Kaiji Lingyou Temple
Kaiji Lingyou Temple (Kāijī Língyòu Gōng 開基靈祐宮) Although this temple is right down an alley from Chikan Lou, it is seldom visited by tourists. The caretaker jumped out of his seat to give me a tour of the place when he saw that I was photographing it. For a small and lesser known temple, though, … Continue reading
Candy’s American Kitchen
Candy’s American Kitchen Are there any Americans out there who are homesick for some American home cooking? A woman named Candy is happy to oblige. Her restaurant on Chong Ming Road in the southeast of the city serves home-style goodies that are ready warm your belly with rib-sticking goodness. The English menu offers meat and … Continue reading
Tainan Meteorological Station
Tainan Meteorological Station If you live in Tainan or even if you’ve only visited, you probably noticed the strange-looking building on Gongyuan Road near the Minsheng Green Park traffic circle. That building with the wide circular base and a thin white tower is the old Tainan Meteorological Station. Its odd shape makes it really stand … Continue reading
Eternal Golden Castle (Erkunshen Fortress)
Eternal Golden Castle (Yìzǎi Jīn Chéng 億載金城) Not long before Taiwan was handed over to Japan, this fort was built to increase defense against the threat of invasion from those very same Japanese. The Qing leadership began building the fortress in 1874 and completed it in 1876. They hired a French architect named Bordeaux to … Continue reading
City God Temple
City God Temple (Chénghuáng Miào 城隍廟) The front door of this temple perhaps sits closer to the street than any other in Tainan. All the action (or at least traffic) of Qingnian Road whizzes by this temple in a constant furry, making it one of the most environmentally-integrated temple exteriors in the urban landscape of Tainan … Continue reading
Old Tainan City Walls
Old Tainan City Walls When we talk about “Old Tainan City” as a preserved area, we are talking about the part of the city that was once within the city walls. We could add to that distinction the Five Channels port area just to the west of the walls, but generally, Anping is a whole … Continue reading
Shuixian Temple (Water Fairy Temple)
Shuixian Temple (shuǐxiān gōng 水仙宮) Tucked away in Shuixian Temple Market is a tiny gem of a temple and a real piece of history. Located at the head of Shennong Street, this temple was a control center for much of the on-goings of the Five-Channels Area during the Qing Dynasty. When this was a busy port area … Continue reading
Beach – Golden Beach
Golden Beach (huáng jīn hǎi tān 黃金海攤) The largest beach within Tainan city limits is Golden Beach in the south-west of the city. The beach is quite expansive at 3 or 4 kilometers long and well over 50m wide in many areas. It’s also usually empty enough that you could have several regulation-sized football games going … Continue reading
Tainan City Guide 