Every spare surface of Lin Hsin-lai's four-storey shop is crammed with a pantheon of Taiwan's celestial beings, testament to the decades he has spent sheltering and restoring unwanted statues of gods. To venture inside is a tour of the heavens.
Thousands of statues fill the shelves, from popular deities such as the sea goddess Mazu and the fearsome Guan Yu - a red-faced warrior god worshipped by police and gangsters alike - to lesser known beings like a tiger shaped guardian spirit.
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Lin Hsin-lai's statue workshop in Taiwan
Sculptor Lin Hsin-lai restores a Taoist god statue at his workplace in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. Photo: AFP
Lin Hsin-lai paints a Taoist god statue during a ceremony at his workplace. Photo: AFP
Every spare surface of Lin Hsin-lai's four-storey shop is crammed with a pantheon of Taiwan's celestial beings, testament to the decades he has spent sheltering and restoring unwanted statues of gods. Photo: AFP
Taoist god statues after they were discarded by people not using them anymore, at the workplace of sculptor Lin Hsin-lai in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. Photo: AFP
A woman takes her new Taoist god statue home after it was restored by sculptor Lin Hsin-lai at his workplace in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. Photo: AFP
'I hope to find new homes for the statues so the deities can be worshipped and people can form connections with them, ' says Lin, who charges a fee to conduct blessing rituals for rehoused statues. Photo: AFP
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