5/1/2007 ~ Taiqing Palace

On the Rio: Pat Metheny Group ~ San Lorenzo

I had to go to the seaside city of Qingdao a couple weeks ago for a project meeting. I went up on a Saturday to take advantage of the local attractions. My first stop was Taiqing Palace.

The Taiqing Palace was first built in 140, and formed a considerable scale in 905 with the efforts of several famous Taoists, including the birthplace of Laozi. After that, more buildings were added to it. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the temple became a Taoist temple of Quanzhen Sect, it got great support from the imperial court and its status was elevated greatly.

Here I am at the entrance.

Here is an example of some of the displays.

This is the goddess of fertility.

And an eight-armed statuette.

Yes, this three-eyed statue really is giving you the finger.

Lots of superstitions exist, such as rubbing the carved bats for good luck, or touching a part of a tree, sitting under a pavilion to achieve good grades, or throwing coins into this container.