Tainan Travel

Caption: 2 creators of TripTaiwan – Kevin and Manda When the two creators of TripTaiwan, Manda and Kevin, who are living in Tainan knew that they are employed as the touring consultants of Tainan City Government, they started to plan a 3-day 2-nights tour package for Hong Kong tourists. However, there are an over abundant amount of tour packages and attractions introduced on the internet, what should be chosen? After spending a long time deliberating the arrangements, they determined the following principle for a short stay tour package: 1 / Since the entire city of Tainan can be regarded as a museum and museum of Fine Arts, therefore they picked some old shops, in which tourists can experience the old-fashioned mood of Tainan. 2/ Addition of various new attractions will be able to satisfy the needs for those Hong Kong tourists who love to find fresh and new spots. 3/ Although Tainan is regarded as the capital of street foods, but since a lot of the street foods are on the sweet side, therefore this tour package recommends certain street food that are much suitable for the tastes of HK tourists. TIPS for HK tourists walking around Tainan! 1/ Citizens of Tainan eat earlier, in general, street food stands or shops start serving lunch from 12:00 at noon and closes around 2pm, with dinner hour starting from 6pm and closes at around 8pm, which is quite different from the usual dinner hours of 7 to 8pm in HK. We remind you to take note of the earlier dining hours in Tainan. 2/ There are city buses for transportation in Tainan, but the interval of waiting will be between 20-30 minutes at any bus stop. During summer time the temperature may be above 30 degrees Celsius. Tainan is not like HK, which has shopping malls everywhere. Regretfully the recommended attractions are not always within walking distance, therefore if the heat is unbearable, we recommend you to take taxi. 3/ If you need to take taxi, it is easier to grab a taxi in downtown West Central District and/or in front of your hotel. However, we suggest the best way to get a taxi is to download an APP “55688“to ask for a taxi, or you can use the information service terminal in any convenience store such as 7-11 or Family Mart to call for a taxi service. Caption: You can set the location where you want to take the taxi or simply input the address of your present location on the map by using “55688 APP.” 3- day 2-nights tour package: DAY 1 ： Check-in ⒶYou-ai Street Hotel > ⒷYe-Jin Salty Porridge＞Ⓒstrolling at Xinmei Street > ⒹShiang-Lan Barber Shop in Yongle Market＞ⒹAfternoon tea in Cafechamber @Tainan ＞Ⓔ Finding the fresco painting of artist Hsu Jose in Pu-chi Temple ＞（by taxi）Ⓕ Fresh beef hot pot in Yung-Kang Dist. DAY 2：Eat breakfast at the You-ai Street Market near the hotelⒼ＞ⒽTainan Museum of Fine Arts Hall 1+ Hall 2＞Ⓘ Eel Donburi Tsukuri for lunch＞Ⓙ Drinking coffee at Paripari＞（by taxi）ⓀNew Yung-Hua Night Market in Anping Dist.＞（by taxi） ⓁBlessing from the Whale @ Anping Dist.＞（by taxi） Ⓜ Massage in Huagu Barber Shop DAY 3：ⓃBreakfast in a nameless breakfast stand＞ Ⓞ Jin-Shin Candy Store ＞ⓅG-Colours Embroidery of Tainan Castle City＞Ⓠ Fu-Tai Dining＞Ⓡ Find Pop Rau-De carving in North Alley＞Ⓢ Hayashi Department Store＞ⓉChing-Long Canvas bag shop＞Ⓤ Chuan-Shin Tatami Mat＞（by taxi）Ⓥ Japanese style B-B-Q SHOJO DAY 1 Ⓐ You-ai St. Hotel NT$650 / HK$163+/night or above, the combination of Hostel+Hotel Located in the prosperous downtown area but very quiet, just behind the latest completed Tainan Museum of Fine Arts in West Central Dist, which is within a 6-minute walking distance. The hotel is a very convenient spot to go dining in Kouhua St. or You-ai St. The hotel is a combination of hostel and hotel, the hostel type of room charge starts from NT$650 / HK$163 and above. They also prepare a 4-bed family room for a whole family or close friends to stay together. ◤You-ai St. Hotel◢ Transportation：Around 15 minutes driving distance from Tainan Airport and around 25 minutes driving distance from Tainan High Speed Railroad Station, and about a 5-minute driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Caption: Ye-Jin Salty Porridge Ⓑ Milk fish salty porridge shop that serves 24 hours daily, which is quite rare in Tainan This old salty porridge shop is located at the roundabout. The owner is kind enough to open it for a 24-hour service. A lot of tourists want to have the famous fresh beef soup of Tainan, however, salty porridge is a popular comfort food for the locals. It is served with milk fish, which is a famous and special local product, Spanish Mackerel plus fresh oyster with refreshing soup stock, adding local fragrant celery for taste then plus one bowl of fried dough stick will be a very filling lunch choice. If all of the above is not enough, you can always ask for a side dish such as fried tofu with a unique taste or even an over easy fried egg, etc. ◤Ye-Jin Salty Porridge ◢ Address: No. 332, Sec. 2, Ximen Road, West Central Dist. Tainan City. Transportation：Around a 15-minute walk or a 5-minute drive by taxi from You-ai Street Hotel; approximately a 7-minute drive from Tainan Train Station. Ⓒ Xinmei Street used to be full of rice shops; it is now a co-existence of old fashioned stores and modern shops The street food culture started from the rice refining mortar shops in the past, which meant that it was a gathering location for the workers of rice refining shops. Nowadays the street culture has regained its vitality in Tainan, of which Xinmei Street is one of the many small and narrow streets where old and new shops are co-existing. ”Chi Kan West House” was the old house that belonged to the Hung family’s “East Asia Company” that was selling leathers, and “Hsin-She-Yi Paper Shop” was a shop that sells firecrackers. With newly opened Café, Ice cream popsicles shop and many more, there are lots of little surprises to be dug up in these small alleys. ◤Xinmei Street◢ Transportation：About a 1-minute walk from Ye-Jin Salty Porridge; around 7 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Caption: The reason Xiao Yi opened the shop in Yongle Market is because he thought that this place felt just like Kowloon Walled City. Caption: Shiang-Lan in Yongle Market Ⓓ Besides the street food in Kouhua Street, there are 3 hidden gems inside Yongle Market. Any tourist who comes to Tainan already knew about Kouhua Street, because it is famous for street foods. Even the goddess of star, Vivian Hsu, came to have Gin-De spring roll and to locate Fu-Shen-How savoury rice pudding (however, the locals always eat at the Yi-Pin savoury rice pudding at the opposite side of the street.) But actually there is a hidden coffee shop with the theme of Kowloon Walled City, a concept shop that once was very popular for old fashioned Taiwanese “Shiang-Lan men’s permanent curls” (though, it is mainly selling T-shirts now) and there will be a sushi bar reopening in May, which is called “Majikku Club.” ◤Yongle Market◢ Transportation：Around 6 minutes walking distance from Xinmei Street; about a 6-minute drive from Tainan Train Station Caption: Fresco painting of artist Hsu Jose in Pu-chi Temple Ⓔ Finding the fresco painting of artist Hsu Jose in Pu-chi Temple In the beginning of this introduction, we have described that the entire Tainan City is just like a museum or museum of the fine arts, and we can proudly say that the hand painted fresco of Hsu Jose is the best example to prove our point. Hsu Jose is an artist who had been to Spain to portrait people in the streets. There are a lot of art works of Hsu Jose in many small alleys in Tainan, which causes people to do treasure hunts around Tainan City (to find every piece of artwork). His art works combined traditional folk religions and modern elements. Along with mild touch of colours and the composition that arouses further imagination, every piece is quite unique. ◤Fresco painting of artist Hsu Jose in Pu-chi Temple◢ Address: No. 79, Pu-chi Street, West Central Dist. Tainan City.： Transportation：About 2 minutes walking distance from Yongle Market; about 7 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Ⓕ The fresh beef hot pot that is worth the taxi fare People in HK can have hot pot all year long, and since Tainan has the one and only freshly butchered beef in the country (which means that after butchering, the beef is not stored in the refrigerator but sent directly to the shops that serves fresh beef hot pot). So, let’s go have fresh beef hot pot! We recommend 2 popular local fresh beef hot pot shops, Ar-Yu Beef ShabuShabu and Liu’s House Beef Hot Pot, both are very popular for the locals even though it is a 20-30 drive from downtown, but these 2 shops are all very delicious and worthwhile. Our friends, who work as chefs, have all came to enjoy the food, giving praise and a big thumbs up to the delicious fresh taste as well as the reasonable prices, which is only a little more than one hundred HK dollars. ◤Ar-Yu ShabuShabu, Liu’s House Beef Hot Pot、◢ Transportation：Around 20 minutes driving distance from Yongle Market by taxi. For more contents about the Tainan Trip introduction, please go further to ”Day2” https://www.twtainan.net/en/tours/columns/detail/3586

DAY 2 Caption: Kou’s sticky rice dumpling Ⓖ Have Kou’s sticky rice dumpling for breakfast in You-ai Street Market The You-air Street Market is just next to the ‘You-ai Street Hotel,’ which is the market that locals go to buy meat and vegetables daily. The market is very neat with wide corridors without the usual damp and wet appearance of average oriental markets. We would recommend you to have a Taiwanese sticky rice dumpling for breakfast, Kou’s pork rice dumpling sells at NT$30/ HK$7.5 that is folded with double layered braised pork, winter shiitake, cooked peanuts and salty duck egg yolk, topped with coriander and ground peanuts, which is simply the old fashioned Taiwanese taste. Definitely worth a try. ◤Kou’s pork rice dumpling◢ Address: No. 12 You-ai Market in You-ai Street, West Central Dist. Tainan City Transportation: Within 1 minute walking distance from the “You-ai Street Hotel”; about 6 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station Caption: Tainan Museum of Fine Arts Ⓗ The latest attraction: Tainan Museum of Fine Arts Tainan Museum of Fine Arts is in the prime location of West Central Dist. Tainan has its grand opening ceremony on 27th Jan. 2019, which has been anticipated for a long time by the locals. The museum is within 2-5 minutes walking distance from Confucius Temple and Hayashi Department Store, making it quite easy to access. Design of the building is like a pile of white boxes stacked high and low to form a pentagon shape, which was created using the flower image of city tree “Flame Tree” as the starting point. With the fractal sunshade design on top of the building, it makes you feel like you are resting under the shade of a tree. ◤Tainan Museum of Fine Arts ◢ Transportation: About 5 minutes walking distance from Kou’s pork rice dumpling; about 10 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station Caption: Eel Donburi Tsukuri: assorted sashimi donburi Ⓘ Eel Donburi Tsukuri : Charcoal grilled eel with rice and fresh sashimi rice donburi: This is a very small Japanese restaurant located just behind the You-ai Street Hotel that serves fresh seafood bought from nearby Anping harbour. Fresh assorted sashimi donburi (NT$380 ／HK$95) topped with thick cut fresh fish and fresh shrimp, with the grilled eel rice made right at the site with sweet soy sauce dressing. The chef is even brave enough to just simply grill the eel with no sauce, in which the result is a dish without the earthy smell that generally found in fresh water fish. ◤Eel Donburi Tsukuri◢ Address: No. 11, Lane 35,Sec. 2, Yongfu Rd, West Central Dist. Taiwan City Transportation: 5 minutes walking distance from Tainan City Museum of Fine Arts; about 10 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Caption: Paripari Apt Ⓙ The most gorgeous renovated old house in Tainan reformed into a new coffee shop: Parpari apt If you walk pass “Parpari apt,” you cannot ignore the dark green tile and the line of wooden folding chairs of old movie theatre, this could be the most gorgeous old house reformed into a new modern coffee shop. Aside from the super refined and tasty coffee, their fluffy taste of Tiramisu is also very delicious. And you can find and enjoy the special whisky and ice cream bar that you cannot taste in any other places. ◤Parpari apt◢ Transportation: About 15 minutes walking distance and about 5 minutes driving distance from the Tainan Museum of Fine Arts; about 3 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Caption: New Yonghua Night Market Caption: Oyster grill stand in the New Yonghua Night Market Ⓚ New Yonghua Night Market opened since 2019 One of the designated attractions for HK tourists when they come to Taiwan might be to experience Taiwanese night markets. There is a chant rhymes for the locals by chanting “da-da-wu-hua-da-wu-hua”[F1] for the open days of every night market, that is knowing which weekdays when Dadong, Wushen and Garden night markets opens from Monday to Sunday. However, since New Yonghua Night Market started from March 2019, the chant rhymes have to be rewritten. There are 190 food stands in the New Yonghua Night Market and it opens every Thursday and Sunday. But if your visit to Tainan doesn’t fall on these two days, you can still go to other night markets that are open. If you don’t recall when they are open, just use the old chant rhymes. ◤New Yonghua Night Market◢ Address: At the intersection of Huaping Rd and Junping RD, Tainan Transportation: About 15 minutes driving distance from Parpari apt；About 15 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station [F1]The rhyme here seems to reflect the opening days of the night markets, in which I assume Dadong Night Market opens on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday; therefore it is currently translated using its pronunciation. Ⓛ The touching night illumination: Blessing from the whale of Anping There is a new public art display on the opposite side of Anping Park which faces Anping Leisure Pier in Anping Dist. that is named as “Blessings from the whale.” It is made from 3,715 stainless tubes welded together, presenting the image of a whale. There is not even one screw used on the artwork since the creator and artist Mr. Yang Shi Yi wishes to express a peaceful image without any condyle or protrusion, hoping to bring internal peace for anyone who visits the place. There is also a surprise if you visit at night. At the center of the whale there are 448 pieces of glaze firing glasses forming the heart of Taiwan, which shines and pulses like heartbeat from 6pm to 10pm. ◤Blessing from the whale◢ Transportation: About 7 minutes driving distance from New Yonghua Night Market; About 20 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station。 Caption: The massage room in Hua-gu Barber Shop, each massage chair is unexpectedly comfortable! Ⓜ NT$700 / HK$175 per hour massage, the shop opens until 12:00am I always recommend my friend from HK to go to Hau-gu if they wish to enjoy massage in Tainan, the service charge is NT$700 / HK$175 per hour, it is especially comfortable to lie down on the massage chair. For gentlemen, they can experience the shop’s shaving service. The shop opens until 12:00am, please make a reservation by phone beforehand. ◤Huagu Barber Shop◢ Address: No. 37, Lane 410, Yiping Rd, Anping Dist. Tainan Transportation: About 8 minutes driving distance from “Blessing from the whale”; about 20 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. For more contents about the Tainan Trip introduction, please go further to ”Day3” https://www.twtainan.net/en/tours/columns/detail/3587

Day 3 Ⓝ Have egg pancake to go with soybean milk in nameless breakfast shop Actually, we would like to recommend Sen-Ger Soybean Milk shop in North Dist. but tourists has to pay for taxi fare again. However, if you would like to stay in downtown area in West Central Dist. there is a nice nameless breakfast shop near the Shuixian Temple Market that serves nice egg pan cake. Its roast pork egg pan cake and soybean milk are also must-have items!   ◤Nameless breakfast shop◢ Address:： No. 169, Sec 3, Minquan Road, West Central Dist. Tainan City. Transportation: About 15 minutes walking distance from You-ai Street Hotel or about 5 minutes driving distance; around 10-minute drive from Tainan Train Station. Caption: Jin-Shin Candy Store Caption: This type of candy also comes in banana-shaped, do you remember?   Ⓞ  The taste of old times, Jin-Shin Candy Store There are a lot of “Ganma Diam (grocery store) that are selling all varieties of staples, cooking oils etc. in Taiwan. However, there is not so many store of such scale that just sells candies and toys. The owner told us that there were around 30 more such stores like this one and they did not just sell chips, candies that can stay for long validities. Instead, those old stores were selling daily freshly made bread, brown sugar rice cake, eggy cake and preserved fruits, etc.  Therefore you can still see that there are packing materials left from the no-plastic wrapping era, each printed with manufacturer’s logos, which are provided for those customers who take a bus to come to buy the goods sold in the store. ◤Jin-Shin Candy Store◢ Address:： No. 103, Sec. 3, Minquan Road, West Central Dist. Tainan City. Transportation: About 2 minutes walking distance from the nameless breakfast shop; around a 5-minute drive from Tainan Train Station. Ⓟ National Treasure grade G. Colours Live Embroidery performance The reason why Master Lin Yu-Chuan has become a national treasure of Taiwan is not only due to his profound capability of embroidery, but also because of his work creations are more than just the traditional religious embroideries and had once been displayed on the stage of New York Fashion Show Week. There is a poster on the door saying that everybody is welcomed to visit and take a picture in the shop as they like, and the establisher of Tainan Castle City G-Colour Master Lin Yu-Chuan is a very kind, outgoing, eloquent person. ◤Tainan Castle City G-Colour◢ Transportation: Around a 8-minute walk and about a 5-minute drive from Jin-Shin Candy Store; about 5 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Ⓠ Fu-Tai Dining, lunch for locals: a fish and a bowl of braised pork rice Living in Tainan, in fact, we rarely eat street food on a daily basis, but there are so much varieties of food cultures in Tainan. Dining places are one of the good examples to experience what the locals are eating with reasonable price and good quality. In general, such places serve braised pork rice, fish soup and a few dozens of side dishes. Regular side dishes are fried sausage, with African carp, soy sauce braised fishes and luffa, stir fried pork and onion, braised bitter melon etc., whenever they are in season.  The pan-fried bean curd skin shrimp roll with a price of NT$30/ HK$7.5 served in the 80-year history Fu-Tai Dining is rarely seen in other similar places. ◤Fu-Tai Dining◢ Address:： No. 240, Sec. 2, Minzu Road, West Central Dist. Tainan City. Transportation: About 3 minutes walking distance from the Tainan Castle City G-Colour; about a 6 minute drive from Tainan Train Station. ⓇFinding Pop Rau-De in North Alley, whose carvings are even more miniaturized at age 79 Pop Rau De is an old pro in an alley who is a self-taught carving master after he retired at 62, with Presbyopia from old age his carving items became smaller and smaller. He can produce one or two handmade miniature kitchen knives from ebony, and he has sold more than 3,000 miniature kitchen knives in the past 3 years. At the age of 79, he can carve limited quantity of miniature tools that are mostly traditional kitchenware that you cannot find in any other places in Taiwan other than in this alley. ◤Finding Pop Rau-De in North Alley◢ Transportation: About 6 minutes walking distance from Fu-Tai Dining; about a 5-minute drive from Tainan Train Station. Ⓢ The aggregation centre of Taiwanese delicacies and souvenir are all here in the landmark of Tainan: Hayashi Department Store Hayashi Department Store, located at the city centre is a must visit attraction for almost every tourist in these few years. Aside from being able to buy all kinds of fine Taiwanese delicacies, souvenir and cultural and creative products, the building itself was built and opened since 1932 as a Japanese invested department store that installed an elevator, which was a very rarity in that era. The old elevator is still kept in the top floor of the building, where you can enjoy the sunset through a Japanese Jinja (shrine) “Suehiro-Sha” on the roof of the building. From every restored tile, bricks, stairways, windows and the entire space, we can see that the building have been kept well with exactly the same old style of the 1930s, all of which are worth visiting. ◤Hayashi Department Store◢ Address:： No. 63, Sec. 2, Zhongyi Road, West Central Dist. Tainan City Transportation: Around 6 minutes walking distance from Pop Rau-De in North Alley; about 6 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Caption: The antique canvas milk bag made by Ching-long Canvas Bag Shop Ⓣ Rare souvenir located! Antique canvas milk bag! In Ching-long Canvas Bag Shop！ The canvas material was once used for military purposes. There are still a few shops in Tainan making a variety of old canvas products. Amazingly, we have found the canvas made school bag and hats after World War II in the obscure Ching-long Canvas Shop. In fact, we even found the small canvas bag used by Min-de Milk to deliver small bottles of milk every afternoon to each house. It is totally amazing that each shop is a small museum!  This shop still sells all kinds of shapes of canvas bags, and we requested a custom-made of tripod bag. However, since the small shop has taken lots of other orders, we are told that it will take one month to complete. ◤Ching-long Canvas Shop清隆帆布行◢ Address:： No. 144, Sec. 1 Minquan Rd, West Central Dist. Tainan City Transportation: About 10 minutes walking distance from Hayashi Department Store; about 5 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station.   Ⓤ  Min-zhang Tatami Mat  Bring one tatami mat home with you, the inheritance of Japanese workmanship Tainan was the first modern city in Taiwan. Since it received lots of influences during the Japanese Occupation Era, apart from keeping lots of Japanese style architecture, the people also kept lots of Japanese living style. Min-zhang Tatami Mat shop is currently run by the third generation of the family.  We asked the present owner Mr. Hung: “How did your grandfather know how to make a tatami mat?” in which he replied: “It was all taught by the Japanese tatami craft master who came to live in Taiwan.” A whole piece of tatami mat, which can be used for more than a dozen years, is made stitch by stich using rush imported from Japan with the rice straw produced in Yunlin County. We recommend you to buy a small tatami mat as a souvenir. ◤Min-zhang Tatami Mat◢ Address:： No. 18, Sec 1, Minquan Rd, West Central Dist. Tainan City Transportation: About 5 minutes walking distance from Ching-long Canvas Bag Shop; About 5 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station. Caption: Beef brisket BBQ Ⓥ Japanese style BBQ SHOJO It is a bit expense to have Japanese style BBQ in HK, but since the owner of the this BBQ was the buyer of the famous BBQ restaurant “Kanpai,” who knew where to acquire good quality meat. They serve beef’s tongue with thin slices and thick slices, and the Taiwan style assorted beef plant presenting beef briskets, rib finger and flank meat; pork intestine, chicken tendon, water bamboo shoot and Neritic Squid are must-order items. They have 2 branch restaurants. The first one is in the East Dist., with decoration of red hot burning charcoal in front of the entrance. Although it is not spacious, but it is nice to dine in. The new Anping store is with larger space, which is suitable for a few friends gathering or for a whole family to come dining.   ◤Japanese style BBQ SHOJO◢ Address:： 1F, No. 250, Yule St. East Dist. Tainan City; No. 1, Yiping Rd, Anping Dist. Tainan Transportation: Around 10 minutes driving distance from Min-zhang Tatami Mat to Anping store; about a 10-minute walking distance from Min-zhang Tatami Mat to East Dist. store. Caption: Ching-G Assorted fruits plate NT$200/ HK$50 。 Ⓦ Have some local fruits as desert after meal near the「You-ai Street Hotel」 I am completely aware of how popular Lily Fruits Shop is and their fruits ice is very delicious. However, the locals don’t like to wait in line in front of a too popular and crowdy shop. Therefore, I would like to recommend a “Ching-G Fruits,” which is very close to the ”You-ai Street Hotel” you are staying at, with a walking distance of only approximately 1 or 2 minutes. Moreover, this is also a place where locals like to get together. Ask for a plate of assorted fruits (NT$200 ／HK$50) as desert after meal, you will be amazed by the seasonal fruits! In June, they will give you Ai-Wen Mango, sugar apple, all of which are not easily accessible in HK. Cherry tomato with preserved fruits in the slit, fine plum power at the side of the dish, the assorted fruits plate can be a special and perfect end for your little trip to Tainan. ◤Ching-G Fruits◢ Address:： No. 294, Sec. 1, Fuqian Rd, West Central Dist. Tainan City. Transportation About 10 minutes driving distance from Japanese style BBQ SHOJO; about 5 minutes driving distance from Tainan Train Station.   For more contents about the Tainan Trip introduction, please go further to Day1：https://www.twtainan.net/en/tours/columns/detail/3585 Day2：https://www.twtainan.net/en/tours/columns/detail/3586

Trip deep into Tainan【West Central Dist. Section】Bye-bye hurrying one day trip, let’s arrange a 3 day 2 nights little trip! Hi, everyone, I am GODA This time I will arrange a theme: “Bye-bye hurrying one day trip, let’s arrange a good deep adventure of Tainan trip” to introduce the attractions of Tainan. This series will be divided into “West Central Dist.” and “Anping Dist.” sections and this is the “West Central Dist. Section!” This section will be focusing on the attractions of the “West Central Dist., Tainan”! West Central Dist., Tainan “West Central Dist.,” is the focusing area of Tainan city tour. Almost all of the famous attractions such as “Hayashi Department Store”, “Confucius Temple” and “Museum of National Taiwanese Literature” are located in this district and it’s in a very convenient location because it’s near to Tainan Train Station. Certainly, there are other attractions in other districts of Tainan full of charm, however, almost all tourists came to Tainan choose to do the sightseeing in West Central Dist., first. (And the reason why lots of tourists choose to stay in this district is because there are many hotels in West Central Dist., as well.) So, let’s come to have a look! Let me introduce the premier touring courses in the West Central Dist., and the must go touring experiences that you should not miss! In order to let all of you travel more efficiently, I shall divide the West Central Dist., into 4 areas for you. The Confucius Temple area The Chihkan Tower area The Shengnong Street area The Garden night market area Now, let’s see what’s worth seeing in these areas one by one. ① The Confucius Temple area ＜How to get to the Confucius Temple＞ From Tainan Train Station: about 11 minutes by bus no. 2, no. 6. about 5 minutes by bus no. 88. From Chihkan Tower: Around 14 minutes by foot, about 5 minutes by taxi. (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) From Shengnong Street: about 21 minutes by foot, about 6 minutes by taxi. (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) From Garden night market: about 10 minutes by taxi. (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) A lot of attractions are located quite near to the area of Confucius Temple. Especially there are lots of historic monuments; it is an area with very high density of historic monuments. Tainan Confucius Temple Address: No. 2 Nanmen Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-221-4647 Opening hour: 8:30~17:30 (open all year round) Entrance fee: NT25 for Tacheng Hall After entering the Confucius Temple, I walked casually in the court yard of the Temple. The gate of the Confucius Temple The plaque has to be read from the right to the left, not the other way around. The meaning of the inscription is “The First School in Taiwan.” The Tainan Confucius Temple was constructed in 1665; it is the earliest and the historical Confucius Temple in Taiwan. The whole place has been renovated during the Japanese rein era, which is the appearance we are seeing now. Inside the court yard of the Confucius Temple The whole court yard of the Confucius Temple is very spacious, and it is quite comfortable to take a walk in it. Furthermore, the area shown in the pictures are free of charge, however, if you want to enter Tacheng Hall, you have to pay 25NTD ticket to get inside. Suggest entering the Tacheng Hall if you are very interested in the history! Coral Tree Alley Address: No. 140, Fuzhong Street, West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: Nil Opening hour: 24hr(open all year round) Then, I walked into the Coral Tree Alley beside the Confucius Temple. The entrance of Coral Tree Alley There are many shops at both sides of the Coral Tree Alley, such as handicraft store, restaurants etc.; it is an alley for tourists. The Coral Tree Alley Since it was a weekday, therefore not many shops opening, but it should be bustling with noise during holidays. You can buy some presents, or take a rest to have some sweet treats, and of course you can try some delicious street foods of Tainan. Small lane in the Coral Tree Alley Other than the above, there is a very good atmosphere in the small lane beside the Coral Tree Alley. There are very traditional local temples and some nice little café too.... This is a place that you want to keep on strolling to every corner to explore. Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts Address: No. 37, Nanmen Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-221-8881 Opening hour: [Tues - Sun] Opens from 09:00 to 17:00 [Mon] Closed (Closed if public holidays are on Mondays) [Sat] Opens until 21:00 [Public holidays] Opens as usual, except for Chinese New Years Eve, the 1st and 2nd day of Chinese New Year After walking about 2 minutes in the Coral Tree Alley, I went to Hall 1 of the Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts. Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 1) Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 1) is a museum renovated from a police bureau constructed during the Japanese rein era. This museum just opened from October, 2018, so it looks very modern and clean. The exhibits In my impression, the exhibits are mainly the art works of Taiwanese artists. The design and decoration of the museum are very eye-catching Although the exhibits are wonderfully fine, however, the most impressive place is the decorative design of the museum. Though it may not be easy to see from the picture, but it had added new building beside the old police bureau, connecting the two buildings to make it into the Museum of the Fine Art. The way of the combination of old and new is truly amazing! Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 2) It took only about 6 to 7 minutes to walk from Hall 1 to arrive at Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 2.) Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 2) just opened from January, 2019 and it is even more spacious than Hall 1. “Because summer in Tainan is so hot, this is a very nice place to enjoy the air-conditioning...!” I smiled at my thought. Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 2) Address: No. 1, Zhongyi Rd., Sec. 2, West Central Dist., Tainan Opening hour: [Tues - Sun] Opens from 09:00 to 17:00 [Mon] Closed (Closed if public holidays are on Mondays) [Sat] Opens until 21:00 [Public holidays] Opens as usual, except for Chinese New Years Eve, the 1st and 2nd day of Chinese New Year National Museum of Taiwanese Literature National Museum of Taiwanese Literature (Tainan State Government Hall) Address: No. 1, Zhongzheng Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-221-7201 Opening hour: 9:00~18:00 Closing date: Every Monday Entrance fee: Free Then, I walked about 2 minutes from Tainan Museum of the Fine Arts (Hall 1) to the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature. National Museum of Taiwanese Literature This place is the Tainan State Government Hall (that is, what the Taiwanese called the County Government Hall) This is also renovated from the old historical building, so that the old building can be preserved well and to be utilized efficiently, this is truly a very good way to present the old historical buildings! The decoration of the museum is very magnificent too The decoration of the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature is pretty magnificent. Souvenir shop Because it is a museum, hence there many creative art products selling in the souvenir shop. The exhibits The space of the exhibits area feels rather standard and formal. I suggest visiting this museum if you like history and building. Hayashi Department Store Address: No. 63, Sec. 2, Zhongzheng Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-221-3000 Opening hour: 10:30~21:30 If you walk from the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature towards west for about 2 minutes, you can see the Hayashi Department Store. Hayashi Department Store Hayashi Department Store was a department store running by Japanese in 1932, it is now renovated as one of the Tainan attractions. There are shops selling handicrafts in the department store The building has 6 levels, and lots of shops selling handicrafts, creative items and souvenir. There are modern and lovely creative items too From practical household utilities to merchandize that full of creative ideas that you cannot resist buying, they have everything that one expects to find. If you want to buy something back home as small presents, Hayashi Department Store is the exact location you should check. The café Besides, there are café and desert stores that you can take a rest if you felt tired after walking such a long distance. Jinja on the roof top Similar to the Japanese department store, there is a remained structure of Jinja on the roof top of the Hayashi Department Store. By the time I have climbed up the roof top, it happened to be the sunsetting, so I was lucky enough to take a very beautiful picture. Museum of Goxinga Address: No. 152 Kaishan Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-213-6207 Opening hour: 9:00~17:00 Closing date: Every Monday Finally, I went to visit the Museum of Goxinga (about 10 minutes by foot from Confucius Temple.) There are related collections of Koxinga The exhibits are mostly the old artifacts produced before the Japanese rein era, such as artifacts of the era of Goxinga or collections of Qing Dynasty. I felt embarrassed to be able to see all those excellent quality of collections in this museum without having to pay for it. This is truly a fabulous museum to visit! The passport of the ancient times (This could be the passport of the ancient times, how interesting is that!) ② The Chihkan Tower area ＜How to get to the Chihkan Tower area＞ From Tainan Train Station: about 5～10 minutes by bus no. 5, no.99, no. 88; From the Confucius Temple: about 14 minutes by foot, about 5 minutes by taxi and about 5～10 minutes by bus no. 88. From Shengnong Street: about 12 minutes by foot; about 6 minutes by taxi (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) From Garden night market: about 25 minutes by foot, about 7 minutes by taxi (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time. ) The most recommended attraction to go is the Chihkan Tower and Tainan Grand Matsu Temple And there is a very delicious sweetened white gourd drink shop that always has a long que waiting along Sec. 2, Yongfu Road, the drink is extremely famous near the Chihkan Tower area, if you are interested, suggest you go and try some! Chihkan Tower Address: No. 212, Minzu Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-220-5647 Opening hour: 8:30~21:00 (open all year round) Entrance fee: NT50 It is very important to visit the Chihkan Tower is a must go historic monument if you go to Tainan. This old tower was constructed by the Dutch in 1653, and in the era of Goxinga, it had become active location of the extreme ruling power in Taiwan at the time. Because Chihkan Tower was constructed before the Japanese rein era, therefore it is regarded as the worthiest historical monument in Tainan. Tainan Grand Matsu Temple Address: No. 18, Lane 227, Sec. 2, West Central Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-221-1178 Opening hour: 6:00-21:00 (open all year round) Tainan Grand Matsu Temple is qualified as the Level One historic monument. The matchmaking god in this temple is very famous, that many people come here to pray for a good match. (According to locals, the matchmaking god is super effective! Don’t you miss this one if you happened to look for a better half!) ③ The Shengnong Street area ＜How to get to Shengnong Street area＞ From Tainan Train Station: about 15 minutes driving distance by bus no. 88（get off the bus at Shuixian Temple Stop in Shengnong Street） From Confucius Temple: about 13 minutes by bus no. 88 （get off the bus at Shuixian Temple Stop in Shengnong Street） From Chihkan Tower: about 12 minutes by foot, about 6 minutes by taxi, about 8 minutes by bus no. 88（get off the bus at Shuixian Temple Stop in Shengnong Street） From Garden night market: about 20 minutes by foot, about 5 minutes by taxi（buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.） Talking about the most representative old streets in Tainan, it should be the “Shengnong Street! “ It’s really producing a dreaming and fantastic mood after all the lanterns light up at night. There are modern pubs and café, souvenir shops selling handicrafts and even fortuneteller’s stand on the street…. Simply walking on the street makes you feel more and more excited. The entrance of Shengnong Street filling with the mood of fantasy Everyone should go and see the night view of Shengnong Street which is truly majestic. Not so many people around since it is a weekday Although there were less people during weekdays, but almost all the shops were opening. Therefore, it might be just as nice to go to Shengnong Street during weekdays! The pub Pubs here are not daunting or stressful, there are so many pubs that you can go and spend the night with no pressure at all. The night life in Tainan is worth experiencing as well, simply try one! ④ The Garden night market area: Address: No. 533, Sec. 3, Hai’an Rd., North Dist., Tainan Phone: 06-358-3867 Opening hour: 18:00~24:00 every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday ＜How to get to the Garden night market area:＞ From Tainan Train Station: about 10 minutes by taxi, take bus “0 left line” (the circular line) and get off at the Garden night market stop. From Confucius Temple: about 10 minutes by taxi, (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) From Chihkan Tower: about 25 minutes by foot, about 7 minutes by taxi (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) From Shengnong Street: about 20 minutes by foot, about 5 minutes by taxi (buses tend to detour, therefore suggest taking taxi to save time.) This is the biggest night market in Tainan. Although there are other night markets in Tainan, but my opinion is that the Garden night market is the best in both quality and scale! There are hundreds of foods stands etc., in an open area as large as a parking lot. In my opinion, even compared with the night markets in Taipei or Kaohsiung, the Garden night market maybe still the biggest night market among all. If you love to have lots of delicious food without eating too much portions, then it is most suitable for you to come to the night market for good foods. And by the way, as the capital of gourmet, there are many local special delicacies in Tainan! Oyster omelette Like oyster omelette is one of the most representative street foods of Tainan! It is said that this scrumptious street food might be the creation of Goxinga! Deep Fried Sandwich ”Deep Fried Sandwich” a piece of very thick deep fried toast spread with seafood cream soup which is the most famous street food in Tainan too. It seems no other places are selling this special delicacy in Taipei or anywhere in Taiwan! If you plan to have a little trip to Tainan, it is recommended for you to try a longer arrangement, such as a 3 day and 2 nights tour, not just one-day tour! Though many people might choose to have a day of light trip to Tainan, but since you have left your crowdy and noisy city for once, why not enjoy much longer leisure hours in Tainan? There is direct flight from Kansai International Airport to Tainan, and there is also very detailed description of websites for tourists to obtain information, it is very convenient for getting the touring information or transportations. The reason why we recommend this “Trip deep into Tainan” is because ① Now there are direct flight between Osaka (Kansai International Airport) and Taiwan! And because of the direct flight from Tainan to Osaka (Kansai International Airport) (though it does not concern with the tourists in the Kansai area), the tourists from Japan don’t have to go to Taipei or Kaohsiung to transfer to Tainan, they can enjoy Tainan fully with their trip. ＜Basic information of flight from Osaka-Tainan＞ Airliner: China Airline Depart from Kansai Airport: Depart: 12:00 arrive: 14:00／every Tuesday, Friday Depart from Tainan: Depart: 15:30 arrive:19:30／every Tuesday, Friday Air fare: About 16,000Yen one way～ Tainan airport: Direct distance to TRA Tainan Train Station is about 5.7km. Suggest to take City bus or taxi to go to downtown area，it’s all very convenient. Although, I am a citizen of Aichi Prefecture and do not have much of a chance to use these flights... I really envy people in Kansai area! Reason for suggesting “Trip deep into Tainan” is that ② there are detailed and complete information on the websites. Apart from the attractions introduced in this section, there are many other charming places in Tainan for you to explore! Now I would like to introduce a website for searching Tainan’s suburban attractions and rarely known attractions. That is the “Travel Tainan”↓↓ This website is managed by the Tainan City Government. The website has been divided into different caption as “Historic monuments”, “Eco-Educations”, “Sightseeing Factories”, “Religious Temples” and “Touring Night Markets”, you can click whatever of the above themes to find the attractions you want to visit.↓↓↓ You can click the categories to find the attractions you want to go There are full and detailed descriptions of each attractions.↓↓↓ Descriptions of the attractions Besides, the comments of tourists and trip advisor can be found in the website so that you can refer to the comments of other netizens↓↓↓ Comments of trip advisor Not only the information for attractions, you can search for information of various restaurants, dining places, events etc. The best part is that there is Japanese version for this website, so I suggest everybody use it more often. Travel Tainan Reason for suggesting “Trip deep into Tainan” ③ Tainan Fun Card Tainan Fun Card Tainan City Government also presents “Tainan Fun Card” to let our tourists travel in Tainan more conveniently. Tourists to Tainan can buy various entrance tickets for all kinds of facilities, or enroll and attend local city tour program. The method of purchase is very simple. After paid on line using credit card, the electronic tickets will be sent to your mobile phone, and you simply have to show the electronic tickets to the staff at site to enter any attraction you choose. You can save time to line up for a ticket, how convenient it is! But it’s a shame that currently these electronic tickets can only be purchased in the Chinese version website. Tainan（Tainan Fun Card）

Trip deep into Tainan【Anping Dist. Chapter】Bye-bye hurrying one day trip, let’s arrange a 3 day 2 nights little trip! Hi, everyone, I am GODA This time I will arrange a theme: “Bye-bye hurrying one day trip, let’s arrange a good deep adventure of Tainan trip” to introduce the attractions of Tainan. This series will be divided into “West Central Dist.” and “Anping Dist.” and this is the “Anping Dist. Chapter! Location of Anping District Anping District is located at the coastal area of Tainan, there are some distance from downtown area and the Tainan Train Station. Famous attractions in this district are the “Anping Old Fort” and “Anping Tree House” and these are the must-go attractions for every tourist! Apart from the above, there are very beautiful ocean view and delicious tofu pudding, seafood…. etc. all of these are all very famous in Taiwan! Since Anping District covers a very large area, we would recommend you to take a whole day to arrange a deep cultural adventure. Access methods to go to Anping Dist. The following is the comparison table of various transportation methods for reference. Our conclusion is to recommend taking taxi or bus to go to Anping The time and expenses for transportation tools are as the following: From Tainan Train Station to Anping Transportation tools Time Expense Taxi About 20 minutes from Tainan Train Station Around NTD 200 bus no. 2 About 30 minutes from Tainan Train Station NTD 18 99 line bus About 35 minutes from Tainan Train Station NTD 18 Although taking taxi is fast and comfortable, however, bus is a much convenient and economical choice. If you choose to take bus no. 2, it’s actually almost as fast as taking a taxi, hence we would recommend visitors to take bus no. 2! Then how to take bus no. 2 from Tainan Train Station to get to Anping？ It’s actually quite simple. Firstly, after you arrived at the front exit of Tainan Train Station, please go to the building in front of the station. The building located in front of Tainan Train Station (front exit) The red arrow is the bus stop to take bus no. 2, visitors can get on the bus at this location. After the bus arrives to Anping Dist., please get off the bus at the “Anping Old Fort Stop (Anbei Rd)” Now you can start sightseeing. bus no. 2 By the way, if you have an Easy Card, it will be much more convenient! You can buy an Easy Card at any convenience store, so we suggest you get one and add some value to the card before getting on the bus. Now let me introduce the premier sightseeing tour in Tainan Anping Dist., with those traveling experiences that you should not miss! So let’s come to have a look! Besides, since after arriving to the Anping Dist., tourist will walk all the time to see the attractions. Therefore, we suggest you to take a leisure stroll and have a good look at this small town at the seashore. Anping Old Fort Address: No. 82, Gousheng Rd., Anping Dist., Tainan City Phone:06-226-7348 Opening hour: 8:30~17:30 (open for whole year) Entrance fee: 50 NTD Anping Old Fort and Chihkan Tower are both listed as the must go attraction in Tainan The old fort is constructed by the Dutch in 1633 to be used as a stronghold in East Asia by Nederland. By the way, I remember when I was still in high school, my history lesson has mentioned about “Anping Old Fort” and at the time it was written in Dutch as “the Zeelandia.” Anyway, “Anping Old Fort” is so famous that it is also appeared in the Japanese History lesson as an old fortress. If you are very keen to study history and relics, then you should not miss this attraction. Anping Old Street Address: Yanping Rd., Anping Dist. Tainan City Phone: Depends on each shop Opening time: 7:00~18:30 (Only Saturday opens until 19:00) Closing date: Depends on each shop “Anping Old Street” is just beside Anping Old Fort Anping Old Street There are a lot of nostalgic shops in the street that is suitable for strolling around. Candy shop (upper left） The old man who tends to that ice cream shop will make ice cream according to the numbers appeared on the roulette wheel by his customer and present the exact number of scoops of ice cream for the customer (upper right) Candied Fruits made from southern country fruits（left bottom） Mango smoothie （lower right） All of these are all full of the atmosphere of the old times. A small alley fill with the old-time mood When I was walking around Anping Old Street, I have found a small alley filled with the old-time mood. It should be an excellent place to take a picture to keep the memory, right? There are a lot of similar small alley in Anping Old Street, remember to come for a little adventure! Anping Tree House (Tait & Co. Merchant House) Address: No. 108, Goubao street, Anping Dist., Tainan City Phone:：06-391-3901 Opening hour: 8:30~17:30 (open for a whole year) Entrance fee: NT50 About 3 minutes walking distance from Anping Old Fort to reach “Anping Tree House” I believed that if you have seen the picture, you would know that AnpingTree House is a wooden warehouse fully covered by the aerial roots of the Banyan tree. Its appearance looks just like the famous animation produced by Mr. Miyazaki Hayao “Castle in the Sky”! The Tree House has formed a scene with an air of fantasy. The inside of the Tree House is like a very complicated labyrinth, there are stairways for tourists to go up to the roof to overlook on the full view of the warehouse. Tait & Co. Merchant House Furthermore, the “Tait & Co. Merchant House” beside the warehouse was the warehouse of the old British trading company. It is now redecorated into a data library for tourists to check on the history of Tainan and Taiwan. coffee to enjoy and take a rest Inside the data library, there is an air-conditioned café for you to have a cup and take a rest!! Souvenir shop There are also a lot of souvenir and gifts. You can buy many lovely and modern accessories or household goods. Julius Mannich & CO. Address: No. 3, Lane 233, Anbei Rd., Anping Dist. Tainan City Phone:：06-228-1000 There is another old house near the Anping Old Fort and AnpingTree House “Julius Mannich & CO.” This house is built in 1870 and was the remains of a German trading company. Julius Mannich & CO.” Unfortunately, it was under renovation when I went to Anping Dist. on April, 2019. So regretfully I was not able to enter this historical building to have a look. But I heard that before the renovation, when this house is opened during holidays, you can sit down to enjoy beer and German cuisine while listening to live music! There is a bit of European atmosphere in Anping District, because there are some historic relics of Dutch, British and German. Tainan Anping Candied Fruits Products Hall Address: No. 65 Gousheng Rd., Anping Dist., Tainan City Opening hour: daily 12:00~18:00、holidays: 10:00~19:00 Entrance fee: free of charge It takes only 2 minutes to walk from Anping Old Fort to arrive “Tainan Anping Candied Fruits Products Hall” Tainan Anping Candied Fruits Products Hall This is the museum to introduce the famous produce of Anping’s “Candied Fruits.” They are not merely to demonstrate how to make candied fruits, but also sell various kinds of candied fruits! Tourists can buy some delicious candied fruit back home as present to your family or friends. tofu pudding Everybody know that there are so many famous tofu pudding shops in Anping! This traditional desert is very low in calories. They are good and suitable as a small sweet treat during the little trip. Black tofu pudding The tofu pudding shop I choose to eat has black tofu pudding available. And they added a lot of tapioca, it tastes wonderfully good. Start to eat! Suggest using Google Map to search for the tofu pudding shops and find one you think is good to go and taste this light and delicious sweet treat! Only need to use Google map to search, you can find so many tofu pudding shop! Shrimp roll Seafood in Anping is really famous because it is located very near to the sea. Within all the seafood, I’d like to recommend the “Shrimp Roll” of Anping. The shrimp roll is at lower right corner shrimp rollshrimp roll croquette Though the appearance of shrimp roll is not so attractive, but when you have the first bite, you would find that it filled with shrimps for a good chew and very scrumptious There are also many restaurants that serve shrimp roll, use your Google Map to search for one you like and enjoy! If you want to have a trip to Tainan, we recommend you can try a bit longer arrangement, such as a 3 day 2 nights little trip instead of just a one day tour! Though many people might choose to have a day of light trip to Tainan, but since you have left your crowdy and noisy city for once, why not enjoy much longer leisure hours in Tainan? There is direct flight from Kansai International Airport to Tainan, and there is also very detailed description of websites for tourists to obtain information, it is very convenient for getting the touring information or transportations. The reason why we recommend this “Trip deep into Tainan” is because ① Now there are direct flight between Osaka (Kansai International Airport) and Taiwan! And because of the direct flight from Tainan to Osaka (Kansai International Airport) (Though it does not concern with the tourists in the Kansai area), the tourists from Japan don’t have to go to Taipei or Kaohsiung to transfer to Tainan, they can enjoy Tainan fully with their trip. ＜Basic information of flight from Osaka-Tainan＞ Airliner: China Airline Depart from Kansai Airport: Depart: 12:00 arrive: 14:00／every Tuesday, Friday Depart from Tainan: Depart: 15:30 arrive:19:30／every Tuesday, Friday Air fare: About 16,000Yen one way～ Tainan airport: Direct distance to TRA Tainan Train Station is about 5.7km. Suggest to take City bus or taxi to go to downtown area，it’s all very convenient. Although, I am a citizen of Aichi Prefecture and does not have much of a chance to use these flights... I am really envy people in Kansai area! Reason for suggesting “Trip deep into Tainan” is that ② there are detailed and complete information in the websites. Apart from the attractions introduced in this chapter, there are many other charming places in Tainan for you to explore! Now I would like to introduce a website for searching Tainan’s suburban attractions and rarely known attractions. That is the “Travel Tainan”↓↓ This website is managed by the Tainan City Government. The website has been divided into different caption as “Historical remains”, “Eco-Educations”, “Sightseeing Factories”, “Religious Temples” and “Touring Night Markets”, you can click whatever of the above themes to find the attractions you want to visit.↓↓↓ You can click the categories to find the attractions you want to go There are full and detailed descriptions of each attractions. ↓↓↓ Besides, the comments of tourists and trip advisor can be found in the website so that you can refer to the comments of other netizens.↓↓↓ Not only the information for attractions, you can search for information of various restaurants, dining places, events etc. The best part is that there is Japanese version for this website, so I suggest everybody use it more often. Travel Tainan Reason for suggesting “Trip deep into Tainan” ③ Tainan Fun Card Tainan Fun Card Tainan City Government also presents “Tainan Fun Card” to let our tourists travel in Tainan more conveniently. Tourists to Tainan can buy various entrance tickets for all kinds of facilities, or enroll and attend local city tour program. The method of purchase is very simple. After paid on line using credit card, the electronic tickets will be sent to your mobile phone, and you simply have to show the electronic tickets to the staff at site to enter any attraction you choose. You can save time to line up for a ticket, how convenient it is! But it’s a shame that currently these electronic tickets can only be purchased in the Chinese version website. Tainan（Tainan Fun Card）

Where can we find attractions and good delicacies in Tainan? Happy guy Anping Old Fort which is fully loaded with Taiwanese history Address: 台南市安平區國勝路82號 No.82, Guocheng Rd. Anping Dist., Tainan City Admission fee:50 NTD Opening hour: A.M. 08:30 - P.M. 05:30 It is said that the Anping Old Fort was constructed by the Dutch in the middle of 17th century, it was named as “Fort Zeelandia” at the time. You can see a lot of historical footprints of the war fought for reclaiming Taiwan. The Fort was restored as historical monument and became the most epitomic attraction of Tainan. The Central stairway of Anping Old Fort Anping Old Fort once was the fortress of the Dutch, it took 10 years to complete the whole fortress. Although the fortress was the center of the Dutch colony during 1642~1661, however, after it is recovered by the Qing Dynasty, they kept using the Anping Old Fort as the center of managing the entire Taiwan. Anping Old Fort Monument There are always many people line up in front of the stone monument that is engraved with ’Anping Old Fort’ wording to take pictures. So, we know that the best spots to take shots are at the Central Stairway and in front of the monument! In front of the Anping Old Fort monument There are also canons used by the Qing Dynasty displayed around Anping Old Fort. Looking at the mottled old canons, we seemed to experience the ups and downs of past. The 17th century canon Anping Old Fort is very near to the coast line of Tainan, surround by flat and even ground. There is a feeling of soothing and relaxing after climbing up the central stairway to overlook the entire Tainan City. The panoramic view of Anping Old Fort After strolling around the whole fortress, it is not difficult to understand why the Dutch wanted to construct a fortress at this location. Even now, the Anping Old Fort is still the important landmark of Tainan The central office building of the Anping Old Fort There are historical showroom and souvenir shop in the office building, after seeing the ground level, you can climb up to the second level for a look and then go out from the back door. The stairway leads down to the back door. The observation platform The total dimension of the Anping Old Fort is not too large as I imagined, this is better. I can take my time to explore the traces of history hidden under every corner of the fortress. Looking up to the Anping Old Fort from the back door Just like every fairy tale; all has a tree house Anping Tree House Opening hour: 08:30am ~ 05:30pm Entrance fee: 50 TWD Address: No.108, Gubao St. An-ping Dist. Tainan city Website: Cultural Affairs Bureau Anping Tree House is one of the must go locations in Tainan. The Tree house is just as its name sake, it is a house covered almost entirely under the tree. It is said that the Anping Tree House was a salt warehouse. It is over-grown with lush trees inside and around the whole house. If you don’t look carefully, you might think that the house is constructed inside the tree intentionally. The entrance of the Anping Tree House On the way to the Anping Tree House, I have walked past memorial hall of the famous calligrapher Mr. Chu, Jiu-Ying, who lived in the end of 19th century, and also Tait & Co. Merchant House that were trading salt in the Japanese rein era. The ticket house at the front gate The house in the back of the ticket house is the memorial hall of the calligrapher Mr. Chu Jiu-Ying, and the white two-story villa is the Tait & Co. Merchant House. These two houses are opened as memorial halls for the public. I can see the traces of the locals who are making great effort to maintain the original appearances of the Anping Tree House. Whether it is the signs or the displayed objects they are not feeling too abrupt inside of the tree house at all. The inside of the Anping Tree House (1) After walking into the Anping Tree House, I found that everyone just kept pressing shutter without even uttering a word. Even myself was doing the same unstoppably. Those branches growing alongside the wall and the branches flowing down from the ceiling, every scene you see seemed that we are inside some kind of scene of a movie. The inside of the Anping Tree House (2) And you can see families or lovers who came to visit posing a thousand funny postures to take the picture in the tree house. The inside of the Anping Tree House (3) Roof top of the Anping Tree House Simply looking at these tree branches striving to grow and the mosses on the wall, do you know how long time and years flew by? The back wall of the Anping Tree House (1)The back wall of the Anping Tree House (1) It is said that since Anping Tree House is always under the shade, it is very cool during any season of the year. But because Tainan is in the south, hence the temperature will always be higher than Taipei due to the latitude. You can find the road map of the tree house everywhere, so it’s quite convenient to walk through the tree house with the help of the map. Sunshine spilling through the tree branch is incomparably comfortable. Simply walking in the tree house, it seems that the breath of the shade is tickling on your skin, is there any other forest walk more comfortable than in this Tree House? There is a steel observation platform behind the Tree House following the road map. From the opposite side of the observation platform, you can see the canal that was constructed during the prosperous trading period. But now the port and pier are all covered with flowers and grasses, therefore we cannot see the old facilities any more. The observation platform behind the back door of the Anping Tree House Look toward the Anping Tree House from the observation platform There is a small wooden house behind the court yard of Anping Tree House with a sign indicating that it is the “Tree House Café”. Tree House Cafe When I walked near the Cafe, I saw that everyone is eating ice cream. Really, almost everyone is holding an ice cream cone. They have two different flavors and it is 80 NTD each. The milk coffee ice cream of the Tree House Cafe Menu of the Tree House Cafe Aside from the ice cream, if you want to order some other drinks, you must order in the Café. They serve coffee, tea and all varieties of drinks. I noticed beer made from Taiwanese tea when I entered. They have various kinds of homemade beer and I requested them to recommend a bitter beer. The homemade beer of the Tree House Cafe However, I felt my face turned red immediately after just one sip, maybe because it is 9-degree alcohol concentration? (I will not post the picture of me drinking the beer.) Various kinds of beers of Tree House Cafe They have a section selling souvenir and you can walk in to have a look with your drink in hand The souvenir area of Tree House Cafe The first market of Tainan Anping Old Street Anping Old Street comes from the homophonic of Yanping Road. Anping Old Street is very near to Anping Old Fort and Anping Tree House, so I have arranged to visit these 3 places in a day. The entrance of Anping Old Street The pedestrian crossing to the entrance of Anping Old StreetStreet view of the Anping Old Street There are traditional houses of Taiwan in Anping Old Street, I extremely recommend that every tourist should walk into the alleys of the old street. The alleys around the Anping Old Street Anping Old Street is very interesting. I have seen a bubble tea shop and the shop keeper is cooking the tapioca. He was simply presenting the process of making bubble tea to strangers without trying to hide anything, may be because the shop keeper has a lot of confidence for his raw materials and tastes of the drinks he sells? After all, things taste most delicious freshly made, and no exception for the freshly made bubble tea. I have bought one and tasted, and the texture of the tapioca truly felt different from other places. The freshly cooked tapioca Look at these huge eggs! They are not chicken eggs and not Ostridge eggs either! The shop keeper said it is the goose eggs, and this is the first time I have ever seen a goose egg. It is about 4 or 5 times bigger than chicken eggs. Even Taiwanese passersby felt amazed and everyone said that these eggs are just too big. The shop keeper of goose eggs I was curious enough to buy one to taste, it’s not much different from chicken egg. Maybe the taste of egg yolk is not so rich as chicken egg? But it’s just too big that although both of us ate with great effort, finally we just could not eat the rest of 1/4 of the egg. If you love steamed egg and eat much harder than we did, maybe you are able to eat it all. The steamed goose eggs The pork jerky sold in Anping Old Street is very different from other places, starting from its thickness. After we tried some, we found that the pork jerky has a taste of handmade ham. Processed meat cannot even come close with its special flavor. And they are selling 7 different flavors of pork jerky, which includes: spicy, black pepper flavors etc. Just choose any flavor you like. pork jerky The fun part of strolling in the traditional market is that it is where you can taste their traditional delicacies that locals eat. Although some of the food looks like the food sold in the Korean traditional market, however, the taste and flavor is simply not the same. Peanut candy with herb May be the color looks like a chocolate? But there is not a bit of chocolate contained in the bread. This is a Taiwanese bread made from dark brown sugar, it tastes like the sticky rice bread. Dark brown sugar cake We heard the sizzling sound of frying food and traced with the sound while walking in the old street, and happily found the tempura and fried octopus! It is very cheap, only NTD$10 per piece and we can dip any sauce we like on the freshly fried octopus. Because it is so popular that people que up to buy the tempura, so the basket above the frying pan is always empty. If you happened to pass by without seeing anything on the basket, you might not even know what the shop is selling. Fried octopus The Mecca of Tainan delicacies Yongle Market Location: Kouhua Street Sec. 3, West Central Dist. Tainan City Opening hour: 24 hours (the shops opening hour in the market are all different from each other) There are various kinds of special delicacies in the Tainan Yongle Market. Whenever it is lunch time the market will be bustled with tourists and people who work nearby, so everyone will walk shoulder to shoulder in the market. There is also one fruit and vegetable market near Yongle Market and it is not far from the famous attraction Shengnong Street. Entrance of the Yongle MarketTV stations come for interviews constantly Tofu pudding is a kind of Taiwanese desert mixed with tender tofu, brown sugar water and other ingridients and I heard that it is very famous and popular in Tainan. Before I came to Tainan, I have heard that tofu made in Tainan is much tenderer than other places, and the ingredients added to the tofu pudding have so many varieties, my friends told me that I must try Tainan tofu pudding. Tofu pudding stand (the traditional ways)Tofu pudding shop (the modern shop) Although each tofu pudding shop is not exactly the same, but they all have soft tofu pudding with brown sugar water, plus any ingredient you like to add. Since I love to taste the original flavor of food, I simply ordered tofu pudding with brown sugar water without any other ingredient. Tofu pudding with herbal jelly and milk The tofu pudding in each shop is different from the other shop. Some of the shop will develop their own special menu, adding seasonal fruits or egg pudding to the tofu pudding. Prices of these puddings are around NT$60-120 dollars. Of course, if you add more ingredient(s), it will be much more expensive. Tofu pudding with herbal jelly Although it seemed very volumous, but because it is soft tender tofu, therefore it will not be very filling. One bowl of tofu pudding for one person is quite enough. And though the flavor will change whhen other ingredients are added, but it is mostly sweet. Tofu pudding with herbal jelly and egg pudding plus milk If you like smooth and tender texture, I would recommend tofu pudding with herbal jelly, or tofu pudding with herbal jelly and egg pudding plus milk. And if you like sweet fruity flavor, there are always tofu pudding filled with the natural fragrance of fruits to choose from. Tofu pudding with mango sauce The other representative delicacy of Tainan is the “beef soup.” The place to have beef soup is not only in Yongle Market, you can see shops or stands selling beef soup everywhere in Tainan. The beef soup food stand in Yongle Market I heard that locals in Tainan often have beef soup for breakfast. Some of the more popular shops even sold out their beef soup before lunch time and closed the shop earlier than the estimated closing hours. The way of dining in Tainan is somewhat different from other places in Taiwan. The beef soup The flavor is quite similar to the taste of beef soup sold in my neighborhood in Korea. I heard that if only you have fresh beef you can simply make the same beef soup. The method is to put fresh slices of beef in a bowl and pour boiling water to the bowl, and it is done. It’s almost the same as a hot pot, right? Although it is not necessarily all the same flavor in every beef soup shop, however, most shops will present you white rice to go with the beef soup. The price of small bowl of beef soup is around NT$110-130, and a big bowl of beef soup will be between NT$150-170. Completely kept the old era appearance of Qing Dynasty Shengnong Street Location: Shengnong Street, West Central Dist. Tainan city Opening hour: 24 hours Entrance fee: none The moment we entered Shengnong Street is like riding on the time machine and back to the other century. If the famous scene in northern Taiwan is Jiufen that appeared in the background of animation “Chi and Chihiro,” then of course the famous scene in the south of Taiwan is Shengnong Street, which still kept the atmosphere of two hundred years ago. The view of Shengnong Street (1) Did you ever see the EBS World Theme Travel that had a program named “Taiwan-once you step on the Formosa?” They have introduced Shengnong Street in its Part III program in Feb. 2018. It was filmed during day time, after seeing the video program I became very curious of how the scene of Shengnong Street will change at night time. View of Shengnong Street (2) Every small alley of Shengnong Street is jammed packed with people and everyone is focused on taking pictures. Street view (3)Street view (4) Here you can meet lots and lots of tourists from Korea, Hong Kong and Japan, besides Taiwanese tourist.Street view (5)Street view (6) There are no modern street light in Shengnong Street, and for the sake of keeping the appearances of two centuries ago, they have hung a lot of lanterns. Under the dim lights of lanterns Shengnong Street has appeared more romantic, adding a lot more old-fashioned charm. Take picture with the owner of antique shop in Shengnong street (he appeared and performed in EBS World Theme Travel “Taiwan-once you step on the Formosa” Part III) The shops in Shengnong Street are mostly selling souvenirs, household commodities and drinks. The street is not long, about 300 meters in length, and always bustling with people at every weekend. The handmade souvenir store (1)The souvenir store (2) There are different charms in Shengnong Street at different time, and because of the lanterns decorated in the surrounding, you can always take satisfactory picture from any angle. The souvenir store Before we left Shengnong Street, we have found a place to dine. Luckily, we found a restaurant with special taste at the end of the street. The restaurant serves tea, handmade beer, red wine and some light meals, and there is a stand in the entrance of the restaurant selling traditional clothing. The entrance of the restaurantHandmade beer and Indonesian curry rice I felt that black and white picture seemed more suitable for Shengnong Street. When I was waiting for service in a restaurant in Shengnong Street, I took this snap shot in black and white casually. In the restaurant At the day we were in Shengnong Street, people kept streaming in after 8pm. When we came out of the restaurant there were even more people in the alleys. These could be people taking a walk after dinner. The increasing stream of people (1) The increasing stream of people (2) Please note that shops in Shengnong Street are not willing to take credit card, therefore transactions are mostly done in cash. Also, while in Shengnong Street, if you are going to a traditional market, please prepare enough cash as well. Must go place for examinees The Tainan Confucius temple Location: No.2, Rd. Nanmen Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan city Opening hour: 8:30am~5:30pm Entrance fee: 25 TWD I have heard that there is a place that Taiwanese must go before the important examination, and this place is the Tainan Confucius temple! The entrance of the Tainan Confucius temple This temple is called “the Temple of Literature” before 1665，it can be described as the mecca of education, afterwards it is called as “Confucius temple” and became the temple for honoring the “god of study.”The main hall of the Confucius temple ‘The premier academy in Taiwan’ (Means that the examinees came to pray may pass and enter the best school in Taiwan) The Tainan Confucius temple is the first of the Confucius temple in Taiwan, so you can imagine its high literature hierarchy status in Taiwan. The day when I was there, I have seen a lot of high school students come to pray for passing their examination. And with a lot of people attending the entrance exam for collage and for national examination to be public servant that streaming on and off the temple, for those people who does not know this place, they might simply think that this is just another sightseeing attraction. The entrance of the main hall Worshiper who is writing on paper to pray for exam success There are mainly two kinds of people who come to Confucius temple, the examinees and people who do not have the stress of examination. Whatever their purpose to come to the Confucius temple, I wish everyone who came to pray can have best of luck for their examination! The inside of the Confucius templeIntroduction of exihibitions Information for purchasing tickets of Tainan attractions: http://bit.ly/2v2g8XK Information for purchasing tickets of Tainan historic sites: http://bit.ly/2v6YJNw Information of Tainan trip: http://bit.ly/2v4bxEv

Where is the first city in Taiwan？It is not Taipei, it’s Tainan！Tainan is located in the south central part of Taiwan，With 1.9 million population, It is the 4th big city after Taipei¸ Kaohsiung and Taichung .Tainan was the core of international trade in the past, now benefited with well-developed traditional handicraft, agriculture, salt pan Tainan has a lot rich men due to generation after generation of successive prosperity.Tainan city is established at nearly the end of Qing Dynasty.There are abundant traces of historical attractions, it is a city full of charm. Now I would like to introduce how to reach Tainan from Taipei and the methods of traveling to Tainan . 1.High Speed Railroad (HSR) It takes only 1 hour and 40 minutes from Taipei HSR station to arrive Tainan HSR station. And then from Tainan HSR station by bus transfer, that will take about 45 minutes to arrive Tainan Train Station at downtown area。Take note that the difference between Tainan and Taipei, the HSR station of Tainan and TRA Train Station are not in the same location. Of course, you can also take a train to go to Tainan, however, there will be quite a few stops along the road, hence it will take about 3 and half, or 4 hours to arrive at Tainan from Taipei. There are also other means of transportation to reach Tainan from Taipei，Otherwise, it is also possible to start from the HSR southern-most end station Kaohsiung Zouying HSR station to take a north bound train to Tainan 。It only takes about 30 minutes to arrive Tainan from Zouying HSR station.All the platforms in Taipei Train Station are underground.But prent note that the ticket gate of HSR and TRA Train are separated. Taipei Train Station south bound No.1 platformThe south bound HSR train departing from Taipei The space of HSR train is much wider and comfortable than KTX (Korea High Speed Rail) with the adjustable seat, it is very comfortable to ride on the HSR train.The interior of the Taiwan HSR train Regretfully that there is not much food sold in the HSR train as you might imagine, therefore we suggest that you’d better buy some food or drinks before boarding the train. The Tainan HSR station is on the ground level, if you walk up to the ticket gate on the 2nd level, you should be able to see the escalator that lead to the exit on the ground level. After ride the escalator down to ground level, you can see a convenience store right in front of you. And the Visitors Center is located at the left-hand side of MOS Burger, that provide many travel guide pamphlets in Korean. The ticket gate of Tainan HSR station From exit No. 2 of Tainan HSR station, you can see the free shuttle bus stop Exit no. 2 (Free shuttle bus stop) Tourists come to Tainan can take the free shuttle heading for Tainan City Hall. The interval of bus will be every 20-30 minutes, if the traffic is not too heavy, time to arrive downtown area of Tainan will be around 40-50 minutes. Hence, of course you have to remember to go to the toilet first before getting on the bus. Better to confirm the location of your hotel in Tainan to be able to get off the bus at the nearest stop. I have asked the staff in the Visitors Center and he responded very kindly and specifically to me. Free shuttle bus stop (about 40-50 minutes to downtown) Although the bus route map may look like not far away, however, after the bus passed Chi Mei Museum it will be running on the freeway. So, you can see that the distance to downtown area is not very near, but if you are in a hurry and have to take a taxi, prent bear in mind that the taxi fare will not be cheap.The route map to go to Tainan City Hall The interior of the free shuttle bus One other option to reach downtown area from Tainan HSR station is by TRA train It only cost 25NTD which is quite cheap. Though the interval of train arriving is not fixed, but the waiting time will be around every 20-30 minutes. A full view of TRA Shalun Station If you want to take the train, instead of coming from ticket gate Exit 2, prent follow the guiding instruction (the bluish green line on the floor）to go to the TRA Train Station -Shalun Station。 There is a long corridor connecting the TRA Train station with the HSR station It wouldn’t be inconvenient even if you are dragging a luggage.The guiding instruction on the floor (Tainan HSR station -TRA Salun station) It takes about 40 minutes by train to reach downtown Tainan Just reverse the above-mentioned traveling road map If you need to get to Tainan HSR station from downtown area. 2.Tainan public T-Bike rental system It is cheap and convenient And this is a very popular way of transportation by the locals and tourists alike I would recommend every visitor use T-Bike to see this serene and old retro city of Tainan. The whole area of Tainan is a flat and level aground, therefore it is extremely suitable to stroll around downtown area by bicycle to go anywhere you like. If you wish to rent the T-Bike, you have to register at the terminal of T-Bike stand with the Taiwanese transportation card (Easy Card or I-Pass), after completed the registration, the first 30 minutes will be free of charge. And if you want to return the T-Bike you simply return it at any T-Bike stand. The actual rental fare is 10 TWD every 30 minutes almost the same as bus ticket. T-Bike of Tainan There are a lot of tourists around, maybe because today is the weekend. In downtown Tainan, every time I saw a person riding the T-Bike like me, I couldn’t help myself but wave and say hello to them joyfully.The T-Bike stand outside of Tainan Train Station T-Bike There is no backseat to take another person, it’s only for one person. Because safety is the first thing we have in mind！One bike for one person (no backseat installed) Don’t hesitate, just ask any locals around you, how to rent a T-Bike！Persons who constantly use T-Bike are around age 20-39, therefore basic English communication should be no problem！ At first, I did not know how to rent the T-Bike too, so I asked someone nearby, and he came to the help and told me how to operate the terminal. I just handed out my transportation card and said ‘please ’，then he soon came to the rescue. It seems that the locals are all very kind to the tourists from other country or even from other places of Taiwan. 3.Tainan City Tour Bus Every major city in many countries has tour bus for tourists There are city tour buses in Seoul, Busan and Daegu, Korea. There is no exception for Tainan, if you take the Tainan city tour bus you can see all the major sightseeing attractions in the downtown area in a day, and not only the foreign tourists, but Taiwanese tourist will also use the tour bus for sightseeing too. The bus stop for the Tainan downtown city tour There are Western line（green）and Eastern Line（yellow）in the day time. And there is also a City night view line（purple）specially arranged for night owl tourist for night time tour in the downtown area. But if it is your first time to Tainan, I’d simply recommend to take the daytime western line bus. Tour bus scheduleBus fare The location to take the Tainan city tour bus (in front of Tainan Train station )Route map of city tour bus The bus and the bus stop for the city tour bus are all Green It’s easy to locate, right? If you wish to do the sightseeing once and for all of the attraction of this nostalgic city of Tainan I absolutely recommendthe city tour bus！ The appearance of the Tainan city tour bus Bus stop of the Tainan city tour bus

Tainan – roughly translating to “city of the south”, is Taiwan’s old capital, and boasts interesting historical buildings, restaurants with ancient recipes, and has both access to the sea and mountains, with everything in between. It is often overlooked by tourists who opt for visiting the larger and more popular cities – Taipei and Kaohsiung. But Tainan has an allure to it like no other city in the country. Here is our recommendations on what to see, eat and do while you’re in the culinary and cultural capital of the country. For more information on food, click this link. For more information on sightseeing, click this link. To save money in Tainan, click this link . *More information on links below 1.See More in Tainan- Rent a Scooter! Scooters are the transportation of choice for those in Tainan needing to get around the city. Compared to other cities in Taiwan, Tainan is generally easy and safe to drive a scooter in. The roads aren’t very congested and there are tons of traffic lights and signs to lead the way. You’ll need an International Drivers License in order to rent one and the typical price is about $400NTD/day (~ $13.00 USD) with a 125cc sized bike. We recommend having prior motorcycle driving experience. There are tons of rental shops surrounding Tainan Station, but here is the one we visited which had great quality scooters and service: 阿⾥巴巴機⾞出租-台南⼆店. English was limited but staff were very helpful! 2.Start your day with a Taiwanese Breakfast Tainan is home to hundreds of shops offering the unchanged flavors of Taiwanese breakfast. We visited a shop that is a rough 10 minute walk from Tainan Station, called 春⽜豆漿⼤王 (Spring Cow Soy Milk King). This mom and pop shop welcomes guests with warm smiles and provide a FULL English menu. You can select tons of different dumplings, egg rolls, porridge and buns stuffed with meats and vegetables of your choice! We recommend their fried pork dumplings and milk tea. The menu items are extremely affordable and of high quality. A delicious start to the day! 春⽜⾖漿⼤王 No. 176 Chenggong Rd., North District, Tainan City Tuesday – Sunday: 5:30am – 11:30am 3.Experience local life at a Tainanese Traditional Market Directly next to the breakfast shop is a traditional morning market (sometimes called a wet market). Come here to get a taste of how Tainan locals live everyday, gathering local, fresh ingredients and shopping for just about anything! The Yamuliao Market (鴨⺟寮市場) is full of everything you could imagine, but come here to try Tainan’s famous street foods. You will find stalls selling noodle bowls, a type of rice cake known as “mi gao” (米糕) and deep fried seafood, all al-fresco! Our favourite of all is the Taiwanese classic “bao-wan” which is a pork & shrimp meatball wrapped in glutinous rice ad covered in a thick sweet sauce. Top it with fresh grated garlic and chili sauce for the best flavour combination! Yamuliao Morning Market (鴨⺟寮市場) No. 148 Chenggong Rd., North District, Tainan City Open daily: 4am – 1pm (individual stalls subject to change) 4.Eat one of Tainan’s BEST – Braised Pork Rice As Tainan is known as the culinary center of Taiwan, it’s no surprise that one of Taiwan’s most beloved dishes – braised pork rice, is perfectly executed in Tainan. We were recommended by a food-loving friend to check out 阿和肉燥飯 and argued that they serve one of the best bowls of braised pork rice. We would have to agree! This shop focuses on larger chunks of pork fat only, which tastes quite different from pork meat. “Melt in your mouth” is an understatement! 5.Delve into Tainan’s History (while you shop!) The largest of Tainan’s ancient buildings is the Hayashi Department Store, earning its spot in the Top 15 Must-Visit Tainan Attractions. This building was established during the Japanese colonial era, but has since undergone some major changes within. You’ll find local products from Tainan and from other areas in Taiwan, showcasing Taiwanese culture and identity. You can still sense the past, however, by taking the elevator to reach the different floors. This elevator still uses a dial, which is an original feature of this historic building! Take a break from eating and driving to pick up some unique Taiwanese souvenirs and learn of Taiwan’s history! Hayashi Department Store No. 63, Section 2, Zhongyi Rd., East District, Tainan City Open daily: 10:30am – 9:30pm 6.Head over to Tainan’s Coast – Anping Anping District is like an entire city on its own! Anping’s claim to fame is Anping Old Fort, Anping Old Street as well as the beautiful banyan trees that burst out of the Former Tait & Co. Merchant House. Our favorite spot in Anping aside from the typical tourist attractions is the peaceful Qiaotouhaitan Park & Beach (also known as Anping Beach). From strolling along the gentle waves, to exploring the trails that surround the area or even sitting down on the sand to enjoy a book, this beach has it all. Come around sunset, as the sky turns orange and paints a masterpiece against the calm sea. You will NOT be disappointed. Qiaotouhaitan Park & Beach Yubin Rd., Anping District, Tainan City Open 24hrs 7.If beaches aren’t your thing, try Anping Canal Cruises Beaches aren’t for everyone, but Anping has more to offer if you want to experience something relaxing and unique during your trip to Tainan. The canal that runs through Anping District connects the port to the center of the city, which was important to Tainan’s growth and success when it was established in the 19th century, and is still important today! Take the peaceful cruise while in Tainan for 50 minutes of picturesque views and relaxation, suitable for all ages and families. Enjoy even more peace of mind, you can purchase your electronic cruise ticket online before arriving! Learn more information about Anping Canal Cruises by clicking this link. ⽴驛國際安平遊港遊運河 Anping Fisherman’s Wharf on Anyi Rd., Anping District, Tainan City Visit website for details on hours of operation 8.Catch a religious procession at the nearby temples! Taiwan is home to many religions and nearly 10,000 (Taoist) temples! That means that all year long, you can catch some type of religious ritual performance, whether it’s small or big. We happened to catch a local Mazu procession at the Tainan Grand Mazu Temple, which is very important to not only locals of Tainan, but to many Taiwanese. It was incredible to watch the celebrations! Whether there is an event happening at the Tainan Grand Mazu Temple or not, it is worth paying a visit for its vibrant colors and peaceful location. Everyone is welcome, of course! For more information on Tainan Grand Mazu Temple, click here. For more information on religion and events in Taiwan, click here. 9.End your day trip with Taiwanese contemporary art! “Greetings from the whale” is what this new attraction is named. The whale sits right along the coastline and at night, lights up, creating the perfect backdrop for a photo! You’ll find families, couples, friends and even solo travellers coming to catch a glimpse of the whale. What you may not know is that the piece was designed by Taiwanese artist, Yang Shih-Yi. End your day of eating, exploring and living the Tainan lifestyle with a visit to the “big fish”. You can learn more about the art piece and attraction by clicking here. Greetings from the Whale (Anping Harborside Park) No. 404, Anyi Rd., Anping District, Tainan City Open 24hrs Tainan is a place where the food, history and culture come together to set the city apart from all the other cities in Taiwan. We believe it should never be overlooked when exploring Taiwan. We hope this itinerary helps you enjoy Tainan to its fullest! Happy eating. Watch my vlog for more travel information and great food in Tainan happy exploring!

YBB recommendation 1. Talking about famous delicacies of Tainan, everyone will mention fresh beef soup! This time I have finally tasted a bowl of heartwarming beef soup, I can only say that it is so yummy. It’s very clear and tasty, not greasy at all! The beef itself is so tender and bouncing on my tongue! If you ever have a chance to come to Tainan, you really must come to try once!   YBB recommendation 2 I love mango ice so much! Yujing, Tainan produce lots and lots of mango, it’s so sweet and delicious!  It’s natural sweetness not chemical sweetness!  If you ever have a chance to come to Tainan you must really try it!  Especially in summer, it’s just too hot, eating mango ice is a must! 😋😋 YBB recommendation 3 Now I’d like to share chicken soup with Chinese medicine in Hutou Mountain, Tainan. We can enjoy the nature while eating delicious chicken soup. And I have only one word to say, that is, “COOL!”  While eating and listening to the Taiwanese folksongs and also bathing under the sun, it should be very nice if we came at night. Want to know more about references of attractions in Tainan, please browse here>>> https://www.twtainan.net/en/attractions    YBB recommendation 4. How can a tourist find attractions and the best traffic routes in Tainan?  I would recommend this 【Tainan Fun Card】, Malaysian tourist only have to present their passport and flight number in the Visitors Centre in the Tainan Train Station that is running by the Tourism Bureau. It’s a real good bargain! For more details, please refer to the following website: https://tainan.funcard.com.tw/    YBB recommendation 5. The most wonderful and fun activity in Tainan is having the chance to take the legendary mud hot spring bath, and I enjoyed the hot spring so much.  Besides being able to dip into the hot spring bath wearing bathing suits with my boyfriend, I actually felt that my skin improved after bathing. A lot of my dear friends asked me where did I went to for the mud hot spring?  I went to the Toongmao Resorts and Hotel, which they provided many kinds of hot spring. There are cold spring bath, bath with essence oil etc. They have about 5 or 6 different kinds of spring bath up and down in the area to try.  And the point is that, the price is very reasonable. It is my first time ever having such wonderful experience!  Of course, there are a lot of other spots with very good hot spring in Guanziling, you can always check the websites for details.   YBB recommendation 6. This is one of my favorite shots he took for me.   After strolling the Anping old street, I suggest that everyone can come to the tree house nearby to take a picture or just see the view and have a very special kind of ice cream on the way.  The wall of the tree house is covered with many aerial roots of India Laurel Fig and the tree is really striving, it’s so cool to enjoy the excellent natural environment.  There are still quite a few places in the Anping District that is worth going for a walk. My good friends, you can refer to the website at the bottom of this page about trips in Tainan.   YBB recommendation 7. I love the scenery of Tainan, and I have a kind of indescribable longing for suspension bridges. Do you share the same feeling with me? The Yaoyeh Suspension Bridge is the only one in Caoshan area, it is a very special place with fresh and quality air, and there are lots of small fishes swimming in the creek below the bridge. It is kind of very subtle feeling and this is a nice place to take a good picture.   YBB recommendation 8. I will reveal a big secret of the latest spot for taking nice pictures in Tainan! This big fish is super artistic and with a very heartwarming name, called “Blessing from the whale.”  Tourists can climb up to view the beautiful Anping canal, besides enjoy the good view and taking pictures, it’s a nice place to take a walk, or flying a kite. A really excellent place to spend some leisure hours. YBB recommendation 9. Guess where is this place?  I’ll bet you can’t get the right answer. This is the Tainan immigration office! I have to say that this is a very beautiful place to take a beautiful picture!  It is already becoming the favorite IG check-in spot ^^   I have seen many beautiful young ladies dressed in British style to take picture in here, because this building is just magnificent! YBB recommendation 10. I am so in love with the natural environment of Tainan. Besides the good weather, you can easily find a good spot of nature anywhere you go, you can always take a picture that shows a very aesthetics feeling.  This location is the Kapok Tree Road, in which you can see beautiful flower of the kapok trees and can find some of the cotton on the ground. It is truly a very spectacular place.