A fire tore through the ground floor of the Lingxiao Hall at Taipei's 136-year-old Zhinan Temple, and because the site has no official heritage status, the temple alone decides how to rebuild.

• The hall's ground floor is wrecked, and damage to religious artifacts can't be assessed until the temple hands over an inventory.
• The temple was never listed as a historic monument, so the city's culture department can only offer support, not direct the rebuild.
• Much of the woodwork came from Chen Ying-bin, Taiwan's most important temple architect of the early 1900s, and that craftsmanship is now at risk.
• Built in 1966, the hall was famous enough for its decoration that a Hollywood film starring Gregory Peck shot scenes there in the late 1960s.

Outlook: Rebuilding will move on the temple's own timetable and design choices, with the city offering help only if asked.