Tainan is famous for having couple hundred temples, similar to Kyoto, scattered nearly on every other street, some big and mostly small, serving different purposes. Here are just a few famous ones in Tainan centre.
大天后宮 - for worshiping sea goddess, to keep fishermen safe
關聖帝武廟 - for safety
Chihkan Tower 赤嵌樓
Orignally
a strong tower built in the 17C after being conquered by Dutch navy. Since
then, earthquakes, battles, changing hands and lack of maintenance have
left only the base behind. The top Chinese style buildings is
rebuilt in recent 100 year to keep the history of the changes of control
in the area.
孔廟 - for good school results
臨水夫人媽廟 - for praying for pregnancy and many children
North of Tainan centre is An Ping area, it is on this coast that Dutch Navy first landed in Taiwan.
億載金城
Built by the Dutch as a defensive fortress with a moat around. The only part left was the thick square walls that defined the area. It is possible walk around the top of the wall to enjoy elevated views.
漁光島
Not really an island, but a water channel was dug so that only a small part is attached to the mainland. Easy to see a lot of rafts for oyster growing, fine sandy beach with surfers having fun.
An Ping Tree House
An old warehouse belong to Tait
& Co Merchant Hose, built around 100 years ago in the heyday of salt
and other commodity trading. When business ceased, the warehouse was
left to decay and eventually engulfed by ficus trees’s trunks and roots.
A magnificent wild scene similar to Angkor Wat.
A lot of
thought has gone into turning this into a historical site, by adding
support structures, stairs and viewing platforms so that visitors can
appreciate the power of nature. Also learn a about the trading
history of this area.
An Ping Fortress
Not much left on
this site, only brick walls here and there. On Saturday and Sunday,
there are free guided tours to visit this site. We managed to join one
and learned a lot from the gentleman who explain very clearly the
history of Tainan and this fortress.
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