Sun Moon Lake

We had a great opportunity today: Day off and a fantastic tour! We went to a famous Taiwan tourist spot called "Sun Moon Lake". This picture album can be found at www.blogspot.com/ekostick7 .


Surrounded by green mountains, Sun Moon Lake is the pearl of Central Taiwan. It is the largest natural and freshwater lake in Taiwan. The Eastern part of the lake is round like the sun, while the Western part is shaped like a crescent moon - hence the name "Sun Moon Lake".


In the middle of the lake (between the "sun" and the "moon") is an island which has long been a sacred place for the Shao people. This island (Lalu) is off-limits to visitors. Only the Shao people can go there to worship their ancestors. We past it on a tour boat we went on. The beauty of Sun Moon Lake is not Lalu... it is found in the surrounding mountains. From the lake, tier upon tier of countless peaks can be seen rising up into the sky. The nearby mountains appear dark with vegetation. The mountains that echo farther and farther away appear less and less distinct until they fade into the sky.


The lake did not always looked the way it does now. At one time, Lalu was a much larger island, a pearl separating the "Sun Lake" from the "Moon Lake". But in the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, the Japanese in 1934, deepened the lake by directing water from the adjacent lakes at Puli and Yuchih. The depth changed from 6 meters to 27 meters. The surface area of the lake changed from 1.8 sq miles to nearly 3 sq. miles (4.55 sq kms to 7.73 sq. kms). The big pearl became a little pearl. The Shao people were moved from their beloved Lalu to the upper Sun Moon Village.


There were many hiking trails and we got to hike along one of them: Tzuen Pagoda Trail. It was beautiful! This lead us to the Tzuen Pagoda with a 360 degree view of the mountains, Sun Moon Lake and area for as far as you can see.


Tzuen Ta, the pagoda of filial virtue was built in commemoration of Madam Wang, the mother of Chiang Kai-Shek, whom's residence we visited when we were in Taipei. It is on the top of the Mt. Sabalan. (An interesting fact: the mountain is at an elevation of 954 meters, so the pagoda was built 46 meters high in order to reach the elevation of 1000 meters!) This trail gave us a great view of the lake. The trail was less than a half mile (570 m) long.















On the boat ride, we toured around the lake and made one stop to the "Xuan Guang Temple". It was beautiful. This temple was built in remembrance of Master Hsuan Tsang (605-664) . He was a Chinese Buddhist scholar, translator, and author of Buddhist Records of the Western World.











There were also some exceptional views from his temple:











All and all, a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon! I loved it!