Mazu temple's beer garden
Did you ever see a church with its own beer garden? Probably not, but in Taiwan people have a more relaxed attitude to such matters.
For example: the beer garden in the Temple to the sea-Goddess Mazu, near Dihua Street. You might think that it's very disrespectful to put a beer garden here, but I would say it must be the mercy of the Goddess, that more than 40 family-run restaurants could make a living by her temple, and the hard-working people could enjoy very good food and beer in her courtyard at a bargain price.
There are many street restaurants around the temple, and people enjoy eating and drinking under the banyan tree in the temple yard. It's a place the hard working people have traditionally gone to relax after work. There are more than 40 authentic Taiwanese street food restaurants and food stalls.
You can see a few photos of my guests there on this page. We order a few hot stir-fried dishes and bottles of beer from the simple seafood restaurants on the street around the temple. The staff are all friendly, but it's a casual atmosphere so there are no waiters telling us where to sit. We simply find an empty table and then go to the restauraunts to order. We share the experience with the local people under the banyan trees, eating and drinking in the middle of the temple courtyard.
