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During my 4 days trip to Taipei, Taiwan last month, I visited Nung Chan Monastery. The monastery is located at Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is formally in 1975 by Ven. Dongchu, a scholar monk and disciple of renowned Chinese Buddhist Master Taixu. It’s named ‘ Farming Ch’an ‘ as its early residents dedicated themselves to Ch’an practice and grew their own food. (taken from Wikipedia).
We decided to visit the place after watching this beautiful video from youtube.

How To Get There
Take the train to Qiyan Station and it’s a 10minutes walk from the station. The journey will take approximately 1 hour 10mins from central of Taipei. So, once you leave the station, turn left and follow Sanhe Street and turn left again upon reaching Daye Road.Look out for Volkswagen service center and find the entrance of lane 65 of Daye Road. Cross the street and walk till the end of the lane, you will arrive at your destination.
Alternatively, you can check google map to route your way.




The Place


The Water-Moon Dharma Center (水月道場) at the Dharma Drum Mountain Nung Chan Monastery (法鼓山農禪寺) in Beitou was built in the modern minimalist architectural style.We were awed with the architectural structures and details of the place as we slowly made our way to the monastery. It was almost noon and there is already crowd around the place. It is a spiritual home for devoted to practice and learn and uphold the Buddhadharma.


The Water-Moon Pool reflects the splendid Buddha hall at Nung Chan Monastery, which has since become one of the tourist spots for photo-taking. It is like a mirror that reflects the clouds and sky, Buddha Hall and Corridor.
Also, spot the main Buddha Hall’s exterior and interior design structure. The Heart Sutra, carved into the interior wall and it changes with the flow of natural light. I didn’t get the chance to take the moment but you can watch it from the video above. It was beautiful! It reminds us that life is impermanent and forever arising and perishing.



And the façade of the L-shaped building located next to Main Buddha Hall is inscribed with over 5,000 characters of the Diamond Sutra. We were lucky enough to witness the beautiful rainbow on that day. Look at my photo! It’s amazing and it is literally rainbow after the rain. It was a keepsake memory for us.

Next to it is retail cum café where visitors/ tourists can purchase the merchandise goods or chill and drink tea. There are mostly books related to Buddhism and also life inspired stories from the Reverend and founder of this place.

I would suggest you to visit here to enjoy the harmonious scenery. It’s like away from the bustling city and a sense of calmness and happiness. Not sure about how you feel after you visit but that is how I felt after my visit there. And this is has become a popular destination for foreign practitioners for a Zen meditation experience.
You can read about the history of this place from here.

Read about my Taiwan travelogue posts here.

Address :
No. 89, Lane 65.,Daye Rd.,
Beitou District., Taipei City
Taiwan. Republic of China.
(大業路65巷89號)
Tel: 886-2-2893-3161
Opening Hours: 09:00AM – 16:00PM
Admission is FREE.
Official Web:http://ncm.ddm.org.tw

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