Xihu Linzhao Temple

A temple in Xihu that lays claim to being the founding temple in Taiwan for veneration of Sanshan Guowang (三山國王), the Three Mountain Kings, guardian deities of the Hakka. Temple tradition dates it to 1586, when two migrants from Jieyang are said to have brought incense from the mother temple in Guangdong, although most scholars consider this too early for Hakka settlement. Local Hakka were driven out in communal fighting in 1826 and the three images were dispersed to neighbouring townships, whose temples still return here on pilgrimage. The present building was completed in 1995, and there is also a tank and a retired military trainer aircraft on site.