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Guan Yu Temple at Jibe Village

2023-10-30
886-6-9911084
Jibei Island is the largest island in the northern part of the Penghu Archipelago, with the settlement mainly concentrated between Guanyin Temple and Wusheng Hall. Like most areas of Penghu, the early residents of Jibei used coral limestone or basalt as building materials. Coral limestone forms from the accumulation of dead coral on the ocean floor, and when the salt content of the rocks decreases, it can be used as construction material. The process involved nailing iron bars and wrapping ropes on the ground to outline the stone walls before stacking the rocks neatly, a distinctive architectural characteristic of Penghu. Wusheng Hall in the settlement's center is Jibei's oldest temple; it is a two-story structure and enshrines Lord Guan, also known as Guan Yu. The nearby Guanyin Temple is the village's other religious center. Legend has it that over a hundred years ago, a red light appeared on the sea to the east of Jibei, where villagers discovered a golden Bodhisattva statue. They brought it back and first enshrined it at Wusheng Hall before raising funds to build the current Guanyin Temple, which contributed to Jibei's subsequent prosperity. Many *cai zhai* (vegetable houses), traditional structures built with basalt or coral limestone walls to keep crops protected from strong winds, can be found behind the settlement. Walking north toward the coast reveals beautiful beaches and sandbars. The most remarkable recent phenomenon is how sea currents have deposited sand along the northwest end of Jibei's northern shore, gradually extending the sandbar into a lagoon terrain nearly connected to the mainland, effectively increasing Jibei Island's size significantly!
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