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| (Photo from Tainan Travel) |
Discover Tainan, an ancient cultural capital that never fades.
"Tainan is the very place where people could realize dreams, strive for success, fall in love and marry to significant others, and then lead a comfortable and pleasant life."
Elderly Scholar of Taiwanese Literature, Shi-Tao Ye.
Tainan, as the first built up city in Taiwan which also the birthplace of “Taiwan”.
When entering to the city, it is like walking into a living history. As the first city to develop in Taiwan, it is also the source of the development of people’s livelihood.
You can walk into the first school of Taiwan, marvel at the development of Taiwan’s education; step into the major Temples, explore the inheritance of ancient and modern beliefs; roam the ancient canals and whiteness the change of civilization stories. In Tainan, if you turn around at will, you will meet the old temples and monuments, and century-old city anecdotes.
The rich, affordable and delicious Tainan food is one of the most impressive features. They have been listed as recommended by the world-renowned travel guide, Michelin Green Guide. Whether it is fresh and sweet beef soup, sprinkled with fish and rice, or rice bowl filled with rice, these local special foods and ancient snacks are the root of Taiwanese food culture and bear the historical memory of Tainan for more than 300 years.
Attractions - Ancient Buildings
- Chihkan Tower (赤嵌樓)
Chihkan Tower is the oldest building in Tainan, originally built by Dutch in 1652, named Fort Provintia, the building was the administrative center of Tainan, and has been repaired and refurbished over the past 300 years to be the current appearance.
Inside the Tower are Haisheng Temple, Wengchang Pavilion and Penghu College, and on the lawn outside stands a statue of Koxinga who accepted the surrender of the Dutch. The statue is often inspected by both all tourists as they take in his heroic appearance. The most impressive things are the 9 imperial plinths at the south gate carried by the turtle-shaped stone Bixi (贔屭). The Bixi is one of the nine sons of the Dragon King, and fond of carrying heavy objects, have added a great deal to the folklore legends of Chihkan Tower, which are still told today.
- Anping Old Fort(安平古堡)
Anping Old Fort is a building that combined Dutch military and commercial force, built as Fort Zeelandia in 1624 and its defensive stronghold. In 1662, ＤDutch surrendered to Koxinga who took back the fort, and changed the name to Anping. The inner fort became the seat of government for Taiwan, and so it was known by Taiwanese as King's Fort. During the Qing Dynasty, the fort gradually became unimportant because of excessive silting of the Taijiang shore, and it was abandoned after being destroyed by Qing soldiers. The fort was repaired after the Japanese Colonial Period, and renamed Anping Old Fort (安平古堡) after World War II. Today the only remnant of the Dutch period is the southern brick wall outside the front gate of the Old Fort, covered in the tangled roots of old banyan trees, evidence of the nearly 400 years of Taijiang's history.
- Eternal Golden Fort (億載金城)
Eternal Golden Fort (億載金城), also called Erkunshen Fortress (二鯤鯓砲台), and is a red four-walled castle surrounded by bastions and moat on all four sides. In ancient times, the strip of turf in the center would have been used for military drills by soldiers, and when looking at the site on the map it becomes clear that it is of a particularly evenly proportioned rhombus design. Through the vicissitudes of history, the Eternal Golden Fort lost its relevance as a military stronghold, and has now become a popular tourist destination. During holidays and weekends, staff dressed as Qing soldiers re-enact gunnery drills on the fort, and this evocation of times past leaves visitors thrilled and excited. In March and April, the perimeter of the site becomes even more beautiful as the yellow flowers of Golden Trumpet trees bloom.
- Premier Academy of Taiwan (全台首學 孔廟）
The“Premier Academy of Taiwan” (全台首學) has more than three hundred years of history as a Confucian temple, and it would be safe to say that this place is the heart of Tainan as an ancient capital of culture.
Every year on September 28th by 5am, before the break of dawn, the main hall will long have become full of people attending the ceremony to commemorate the birthday of the Great Sage Confucius, the temple’s grandest event of the year. When visiting the Confucian Temple, do not forget to ask the great teacher himself for some words of wisdom! Every year once the ceremony is complete, throngs of people will head to the main hall to pull a “wisdom hair” from a cow; and it is said that this hair helps to bring wisdom during the following year. Following the event, the Confucius Temple Management Committee will provide 500 strands of hair for sale by peddlers; if you miss out even on this chance to get a strand, you have to wait until next year to queue up and have another go!
The“Premier Academy of Taiwan” (全台首學) has more than three hundred years of history as a Confucian temple, and it would be safe to say that this place is the heart of Tainan as an ancient capital of culture.
Every year on September 28th by 5am, before the break of dawn, the main hall will long have become full of people attending the ceremony to commemorate the birthday of the Great Sage Confucius, the temple’s grandest event of the year. When visiting the Confucian Temple, do not forget to ask the great teacher himself for some words of wisdom! Every year once the ceremony is complete, throngs of people will head to the main hall to pull a “wisdom hair” from a cow; and it is said that this hair helps to bring wisdom during the following year. Following the event, the Confucius Temple Management Committee will provide 500 strands of hair for sale by peddlers; if you miss out even on this chance to get a strand, you have to wait until next year to queue up and have another go!
- Anping Tree House (安平樹屋）
Anping Tree House(安平樹屋) is located behind the Tait& Co. Merchant House(德記洋行), and was originally a Tait& Co. Warehouse. Built around the end of the 19th Century at the beginning of the Japanese Colonial Period, this place was also once a warehouse of the Japan Salt Corporation, and the current scale the building is the product of extension by the Japanese. After over a hundred years of transformation, the warehouse wall is covered in banyan roots, and the dense, towering treetops seem to have become the roof of the warehouse. This unusual appearance gives Anping Tree House a sense of mystery, and the distinctive form of the tree house is a marvel of symbiosis, similar to the large trees of Angkor Wat coiled around the Ta Prohm Temple. The gaps between the tree trunks make a perfect walkway for people to walk through, and one can also travel among the treetops. The tree house is also a good habitat for wildlife, and lots of squirrels and birds frolic. When tired of walking, tourists can visit the Tree House coffee shop, cool down with an ice cream and then continue to explore the elegance of Anping.
- Hayashi Department Store (林百貨)
On June 30th 2013, the Hayashi Department Store, the largest of Tainan's old building's, was opened for tours after refurbishment. Crowds lined up from 7 am until the afternoon to enter the "five story building" built in 1932 during the Japanese Colonial Time. It was a very busy part of Tainan, but after the end of the Japanese Colonial Period, the owner returned to Japan, and the Hayashi Department Store was left empty, leaving people to eventually forget about its former glory. In 2014, its status as a department store was restored, with a great many limited edition Hayashi goods on sale inside. In addition, there are some important points that must not be missed: The elevator's floor indicator is the old style dial type, now probably the only remaining one in Taiwan, which preserves the authentic feel of the place. The Torii shrine on the top floor is also one of a kind, be sure to go upstairs and have a look. A hole in a wall from the bombing by US Forces during World War II is a link to the building's past.
- Ten Drum Culture Vilage (十鼓仁糖文創園區)
Ten Drum Culture Village occupies approximately 5 hectares, and contains 16 old warehouses built during the Japanese Colonial Period. In 2005 it was repurposed by the Ten Drum Band, as an idea to revitalize the unused space. Through careful planning, new life has been given to the century-old sugar factory that had been left unused. Its miraculous rebirth incorporates the Ten Drum Band's innovative Taiwanese drumming music to give you Asia’s first drumming themed international art village.
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