Fish Pond Township Holds Purification Ritual: Vegetarian Diet Required for Sun Moon Lake Travel Over Next 5 Days

All ritual pillars and altars have been erected and are now undergoing final adjustments. (Photo by Shen Huisheng)

Lanterns are hung in every household to mark the start of the ritual and bring good fortune. (Photo by Shen Huisheng)

Well-known accommodations such as Classic Grand Hotel have announced vegetarian meal compliance. (Photo by Shen Huisheng)

Street food vendors have switched to selling vegetarian options. (Photo by Shen Huisheng)

Beef noodle shops have simply posted notices of temporary closure. (Photo by Shen Huisheng)

Hotel Royal COSA introduces the Yunshuifang Vegetarian Restaurant, inviting visitors to experience local folk traditions. (Photo by Shen Huisheng)

Sun Moon Lake is located in Fish Pond Township, Nantou County, which is holding an annual prayer and purification ritual at year’s end. From the 20th, the killing of living beings and access to mountains and waters will be prohibited for five days, with the whole township observing a vegetarian diet until the early morning of the 25th. Major hotels and restaurants are following the custom. Visitors planning to travel to Sun Moon Lake during this period should be prepared—if you’re not used to vegetarian meals, consider dining in surrounding townships beforehand.

Zhang Delin, chairman of the Fish Pond Township Council and general director and head of the "Fish Pond Township 2017 Prayer and Purification Ritual Committee," stated that high-end establishments including Sun Moon Lake Lalu, The Lalu, and Hotel Royal COSA, as well as well-known hotels like Classic Grand Hotel, Fort Qube, Neptune Palace, and Jing Sheng Lou Hotel, are all fully cooperating with the vegetarian requirement.

Zhang Delin said that for tour groups that had previously made room or meal reservations, hotels have proactively communicated and adjusted alternative plans—such as having meals first in Puli, Jiji, or Shuili before entering Sun Moon Lake, or offering premium vegetarian meals to allow guests to experience this unique local custom.

Street food shops and snack stalls are also fully on board. For example, the famous Fish Pond Spicy Intestine Vermicelli has posted notices stating that from the 20th to the 24th, only vegetarian vermicelli and vegetarian rice cakes will be available. Yuan Tai Zu Beef Noodles has opted to close completely, taking a one-week break from the 20th to the 26th. Other meat and barbecue vendors have switched to offering vegetarian alternatives like mock chicken or mock meat.

The last time Fish Pond Township held a prayer and purification ritual was in 2003, followed by another three-offering ritual in 2012. Including this year's event, there have been three major township-wide vegetarian rituals since the 921 Earthquake. Hotels are now quite familiar with adjusting their meal services accordingly.

The simultaneous mountain and water closure prohibits the killing of living beings and the harvesting of anything alive from nature, including picking crops. All soil-disturbing construction work is also halted.

The schedule for this major ritual is as follows: On October 26, all ritual committee members will offer prayers to heaven at the main altar, the Qilin Palace Daihuatang, the faith center of Fish Pond Township. On November 9, the groundbreaking ceremony for the ritual altars takes place. Starting December 17, ritual personnel begin purification fasting; on the 19th, the lantern poles and ceremonial flags are erected and lit. On the 20th (the 3rd day of the 11th lunar month), the entire township begins its vegetarian fast and the mountain-water closure. On the 23rd, the purification ritual begins with the beating of the dharma drum.

This is followed by three consecutive days of ritual ceremonies and scriptures. On the 25th (the 8th day of the 11th lunar month) at midnight, prayers are offered to the Heavenly God to give thanks to the Three Realms. After 1 a.m., the vegetarian fast is lifted. At noon, families hold ancestral worship ceremonies, followed by banquets at noon or in the evening. The ritual concludes with the altar closing ceremony after 10 p.m.