Foto de stock - The Lungshan (Dragon Mountain) Temple is Taipei's oldest and most popular temple and also is one of Taiwan's premier religious edifices. It is located in the western part of the city near the old city center. . Construction on the temple began in 1738 and was completed two years later. There is a popular legend associated with its construction. Apparently someone had left a charm or lantern of Kuanyin hanging on a tree. It began giving off an unnatural light and granting wishes to those bringing petitions; local residents consequently decided to build a temple to mark the sacred place. It has been a popular site for local residents ever since. . Lungshan sometimes is known as the 'meeting place of the gods. ' There are over a hundred deities worshipped here, since new settlers from the Fujian Province on the mainland often brought with them their local gods. The unevenly cut stones in the courtyards, incidentally, provide evidence of this cross-channel contact; the stones were used as ballast in in the ships that traversed the sometimes treacherous Straits of Taiwan, or ""Blackwater Channel. "" Thus although the temple was originally constructed in the 18th century as a temple for Kuanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, numerous other gods soon made their appearance. Matsu, the Goddess of the Sea, and Kuan Kung, the God of War, figure prominently, but there are numerous other statues and altars. . The temple usually hosts a large crowd of worshippers, plus tourists and visitors from a wide variety of venues. There is praying and chanting and much smoke from the burning of incense and paper money for the gods. Lungshan is a genuine center of local religious culture and community activities. It hosts numerous colorful festivals and celebrations. It was involved in resistance against the French invasion in 1884 and more recently served even as a focal point of opposition to the Kuomintang government.