Day 6: Tainan

Time: 9:36pm

Location: Yongkang, Tainan

Weather: cloudy 17C

Tainan, being the oldest city in Taiwan and the imperial capital, is famous for historical monuments (which mostly meant temples) and amazing food (also dubbed the food capital), and today I got to fully experience both aspects. I spent the morning in the old city, visiting a multitude of temples and old buildings, many of them being the first of its kind in Taiwan, as well as browsing along the well preserved Shennong Street and bustling Shuixian Market. For example, the Tainan Confucian Temple houses the first learning institute, and the Grand Matsu Temple was the first to dedicate to Matsu, Goddess of the Sea. The Hayashi Department Store, which still retained its historical decor with a modern touch, was the first department store and also had the first elevator in south Taiwan. It was built during the Japanese colonial period and even had a Shinto Shrine on the roof.  

Tainan is old enough that there are buildings that go back to when the Dutch colonized Taiwan, the most famous being Chikan Lou, built as Fort Provintia but destroyed by an earthquake in the 19th century and then rebuilt in an oriental style, and Anping Old Fort, located by the port and used to be the centre of trade in the 17th century. 

A very important figure in Tainan (and Taiwan) is Zheng Chenggong, the anglicized name being Koxinga, a Chinese military leader who defeated the Dutch and thereafter released their control of Taiwan. There are many temples dedicated to him, a big one being the Ancestral Shrine of Koxinga, given his hero status. 

In the afternoon, I rode over to Anping, which can be said to be the oldest part of Tainan and had the oldest street in Taiwan. Interestingly, the ocean used to be much closer, but over time sand was deposited by the shore and people consequently reclaimed much of the land from the sea. I also did a loop along the dikes of Anping and through Taijiang National Park, which was mainly wetland, hoping to catch the sunset but unfortunately it was too cloudy. Anping Old Street was filled with mainly food vendors and I had a coffin cake there, a fried toast filled with chowder, a cool fusion of Western and Eastern cuisine and something I haven't seen anywhere else in Taiwan.

Speaking of food, I had a long list of recommendations from Sun and started the day like a true Tainanese with some hearty beef soup and rice. Apparently the beef is freshly slaughtered this morning and each shop only gets a small chunk which quickly sells out.

 Throughout the day, I tried everything from this rice cake with meat and shrimp, a puffed up biscuit filled with brown sugar to eel noodles. Suffice to say, never a hungry moment in Tainan and I can't wait to come back in a few weeks!