Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum

Another must-see here is the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum. It’s a major Buddhist center — almost a pilgrimage site — filled with holy statues, informative exhibitions, and practicing monks. Getting there required a 30-minute bus ride, taking me deeper into the mountains. When I stepped off the bus, I was greeted by a Bhutan-like mountainside packed with temples and monastery buildings.

After grabbing a late breakfast, I headed toward the giant Buddha statue I had seen through the window earlier. It’s the largest Buddha statue in Asia, standing almost 40 meters tall. Because it’s placed on a raised platform, the sight is even more impressive. Leading toward it is a long boulevard flanked by eight pagodas — each eight stories tall, fully air-conditioned, and filled with either small deity statues, scrolls, or offices.

The Museum Part

In front of the Buddha statue sits a huge ziggurat-shaped building that houses the actual museum. It has three floors packed with exhibitions, relics, statues, a gift shop, and even a restaurant. Inside, I was immediately greeted by friendly employees and monks explaining what there is to see.

I saw a large statue of the “Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed” Bodhisattva, and was told that it has so many limbs and eyes so it can help countless people at once. A monk kindly offered to show me how to pray and even invited me to drink some rose water — which I politely declined.

I checked out the exhibition about Buddha’s life, which included a 3D movie (glasses and English subtitles provided). After that came a walkthrough with animatronics and special effects.

I explored the other exhibitions too: Buddhist stone carvings (complete with a 360-degree light show), recreated caves filled with “treasures” (including replicas of Buddha’s finger relics), an exhibit about Buddhist festivals (more animatronics), and one about the benevolent priest who oversaw the creation of this massive complex — complete with a wax figure of him for photo ops.

Where the Hell Am I?

I took a lunch break at the cafeteria and did some background research on the place. It turns out the entire complex was built around 1967 — which is much more recent than I expected, but it explains the strong air-conditioning and pristine condition. The Fo Guang Shan order is actually the largest Buddhist order in Taiwan, known for charity work like providing free meals, healthcare, and education.

What confused me was the contrast between Buddhist teachings about avoiding desire and the sheer extravagance on display here. I was told the idea is to create something beautiful for Buddha as an act of devotion — and, admittedly, to attract new followers. This also explained the overly friendly monks right at the entrance.

Buddha’s Tooth Relic

After building such an extravagant complex, the order was given the honor of housing a Buddha tooth relic — one of only three in existence. I wanted to see it before leaving, so I went looking. It was placed all the way in the back, heavily protected. A sign stated that this was not a place for tourists but for followers only.

I wasn’t about to join a whole religion just to see a single tooth, so I turned around and headed for the exit — admittedly relieved to leave, because the overwhelming friendliness was starting to make me uncomfortable.

National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts

My next stop was the biggest cultural facility in Taiwan — and the largest performing arts center under one roof in the world. The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts. To me it was a bit boring, since it’s mostly a giant theater hall and I didn’t have tickets to anything. I was really there to kill time and see the building lit up in blue for TWICE.

There was one funny moment: an interactive exhibit where you could draw a tree, and some AI magic would turn it into an image and place it in a landscape. I, being me, drew a male reproductive organ. When I tapped “done,” the screen said: “Too small, cannot process.” Touché.

Liuhe Night Market

For dinner I went to yet another night market — this one conveniently on the way back to my hotel. I exited at Formosa Boulevard Station, where both metro lines intersect, and came up through the famous Dome of Light.

The market itself was pretty good. I got more dumplings, fried chicken, and scallion pancakes. But I think I need to find actual restaurants soon, because eating only snacks for dinner isn’t helping me hit my vegetable macros.

I don’t feel like I saw a lot today. The Buddha Museum was interesting, but it definitely had a cult-y vibe. I would’ve liked to see the tooth, but I respect their religion too much to push it. The rest of the afternoon was mostly me getting extra steps in to kill time.

But I need “slower” days like this to keep the trip rolling.