ABSTRACT
Temples are represented as a symbol of commonality between local and transnational Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The sacred aspect of temples has been downplayed in the promotion process. While past research has been written about how temples became successful tourist sites and attracted tourists, few have explored how temples intended as tourist attractions failed to realize the mission of drawing in visitors and developing tourism. Moreover, both Zugong and YYY neither have exotic objects for tourists to gaze at nor offer interesting activities for tourists to conduct at the temples. In YYY, dozens of worshippers could be found on the first and fifteen of each lunar month, as well as on the birthday of some gods. In Zugong, more tourists could be spotted on National Day, Labor Day, and weekends. Zugong is slightly better than YYY in that regard because it is located near the nationally famous Double Dragon Cave.
