Chung Tai Chan Monastery is the single most surprising building in Nantou and one of the most extraordinary religious structures anywhere in Asia. Rising 150 m out of farmland on the edge of Puli, it looks from a distance like a corporate headquarters — a tapered tower of granite, glass and bronze, topped by a golden finial.
It was completed in 2001 to a design by C. Y. Lee, the architect of Taipei 101, and the intention was explicitly to build a Buddhist monastery in a contemporary architectural language rather than a traditional one. Whether it succeeds is a question people argue about; that it is astonishing to walk into is not in dispute.
It is a working monastery for several hundred monks and nuns, and it is free to enter. The interior halls — a lobby of enormous granite guardian kings, a hall lined in Burmese teak, a meditation hall of translucent jade — are on a scale that is difficult to convey in photographs.
Top things to do at Chung Tai Chan Monastery
The Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings
The entrance hall, where four 12 m granite guardians carved from single blocks of stone set the tone for everything above. Most visitors stop dead here.
The upper halls
The Great Majestic Hall in teak and the Great Magnificent Hall in jade-like stone are open to visitors and are architecturally the most interesting spaces in the building.
Chung Tai World Museum
A separate, purpose-built museum a short walk from the monastery holding a serious collection of Buddhist sculpture and manuscripts. Ticketed and well worth the addition for anyone with an interest in Buddhist art.
How to get to Chung Tai Chan Monastery
- It is about 10 minutes by road from central Puli, which is itself the main transport hub between Sun Moon Lake, Cingjing and Taichung.
- Local buses from Puli stop nearby, and most private day tours from the lake or Taichung include it.
- Entry is free but the monastery is a place of practice — dress modestly, cover shoulders and knees, and keep quiet inside the halls.
- Free guided tours in Mandarin and sometimes English are offered at the reception desk; they are worth taking.
- Photography is restricted in parts of the interior. Follow the posted signs.
- Allow 90 minutes for the monastery, or half a day if you add the museum.
Best tours & tickets for Chung Tai Chan Monastery
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to enjoy Chung Tai Chan Monastery and its surroundings:
Guided day tour from $90 From Taipei: Nantou and Sun Moon Lake View Day Tour
Nantou’s single most-booked day tour, and with more than 200 reviews the safest choice if you only have one free day in Taipei. A comfortable coach covers the 220 km each way while a guide fills in the history of the lake, the Thao people who have lived on its shores for centuries, and the Japanese-era hydroelectric scheme that gave the lake its modern shape. You get proper time on the water and at the lakeside temples without renting a car or piecing together three buses. Long day, minimal effort.
- Round-trip coach from Taipei — no driving, no timetable stress
- Time at Sun Moon Lake including the Shuishe waterfront
- Learn the story of the indigenous Thao people, Taiwan’s smallest tribe
Private day tour from $350 per group From Taipei or Taichung: Sun Moon Lake Day Trip & Boat Ride
A well-judged private itinerary that pairs the lake with the two things most day tours skip: the Hanbi Trail, a short shaded lakeside walk out to the peninsula below the old presidential guest house, and Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Puli — a 150 m tower of granite and glass that is one of the most striking religious buildings anywhere in Asia. Because it is a private vehicle for your group alone, you can start early to beat the coaches to the water and adjust the plan on the day. Priced per group, so it gets sharper the more of you there are.
- Private car and driver-guide from either Taipei or Taichung
- Boat ride on the lake plus a walk on the lakeside Hanbi Trail
- Chung Tai Chan Monastery, one of the great modern temples of Asia
