Lugang: A taste of bygone times

Though I had little time to take a close look at them, Lugang has also gained quite a reputation for its historical temples, including Lugang Tian Hou Temple (鹿港天后宮), which is the oldest temple in Taiwan dedicated to the “Empress of Heaven.” It was built in 1664 and began undergoing renovation in 1922. The temple holds many impressive statues of various gods.

A ways outside the brick streets of the old town are several popular oyster restaurants. Their oyster omelets for NT$50 consist almost entirely of oysters, and the noodle soup with oysters (at the same price) also has more oysters than noodles or soup.

And not far from the oyster restaurant is a stand selling yet another of Lugang's delicious snacks, Yu Wan. This unique snack consists of a large meatball with a taro paste wrapped around it. It's steamed and served hot in a brown sauce, perfect for a cold evening. Then for dessert, at another nearby stand for only NT$6 each, are Niu She Bing “Cow's tongue cakes” (only so called because of the shape) flat, oval cakes with a flaky texture.

The town seems to become fairly quiet after dark, which is good because the buses back to Taipei leave fairly early. To get back to Taipei, one can either take one of the less frequent buses from Lugang that costs around NT$300 or one of the frequent buses to Taichung for only NT$80. Then, if one goes on a weekday, buses from Taichung to Taipei are NT$80 (on weekends, the bus from Taichung is about NT$170).

1|2

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email