Cebu Taoist Temple

The Taoist Temple was built in the 1970s in the Beverly Hills subdivision on the hills above Cebu City by the local Chinese community, and it is laid out the way such temples are: a climb of steps through a dragon-flanked gate to terraces on several levels, with red and green tiled roofs, painted columns, a shrine hall holding the teachings of Lao Tzu, and balconies looking out over the city and the strait toward Mactan. Devotees come to light joss sticks and have fortunes read by the traditional method of dropping wooden blocks; visitors mostly come for the architecture and the view. It is a functioning place of worship, so the inner halls are usually off limits to photography and quiet is expected. The subdivision it sits in is residential and gated, and public transport does not serve it usefully, so a taxi or ride-hailing car is effectively required.

History

Cebu's Chinese Filipino community built the temple in 1972, at an elevation of 110 metres. Devotees climb its 81 steps, one for each of the 81 chapters of the Taoist scriptures, to light joss sticks and have their fortunes read, and its entrance was made as a replica of the Great Wall of China (Wikipedia, Cebu Taoist Temple).

Highlights

• The dragon gate - the entrance stair up through the terraces.
• The tiled halls - red and green roofs on several levels.
• The city view - Cebu and the Mactan strait from the balconies.
• The devotional practice - joss sticks and the block-throwing ritual.

When to go

Year-round; mornings are quiet and cooler for the steps. Chinese New Year is the busiest and most colourful period.

Before you go

It is a place of worship - photography is restricted inside the halls and quiet is expected. There are many steps. Getting there requires a taxi; the neighbourhood is gated and residential.

Nearby

The Temple of Leah is on the same hillside; Cebu City's old centre is twenty minutes below.

Key facts