Tainan Travel

In order to maximize the benefits of small-town tourism, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) selected 30 classic small towns on November 18 of this year. Anping District, Beimen District and Guantian District were among the locations selected. During the awards ceremony yesterday (Dec. 4), the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Lin Chia-Lung, delivered a speech to congratulate the selected small towns and the Deputy Minister presented the awards. Tainan was represented by Tainan City Tourism Bureau Director-General Kuo Chen-Hui, Beimen District Chief Chang Ming-Bao,  Guantian District Chief Yen Neng-Tong, and Anping District Chief Lai Ching-Fu. Selected small town specialties of Tainan were also showcased during the event in Taipei. After the ceremony, during a tour by Deputy Minister of the MOTC and the Director of Tourism Bureau, Director-General Kuo of the Tainan Tourism Bureau took on the role of a salesperson to introduce Tainan's small-town specialties. Because of the many diverse specialties in the three districts in Tainan, Chang Shi-Chung, Director-General the Tourism Bureau stayed for a while and jokingly remarked, "Tainan is not small at all!", indicating that Tainan had won a good result during the year’s selection.

Mayor Huang Wei-Che noted that the addition of three classic towns in Tainan this year is the best result ever. Of the 37 districts in Tainan, there are currently 6 classic towns in Tainan (second most in the country). In the past, through project-based marketing, the number of visitors to Tainan's classic towns has increased by at least 30%. The selected towns are even more meaningful because they not only have rich cultural settlements, historical backgrounds, and natural ecology such as seashore and migratory birds, but also have unique living and cultural characteristics, which are quite diverse. Anping is considered the first city in Taiwan and one of the top ten small tourist towns in Taiwan, with historical footprints and folk culture from different periods throughout history. Beimen was in the past formed by the silt and mud deposits of an inner sea, and offers many natural sceneries, and rich salt production and religious cultures. and is also the location of the Southwest Coast National Scenic Area Administration.  Guantian District is the location of the Siraya National Scenic Area Administration, which has become popular attraction since its opening this year. The most famous attractions include the Wushantou Reservoir and Guantian water chestnut fields. In recent years, it has become one of the model areas for the balanced development between industrial development and environmental protection due to the successful rehabilitation of the pheasant-tailed jacana.

The city's Tourism Bureau pointed out that the three newly selected towns are suitable for tourism throughout the year, and visitors are very welcome to visit them in different seasons to experience varying small-town sceneries. From now until New Year's Eve, Tainan will continue to host activities and even give away houses to lucky winners. This weekend, there will be the Modern Parade at Hayashi Department Store (12/5), the Christmas Lantern Lighting (12/6, 12/12), the Family Fun Festival (12/12-13), the Tainan Design Week (12/12-20), and the Longci Light Festival (12/25).

The Tainan Christmas New Year's Eve series of activities and events to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the merger of Tainan County and Tainan City are being held in succession. Now you can enter an event lottery when you spend more than $200 in Tainan, and a total of $15 million worth in prizes, including two homes, are yours to win.

For more information on Tainan's tourist attractions and events, please visit the Tainan Tourism website and the Tainan Tourism Facebook fan group.