A trip to Tainan (Taiwan)
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| Shangri-La |
For Yellow Sugar’s
birthday, we were lucky enough to be put up in the Shangri-La hotel in
Tainan. I always feel like part of the
proletariat and out of place in these places; but who am I to complain about
being put up in a fancy hotel. I’d
wanted to go to Tainan for a long time.
From what I had heard, I was expecting a city similar to Kyoto in
Japan. Kyoto is famous for its many
temples and is the former capital city of Japan. In fact, Kyoto was removed as an atomic bomb
target in order to preserve its architectural treasures. Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan, is also
the former capital of its country and is known for its many temples. Tainan has 166 temples, it is said ‘these is
a God every five steps and a temple at three’.
Kyoto is one of the favourite places I have visited, so you can imagine
the eagerness I was feeling to experience Tainan.
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| Chi-Kan Tower Turtles |
We travelled down to
Tainan via the HSR; this is the most convenient mode of transport from
Taipei. You have to transfer to a slow
train at Shalun station, but this is a simple and cheap task. Conveniently for us the Shangri-La is located
right behind the station, so it was the shortest of walks to get to our
destination. We arrived too early to
officially check in, so we picked up a map of the sights and temples from the
concierge and headed out for a wander. I
always think if you are going to discover a city it is best to do on foot,
otherwise you are likely to be moving too fast and miss it. We headed first to the Chi-Kan tower. Originally known as Fort Provintia, it was
built by the Dutch during their colonisation of Taiwan. Eventually, it was surrendered over the
Koxinga (who is a big deal in Tainan) when he defeated the Dutch and used as
his centre of government. It was later
destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt.
Despite this the insides of the towers have a great deal of original
artwork and beams. The gardens outside
surrounding the towers are particularly peaceful and have ponds full of carp;
one of these pounds is lined by stone statues of turtles with tablets on their
backs. I’m still not sure what they
mean, but they look pretty interesting.
With the original features and peaceful gardens, this place has a great
feel to it and is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.
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| Chi-Kan Tower |
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| God of War's Blade of Justice |
After a spot of lunch at a local dou hua place
we continued our temple run, heading to Ji Dian Wu Miao (The God of War
Temple). This is one of my favourite temples
in Taiwan. In a small entrance there is
huge Dynasty Warrior style sword and from there the temple has a magnificent
labyrinth of rooms, it continually turns round corners taking you to areas the
humble beginnings would not let believe the temple could possess. The further into the temple you wander the
further into another time and culture you find yourself; by the time you have
reached the end, you feel as if you could be back in the 17th
century when the temple was made. The
fact it was made in the 17th century, during the Ming Dynasty, makes
it one of the oldest surviving temples in Taiwan (along with the Confucius
Temple, which we visited later). The God
of War temple is back to back with the Grand Matsu Temple (Great Queen of
Heaven Temple). It connected by an old
street, which adds to the wonder and feel of no longer being 21st
century. This temple lacks the age and
mystique of the GOW Temple, but it is still a splendid temple with many areas
of court yards to explore and it is one of the grandest temples in the
land. Across the way from the entrance are
two turtle statues; one of a regular turtle and one of, what I can best
describe as, a dragon-turtle. This
dragon-turtle looks like one of every boy’s favourite villains, Bowser. Since seeing this statue I have been become
convinced this is the inspiration behind one of our most beloved bad-guys. Taiwan has a strong Japanese influence and
who can forget Mario, and thus Bowser, are from the Japanese Nintendo. All this temple hunting had worked up a
thirst, so we headed for one of Tainan’s signature drinks, Dong Gua (Winter
Melon) Tea. It tastes very much like
barley tea, it was extremely refreshing and just what we needed to pick us
up. At this point, we thought it would
be good time to head back to the hotel and check in. On the way back we wandered past many more sites,
but nothing that jumped off the street and dragged us in. Apart from one, a Catholic Church (helping
prove the God is every five steps theory) and as it was advent there was a
delightful nativity scene surrounding their carp pond (a nice Taiwanese touch
to Christianity).
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| Grand Matsu Temple |
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| Bowser? |
We arrived back at the
hotel to check in and relax before tea, and then it happened. I found out I had no swimming trunks! I had been waiting for months to try out the
pool and hot tub in this 5-star hotel and I had forgotten my swimming
trunks! Fortunately, this gave us
further opportunity to wander around and discover things. After relaxing in the room, we decided to go
to Hua Yuan night market. It was about
25-30 min walk from the train station, so not too far and very walkable. Hua Yuan night market, is maybe the most
crowded night market I have visited in Taiwan, there is not even the slightest bit
of personal space; it was akin to being at a moving Rolling Stones gig (with no
Rolling Stone music, obviously). We
decided to have a variety of small things for dinner. We had blow-torched steak, a Japanese rice
ball, and some ji-pai (chicken steak) with tempura and rice sausage. We washed this down with some Indian milk
tea. All in all, the food was very sweet
and the drink not sweet enough. If you
make it to Tainan, be prepared for sweet tasting savoury snacks. After the meal, which we ate in the car park,
as it was near impossible to move hand to mouth in the night market, we went
around the shops. Hua Yuan night market
has wide variety of shops; it literally has everything. They sell some really nice things, especially
clothing. It is quite hard to stop and
have a look as you are being carried in a wave of people, but it has a lot of
nice and funky things. Unfortunately, as
it was winter, swimming trunks were not one of these. Although, on the way back to the hotel we ran
into a huge decathlon store, It was not particularly in keeping with Tainan,
but I was able to purchase NT$100 trunks to use in the 5-star pool and hot tub. By the time we home, it was nearly 11pm and
the pool was about the close, and it was nearly time to call it a night.
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| Hayashi |
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| South Gate |
In the morning after
quick bite of breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for a wandering tour of
Tainan. We first headed to Hayashi; an
old Japanese department store that opened in the 1930’s. It was one of the first buildings in Taiwan
to have elevators, which is one of the big attractions of the building. The inside of the store is pleasant and has
all the things you’d expect of a Taiwanese department store, but the real
attraction, in my eyes, is the roof. It has
a very nice and picturesque roof garden which manages to capture a real
Japanese feel. It also has some good
views of Tainan. Rather than use the
incredibly busy elevator we decided to walk down the funky steps at the back,
which I thought was a much nicer experience.
From the department store went to the South Gate (大南門). It was closed, but you could see the fortress
from outside, which was classic East Asian architecture. After a quick photo stop and rest under the
shade of a large banyan tree, we headed to a temple I was particularly excited
to visit; the three concubines temple.
It was such a contradiction in terms of western thinking, concubines and
religion, it had to be good. It was
surprisingly (to me) a small humble temple in the middle of park. It had the three concubines painted across
the doors, leading into three small rooms.
After this temple we moved onto a larger place with a bit more pizzazz,
Koxinga Shrine. Koxinga shrine has a
large courtyard, you can almost imagine being in 1600’s. It also has many side rooms you can wander
into, including one with an old style working, which is great fun to play
with. It is surrounded by a large garden
with some interesting artefacts and a nice pond with giant dragon
fountain.
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| Yellow Sugar at the Concubine Temple |
At this point of the
afternoon we were well and truly tired of walking in the burning Tainan sun, so
we decided to get a bus to Anping.
However, the bus driver had other ideas.
We followed some people to the bus who changed their minds at the last
moment, then instantly the bus driver steamed off into the distance off without
a glance back to see the people (namely us) running and waving in his mirrors. This meant a quick jaunt across Tainan to try
and get the bus at a different stop, or risk waiting nearly an hour waiting in
the heat. As luck would have it, we made
it with time to spare and graciously the same bus driver allowed us onto his
bus.
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| Koxinga Shrine |
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| Anping Fort |
The bus arrives right
by Anping Old Street, a classic Taiwanese old street. It has so many sights, sounds, and smells,
which you don’t experience in modern night markets. It was busy, but not overly crowded, so we
had a nice stroll through the street. At
the end of the street you can either go left to Tian Hou Temple or right to
Anping Fort. We picked up some Bai Tang
Guo (白糖粿) for a snack and ate it at the fort.
Anping fort, otherwise known as Fort Zeelandia, has old relics from the
original fort and still has the three layer construction built to elevate the
old fort, but the old fort is no longer there; this is because it was burned
down by the British. This allowed for
the building of the modern new tower in 2008.
The three layer construction with the tower on top is good fun to wander
around and made me want to play kind of the castle like a little child. You get some great sea and city views from
the new tower. The modern tower is white,
with clean straight lines, and it contrasts and complements the old- style
architecture nicely. With day getting
old we headed to the highly recommended Anping Tree House. This is an old trading warehouse which had
been abandoned for many years. Over
these years banyan trees reclaimed this warehouse for nature. It was good to see nature winning the battle
with a man-made structure, especially one which is not much more than 100 years
(rather than approaching 1000 years old).
You can walk through the building right up to trees and see it all or
you can walk around on metal walk ways and see it from above. It may be slightly over sold at times, but it
was definitely a must see, as it is not something you come across too often in
your life. I may be a little harsh in my
assessment of the tree house, as upon our arrival my camera battery ran out of
charge, so I was both tired and grumpy.
By the time we were leaving it was getting dark, so we went for some
Anping Bean Jelly (安平豆花). This
is red bean jelly in sweet soup/water served either hot or with ice. I cannot imagine wanting anything warm in
Tainan’s heat so we went for the iced version.
It was just what we needed to cool us down and refresh us for the
journey home. So we got on the next bus and
headed home and for a bite to eat.
The time had finally
arrived for me to use pool and hot tub.
I was nearly has excited about this as I was visiting Tainan. Pool rules stated that you had wear a
swimming cap in the pool and is we didn’t wanted to do real swimming we decided
to give it a miss, which has disappointing, but we were too tired for real swimming. So, we decided just to go and relax in the
hot tub and go for a steam and sauna.
Unfortunately, I had not considered Shangri-la is an Asian hotel. This means men and women hot tub separately,
so I was all alone, this was compounded by the fact that bathing suits are not
allowed in the hot tub, sauna, or steam room.
I had waited too long for this, so I swallowed my sense of British
uncomfortableness, stripped down and jumped (figuratively speaking) into that
hot tub; all the while lamenting the fact I needed no swim suit after going
through so much to find one! After a
nice relax in the hot tub and a quick sauna (and deciding the Asian males were
far too comfortable in their birthday suits) it was time for bed.
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| Confucius Temple |
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| Lion/Dragon (above) and Water Dragon (below) |
The final day had
arrived, and arrived too quickly, so it was time to fit in as many things as
possible. After all, we had not yet
visited the Confucius temple, maybe the most famous temple in Tainan, possibly
even in Taiwan. So this was where we
went first. The Confucius temple in the
Tainan is one the very few temples in which you need to pay for admittance, but
it is a small amount and nothing to worry about. The Confucius temple is understated; it is
all made of fading terracotta and very modest and unassuming. It is has some great stone dragon heads
coming from the walls and some classic lion-dragon statues (qilin; 麒麟). It feels like a place more devoted to study
and worship than being too ornate or extravagant. As you leave there is place to write your
wishes to Confucius; as he is remembered as teacher, people generally wish for
educational excellence, or the best they can do. I figured Confucius was humanistic and a nice
kind of guy, so I wished for happy travels instead, hoping he would grant my
wish despite being out of the norm. From
here we had a wander around the streets of Tainan, had a Guan Cai Ban for lunch
(incredibly greasy Taiwanese sandwich traditionally with soup in the middle)
and then had some ice-cream from Quan Wei Jia.
A highly recommend Japanese style store and it tasted delicious. They only offer two flavours a day, so you
don’t know what you’re going to get, but you know it will be freshly made. That day we had chestnut, but I’ve heard them
serving tiramisu, oolong tea, assam tea, green tea, mango, or even simple
chocolate. Then we went check out the
National Cheng Kung University next to the hotel before collecting our bags and
making the short walk to the train station.
After a walking filled three days, it was definitely nice to sit down
and finally relax.
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| Quan-Wei Jia Ice-Cream |
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| Wish to Confucius |
Tainan is a place you
should definitely visit in Taiwan. It’s
quite small so it seems like you can walk everywhere, apart from Anping because
that is out of the city, but I would recommend getting scooter or some transport. There is so much to do and so many great
places to see, that even though it is a small city, it is still a lot of
walking. I would mention that drivers
and scooters in Tainan appear to have a death wish, so if you have scooter or
car, be watchful. Also despite many
people loving the food, it was too sweet for me and did not match the hype.
Tainan is place with
many, many historical and cultural sites to visit, so I will recommend with a rating
8 Cups of Tea with 5 Sugars (8.5).
Hot Tea
P.S. Sorry this took so
long to write, I started Chinese classes again and time and energy has been
limited.
The final day had
arrived, and arrived too quickly, so it was time to fit in as many things as
possible. After all, we had not yet
visited the Confucius temple, maybe the most famous temple in Tainan, possibly
even in Taiwan. So this was where we
went first. The Confucius temple in the
Tainan is one the very few temples in which you need to pay for admittance, but
it is a small amount and nothing to worry about. The Confucius temple is understated; it is
all made of fading terracotta and very modest and unassuming. It is has some great stone dragon heads
coming from the walls and some classic lion-dragon statues (qilin; 麒麟). It feels like a place more devoted to study
and worship than being too ornate or extravagant. As you leave there is place to write your
wishes to Confucius; as he is remembered as teacher, people generally wish for
educational excellence, or the best they can do. I figured Confucius was humanistic and a nice
kind of guy, so I wished for happy travels instead, hoping he would grant my
wish despite being out of the norm. From
here we had a wander around the streets of Tainan, had a Guan Cai Ban for lunch
(incredibly greasy Taiwanese sandwich traditionally with soup in the middle)
and then had some ice-cream from Quan Wei Jia.
A highly recommend Japanese style store and it tasted delicious. They only offer two flavours a day, so you
don’t know what you’re going to get, but you know it will be freshly made. That day we had chestnut, but I’ve heard them
serving tiramisu, oolong tea, assam tea, green tea, mango, or even simple
chocolate. Then we went check out the
National Cheng Kung University next to the hotel before collecting our bags and
making the short walk to the train station.
After a walking filled three days, it was definitely nice to sit down
and finally relax.
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