These are shots of a hall of gods at Dajia Mazu Temple, Taichung County. This room has covered walls on two sides with these colorful statues, which overtake the senses, to say the least.
Tag Archives: taichung
Festival at Dajia Mazu Temple, Taichung
Part of the Mazu Pilgrimage, which I recently posted about, was an ongoing celebration at a Mazu temple in Taichung. This celebration was going on at the same time the pilgrimage made its way to Changhua just south of the city.
These gods represent Ne Zha San Tai Zi, or 莲花三太子. He is known as a trickster god, usually represented as a boy, and is seen as playful and mischievous. You’ll see him even on Taiwanese television, as he has sort of melded into a pop culture symbol.
These mobile altars were common through the day, as certain gods “visited” Mazu. The man on the left was dressed in traditional clothing and I’m regretting every time that I missed taking his portrait.
This man is pulling a San Tai Zi costume off the line, presumably to give the dancer a break. Later, I had a chance to get an image of the three costumes lined up as the dancers rested at the temple.
Offerings are given to the temple gods. Notice the pile of burning “ghost money” on the ground at their feet.
Filed under taiwan2010
Goddess of the Sea
Before I begin, I should mention and thank GigGuide.tw, a primarily English music site in Taiwan which chronicles music on the island. They featured some of my photos in a Spring Scream guide – check them out here.
Instead of covering more bands, as I planned, I’ll switch back to Taoism after some incredible events last weekend.
—
One of the largest pilgrimages in the world is underway. While many people think of the Muslim Hajj in Mecca or the various festivals in India which draw millions when it comes to these events, a festival currently underway in Taiwan is drawing huge crowds for Mazu, goddess of the sea.
Mazu is worshiped across East and Southeast Asia – especially by seagoing people as in Taiwan. Her blessing is seen as so powerful that people all over Taiwan and some outside of Taiwan will be sure to visit her as she makes her way through various cities.
Last weekend, I went with Yuling to witness such an event in Changhua, a city just south of Taichung.
This festival is indeed a pilgrimage – and a large one at that. It snakes around Taiwan, through various cities which are all excited at the presence of one of the most important gods in Taiwan. The parade processions include costumes, banners, fireworks, horns, and as said earlier, massive crowds. A perfect day for a camera. With the crowds and smoke, my 35mm f/1.8 never left the camera body.
Participants, like these seen above, wear simple clothing and are fed by people while making the trek throughout the island. I was offered food and drink multiple times by complete strangers, testament to the attitude of giving throughout the day. Many temples set out vegetarian food which was free in exchange for a small temple donation.
These scooters were caught up in the endless traffic. We actually left Changhua before it got even worse, with thousands filling the streets at night.
The people kneeling above are prostrating themselves so Mazu’s altar will pass over them. It is said to bring blessings if she visits you – even more if she passes directly overhead.
This man looked over his shoulder at me as the sparklers coming from the sky rained down – the parade had to stop multiple times for fireworks, sparklers, and other things which purposely try to keep the goddess in the town as long as possible so she will bless the residents.
These men were carrying banners and large spears ahead of Mazu as a sort of honor guard. It was great to spend time with the parade in the evening as we got some beautiful light from the setting sun.
Left: The crowds in the above photo are waiting for Mazu to arrive as fireworks are laid out before her altar moves through. Right: …and some fireworks to finish off this post. I’ll be back later with another post about this huge event, I’m sure.
Filed under taiwan2010
Some Scenes in Taichung
With the ghost festival upon us, I’ll be getting the Nikon out and about this weekend quite a bit in Jhubei. It should be an interesting experience and in a way I’m glad I’ve gone through it already in a way – so I’ll know what to expect in terms of getting the best shots.
These are still from Taichung – some street scenes near a nightmarket we had just gone to right after visiting Luce Chapel and right before getting those traffic shots I posted earlier. I’m not going to caption them – though you can see the general atmosphere of this part of the city, which, being near a university acts much like a college town in some ways.
Filed under photos, taichung, taiwan2010
Near Taichung
These photos come from a trip just outside of Taichung at two botanical garden areas that I don’t remember the name… or location of… but can tell you they were in the mountains and quite beautiful. The day itself was pretty exhausting – it consisted of leaving Jhubei early in the AM on Friday the 20th of August and arriving in the Taichung area by about 8:45am. The first stop was a botanical garden which was highly maintained and kind of sold as a relaxation for Taiwanese from the hustle and bustle of city life. The second location, which lacks some pictures here (as I was pretty exhausted) was a harrowing drive through one-way roads in the mountains in search of some lavender fields. We found them… and they were beautiful. Photos of both locations are mixed into this post:
The above photo was kind of an opportunity shot and I’m glad I got it. A girl was blowing bubbles on the way out of the first garden, and I had my 70-300mm lens after shooting (…pictures of!) some ducks in the pond. I liked how the bokeh turned out on this, and even more, it made me realize my 70-300 lens was a good investment as the autofocus was nice and fast – not to mention accurate.
This HDR shows a “castle” located in the center of the park. Like I said, this was the place for Taiwanese to relax… escape. No attractions, sales (minus a restaurant), or amusement park rides. Apparently, this requires a faux European castle! I have to admit – it was somewhat tasteful and added to the presence of the place.
I like the depth-of-field on the photo above. You’ll obviously notice the fish as well – both the fish and ducks were used to, and probably dependent on, people. The water is clear enough and the fish are “trained” to the point that they followed us… Yuling extended her hand (with nothing in it) and their mouths were gaping open, ready to eat…
Gotta love the chemical-fused water :)
There were gardeners all over – my $250 NT entrance fee (about $7.80 USD) seems to be well used!
The above photo shows some of these wish/prayer cards that our second stop, the lavender fields, gave to visitors. The whole operation – which I honestly don’t have many photos of here – was quite a successful draw for many people. Their marketing was full of cute (and sometimes expensive) ways to participate in the “cottage” atmosphere and was a little bit more direct than the first garden. Oh, and it was in the middle of nowhere… really.
Filed under outdoors, photos, taichung, taiwan2010
Long Exposures in Taichung
One of the more difficult types of photos to take is the ever cool looking long exposure. Usually done at night, these are made by setting the Aperture to a high number (my lens goes to f-stop 22) and holding the shutter open on “bulb” mode. If you hold it too long, and it’s bleached out. Too little, and it’s too dark. Oh – and don’t wobble it… most people do this with a tripod and remote trigger.
These photos are some pictures of traffic at dusk using this method. I was actually very happy with this set because it’s the first time I’ve gotten this moving traffic in this way. I’m going to have to try more techniques, like the black card – which should let me keep the shutter open longer and get more movement without bleaching things out.
Filed under long-exposures, photos, taichung
Luce Chapel, Taichung
This set of photos looks like it could have been taken in the US – a chapel on the campus of a private Methodist-founded college in Taichung by the name of Tunghai University. Taichung is Taiwan’s third largest city and geographically in the center of the country… its name “台中” actually including the chracters for “middle of Taiwan.”*
All photos are HDR except for the last which is made with a single exposure. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, I changed the layout and theme of this site – let me know if you do/don’t hate it if you want. I went with the black background because this oddly became a photo blog – something I never planned on starting.
*Lots of Taiwanese cities are like this. 台北 (Taipei) simply means “north of Taiwan.” The city I live in, 竹北 (Jhubei or Zhubei) refers to being “north of bamboo.” Just south of 竹北 is 新竹, or Hsinchu. The “竹” character refers to the bamboo which I’m guessing used to be in the area while, if you haven’t noticed, 北 means “north.”
Filed under HDR, religion, taichung, taiwan2010
