at the tender duck meat I pulled up the only English language blog entry about Beigang that I could find at the time—which recommended that very same restaurant that I was dining at. Not bad!

Beigang's colonial architecture — One of the famous wedding cake shops in Beigang.

I also read that Beigang is famous for wedding cakes, formally known as xǐbǐng (喜餅). Apparently a place by the name of Rìxìngtáng (日興堂喜餅) is the place to go—but I can’t say I’m all that into dense Chinese-style cakes of any kind. I snapped a photo (pictured above) and moved on. In hindsight I should have stopped to take a look—the building was once a movie theater!

Making fresh jelly in the old candy shop — Making fresh jelly in Beigang.

The old candy shop in Beigang — The old candy shop opens right onto a small street.

More to my taste is Rìfāzhì Yídiàn (日發製飴店), a traditional candy shop just west of the main drag founded in 1958 (unless I have translated something wrong). I was not really into the old school jelly candies (what is that taste, licorice?) but the peanut candies were awesome. I also appreciated that the people working there were very friendly and approachable. I wonder how many foreigners stop by? Anyway, you can see more photos from this shop on Chinese language blogs here and here. For even more about Beigang’s famous foodstuffs check out this article by David Hsu.

Rifa candy shop 日發製飴店 — One last look at Beigang’s old town charm.

I’m glad I stopped in Beigang to take a closer look—the people were exceedingly pleasant and welcoming and there was a lot of interesting stuff to see and experience. I also had some fun indulging in my Wes Andersonesque obsession with symmetry in some of the photos above.

For more attractions in Beigang not covered here consult the excellent Bradt Travel Guide to Taiwan.