Xiulin Township, Taiwan

Eternal Spring Shrine

A waterfall runs right through the middle of this Taiwanese shrine to the hundreds of workers killed while building a nearby highway.

Built right into a lush Taiwanese cliffside, the Eternal Spring Shrine (Changchun Shrine) in the Taroko Gorge combines the beauty of the surrounding natural features with calming temple architecture to create a serene and picturesque tribute to the workers who died while building an important mountain road.

Named after the waterfall that runs beneath it year round, the beautiful little temple was built in the late 1950s while the nearby Cross-Island Highway was still under construction. The road was built by Taiwanese veterans and tragically over 200 of them perished during the effort. These brave workers are remembered by a small temple and adjoining pavilion that are connected by the bridge spanning the titular falls, all of which makes up the shrine complex.

Visitors to the shrine who are willing to do a little exploring will find a number of wonders hidden behind the shrine as well including a cave with statues of a handful of Taoist gods, and trails leading to more secluded towers and sites hidden among the natural features.

The shrine has been damaged and nearly destroyed a couple of times due to landslides on its verdant mountainside, but each time, the site has been rebuilt and continues to stand as a beautiful monument to the human cost of progress.