Day 20

The team spent the night in lovely cabins at the Youth Activity Center near Sun Moon Lake, where we also had a wonderful meal of Shabu Shabu (meats and vegetables that you cook in a hot pot yourself).

We began the day at the Syuanzang & Syuanguang temple before hiking 570 M to the Cihen Pagoda built by Chiang Kai-shek as a memorial to his mother. From the 9-story tower we had a wonderful view of Sun Moon Lake. We next visited the Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village, where we tried on native costumes, drank oolong tea and learned about the native tribes of Taiwan. We also learned about some native cures involving moose antlers and deer embryos.

The mountain lake is beautiful and we had a chance to tour it by boat before lunch. Along the way we stopped at the Tutingzai temple and Lalu Island, which had been devastated by the 1999 earthquake. Afterwards we found a local restaurant and ate an incredible lunch.

We then proceeded to the Chung Tai Chan Monastery, stopping along the way at a winery for ice pops. At the Buddhist monastery we registered and were given a bus tour of the grounds. A senior monk, who prepared us for what we will see at the monastery over the next 18 hours, joined us for an organic vegetarian meal.

Today was a day of LOHAS (Life of happiness & slow).