Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 08 March, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan’s temples are home to some truly gigantic turtles, turtles that can weigh up to several metric tons. Temple devotees eat them as a dessert. These aren’t the kinds of turtles you can find in nature, though.

Across Taiwan, there’s a tradition of building giant edible turtles using ingredients like glutinous rice and sugar. They’re known as “peace turtles” in Chinese, and are often commissioned by temple goers as a thank you to the gods for a prayer that’s been answered.

Taiwan has seen plenty of these turtles over the years. But none have ever been quite like a real whopper recently built at a temple in Nantou County.

The turtle weighs in at over 13,000kg. Some are calling this turtle Taiwan’s heaviest.    [FULL  STORY]