Sanzhi (三芝) is a town located on the north coast of Taiwan. It can be reached by bus from Danshui or Keelung although some of the places mentioned below are outside the town and you need your own transport to reach them.
Fucheng Temple 福成宮
This temple is famous for its golden-faced Mazu (金面媽祖). This Mazu statue was originally kept in Taipei City, but was moved to Sanzhi during the Japanese era. Another interesting thing about the temple was that it made extensive use of wood carvings, in contrast to most temples in Taiwan which have mostly stone carvings.
Lao Difang 老地方
The Lao Difang Restaurant has great steamed dumplings (小籠包). The restaurant is excellent value. For around NT$100 per person you can eat a fantastic meal. It is located next to the Sanzhi Post Office at No. 21 Danjin Road Section 2, Sanzhi (三芝鄉淡金路二段21號).
Sanzhi Visitor Center 三芝旅客中心
The visitor's centre is a couple of kilometers outside the town. It has a small museum detailing the history of Sanzhi. All the exhibits are labelled in Chinese and English. It also contains the "Gallery of famous sons" (名人文物館). This hall has exhibits dedicated to four of Sanzhi's most famous residents. There is one that everyone will know: former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). The others were Tu Tsung-ming (杜聰明), Chiang Wen-ye (江文也) and Lu Hsiu-yi (盧修一). Tu was famous for his contributions in the field of medicine, Chiang was a famous composer and Lu was an activist and politician.
Yuanxing House 源興居
Just behind the visitors centre is the Yuanxing House. This is the house where the former President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was born on 15 January 1923. The house is occupied but you can go in the courtyard and visit the central room of the house.
Shell Temple 貝殼廟
The Shell Temple is any many ways much like the typical Taiwanese temple. However instead of being decorated with stone or wood carvings it is covered with shells and coral.
Another important place of interest in Sanzhi is the Li Tien-lu Puppet Museum (李天祿布袋戲文物館). I didn't have time to visit it but hope to go there in the future.
* adapted from Trip to Sanzhi at David on Formosa. Also more photos of these places can be found in this photoset at flickr .
