I was looking for something to do on the weekend that was cheap, easy to get to by bike, and interesting. After looking around on Google, I saw “instant noodle temple.” Ok, I’m in.
The “Yongan Instant Noodle Land God Temple” in Kaohsiung is the first temple in southern Taiwan where you can worship the Land God while also eating instant noodles. There is at least one more temple like this in Taiwan. maybe even several more.
This temple, 永安烏林投玄德宮, started giving people instant noodles because they would have so many left over from celebrations and devotees. Of course, another reason is to get people to the area. It’s an area of Kaohsiung that people normally do not visit.
So I grabbed a Youbike and headed north. It’s an area I go to often, but I haven’t been to this village since it became an instant noodle temple.
There are tons of different brands of noodles and flavors, and of course, vegetarian options. The noodles are free, but there is a donation box nearby if you’d like to give a few bucks.
There are some lovely statues of the Land God along the way to check out, too.
Tudigong (土地公), or the Land God, is a widely worshipped local guardian deity in Taiwan. He is responsible for protecting a specific, small area of land, such as a village, neighborhood, or field. Depicted as a friendly, elderly man with a white beard and a staff, he is considered a humble, lower-ranking bureaucratic deity
After eating your noodles, you can walk around the beach and see the famous power plant.
There’s also a nice walkway to walk along.
Also nearby the Land God temple is the Yantian Painted Village. 永安鹽田彩繪村. If nearby, it’s worth it to check out the history of the salt industry painted on the old houses.
If looking for something to do and a cheap lunch, you could do worse than heading up along Kaohsiung’s northern coast and enjoying the views and, of course, a hot cup of instant noodles.
You can Google this to find the temple.
永安泡麵土地公
The address is 828高雄市永安區興達路67之5號
Formosa>Ex 