Tainan

Tainan (臺南; Tâi-lâm in Taiwanese, Táinán in Mandarin), in Southern Taiwan, is the oldest city in Taiwan. Tainan is famous for its temples, historic buildings and snack food. It may be even more under-appreciated compared to the current capital, but is well worth a stop on a round-island trip for a quintessentially Taiwanese experience for both stomach and soul.

Understand
Located on the southwestern coast of the country, it has had a complicated past, first starting as a Dutch colony before passing through Chinese warlords, Japanese occupiers and then into Kuomintang hands. This rich history and heady mix of traditional folk culture gives Tainan far more character than the bigger Taiwanese cities, and is a good contrast to the international Taipei.

History
To truly understand the history of modern Taiwan is to trace its beginnings to Tainan. Tainan (and the start of a non-agrarian Taiwan) began in 1624 when the Dutch East India Company set up a colonial base in the Anping District (安平區 Ānpíng qū). The island of Formosa was strategically placed along major trade routes, and so the Dutch were keen to start building up a trading post and fort known as Fort Zeelandia. They were soon besieged by Ming loyalists led by Koxinga, and their surrender ended 38 years of Dutch colonial rule, bringing Taiwan under Han Chinese influence. However, Koxinga's own rule was similarly short-lived as he died four months after the takeover, yet he lives on as a local folk hero and religious icon of sorts. His grandson gave up control to the Qing dynasty, and Tainan was made the capital of Taiwan County of Fujian Province. However, Tainan, and Taiwan as a whole continued to be a Chinese backwater until the Second Opium War in 1858 forced the reopening of Anping port to foreigners, with British merchants stimulating growth in the city. Tainan lost its status as capital after Taiwan was declared a separate province in 1887, with the Qing government deciding to set up the provincial capital in Taipei instead.

Upon secession of Taiwan to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, city leaders tried to declare independence (perhaps the first attempt at formal self-governance) although that failed and anti-Japanese sentiment grew into the Tapani Incident in 1915, when Aboriginal and Han Chinese fighters stormed several police stations in Tainan county. The armed uprising was brutally crushed, marking a turning point in relations between the local population and their occupiers as Japan enacted policies designed to assimilate the Taiwanese into the Japanese Empire, including by encouraging them to adopt Japanese names and Shinto religious practices. Modern infrastructure and urban planning transformed Tainan, befitting the largest Taiwanese settlement at the time. The odd impressive colonial building can still be found around the city, standing out against other less inspiring post-war architecture.

After the island was handed back to the Chinese Nationalists, following their retreat from the mainland after the communist victory, Tainan residents were harshly treated under the slightest suspicion of opposition to the new regime instituted by Chiang Kai-shek. Tainan and the rest of southern Taiwan remain strongly pro-independence to this day, since they have not actively thought of themselves as part of China for the last century or so.

Orientation
The city is the fifth largest city on the island after New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei with a population of 1.85 million (2022). For a city of its size by population, Tainan's size by land area is exceptional. Very few buildings are more than 5 to 6 stories in height and most are between two and three stories. Instead, wandering the older winding back alleys holds a lot of charm. Tainan is also extraordinary for its number of temples and shrines, Buddhist and Taoist, large and small, and you'll likely find one hidden around every other corner.

Modern Tainan is centered on the local TRA train station and Zhongshan Road, which runs through West Central District, though Anping District is the historical heart of Tainan. Anping is home to the Anping Old Fort (安平古堡;Ānpíng gu bǎo), the Anping Tree House (安平樹屋 Ānpíng shù wū) (a warehouse with massive banyan trees growing out of it), and numerous restaurants and food stalls. Qigu District in the northeast is noted for its history of salt production and the district's salt fields are also a popular attraction. Yanshui District is infamous for its notoriously fiery fireworks festival. Beyond the city center, the surrounding region is one of the major agricultural centers in Taiwan, and the amount of fresh produce may have inspired much of Tainan's snack food culture.

Talk
Like other Taiwanese cities, most people in Tainan, including taxi drivers, cannot speak English well (except for high school and college students), though some of the older generation can converse in Japanese. However, to help visitors get around, there are free tri-lingual (Chinese, English and Japanese) map-guides available at the railway station. Taiwanese is spoken by many residents of the city, and the Tainan dialect is considered to be the prestige dialect of Taiwanese.

By plane
For flight options beyond the Taiwan Strait, the closest international airport is in Kaohsiung. From there you can take a train, bus, taxi, or rental car for a 45-minute to one-hour journey to Tainan. Flying into Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is also another choice, and you don't have to go into Taipei proper and can just take the HSR train (1½ hours and NT$1350) from Taoyuan.



By train
Tainan is a major stop on the Taipei - Kaohsiung High Speed Rail line (about NT$1500 one way from Taipei). Travel time is 1 hr 45 min from Taipei. The is a bit outside of town (NT$400 by taxi), and you might think it's the wrong stop altogether since the station is surrounded by parking lots and open rice paddies. There are two free shuttle bus routes running from the city to the HSR train terminal: one to the Tainan City Hall, and another to the Chi Mei Medical Center.

You can also take the TRA (slow train) into in the city from Shalun TRA station (linked to the THSR station and NT$25 each way). Besides the THSR, standard TRA rail from Taipei can take 3½-6 hours depending on the type of the train. For example, a class 1 (4 hours) ticket from Taipei will cost NT$758. On the Southern line, trains run very frequently to Kaohsiung (1 hour and NT$70-100), to Taitung (3 hours and about NT$500) and, less frequently, to Hualien.

By bus
Tainan has good inter-city bus connections with other cities in Taiwan. Most of the bus companies have offices on Beimen Rd, north of the train station.

Get around
Tainan is a city which is problematic for pedestrians. Unlike Taipei, most of the sidewalk is essentially privatised, being an extension of the shops and restaurants behind it. The sidewalks are thus frequently blocked by various materials belonging to buildings behind, requiring pedestrians to walk on the roads and take their chances with the cars and motorcycles. Pedestrian crossings are unreliable and often blocked by traffic. If you’re disabled, don’t try and walk.

The best way to travel around the city is by car or motorcycle. Bicycle travel is possible but dangerous for a tourist who has to deal with the various obstacles emerging in the road spaces, which include frequent parked cars blocking the road, aggressive moped users and a general relaxed attitude to traffic rules and regulations amongst all concerned.

You can rent public bikes with an Easycard but you need to link your Easycard online to your credit card since it requires a deposit.

There are taxis and buses (公車 gōngchē), but they are not easy to use for non-Chinese speakers. There is a scooter rental shop next to the Tainan City TRA (slow train) station. Rentals cost around NT$600 per 24 hours. Whether a rental shop will check for a license varies from shop to shop.

All inner city bus routes pass through Tainan Station (train). There is a tourist information booth at the station with friendly staff (English speaking) who can show you how to use the bus system. On Sundays there are two free sightseeing bus routes (88 and 99) which can take you to and back from all the major historical sites. Be careful when getting on buses at the train station, because they stop at two different places depending on which direction they're going. The direction is not obvious unless you read the sign or ask the driver, so make sure not to get on going the wrong way!

The transit cards (Easycard) from Taipei and Kaohsiung can be used on the buses. Many bus stops have electronic displays to tell you when the next bus is coming. Google Maps have (delayed) live update on bus location and are extremely useful. Bus+ is a local app that updates bus location faster.

If you do take a taxi just make sure you have a map you can point at or the business card of your destination. The taxi drivers are very helpful, but sometimes even Chinese speakers take roundabout ways. Uber is widely used by taxi drivers and private cars alike. There are other local apps like Line Taxi and 55688 but they require a local phone number.

There are thousands of scooters and motorbikes packing the streets and if you injure someone while you are driving in Taiwan, the local laws require you to pay for whatever the person you injured cannot. Try getting your insurance company to write a waiver for you to be insured before driving in Taiwan.

See
At first glimpse, Tainan may seem all gray buildings with an alarming number of scooters, but thankfully it doesn't take long to discover its charms. Historical buildings and temples are mostly found in three main clusters: near Chihkan Tower and on Zhongzheng Road, which used to be within old city walls during the Qing Dynasty, and in Anping District.

Temples
Old Taoist religious customs, many of which have been wiped out elsewhere, are cherished and not forgotten here.
 * Tainan Taiwan Koxingas-Shrine-01.jpg
 * Tainan Taiwan Koxingas-Shrine-01.jpg
 * Tainan Taiwan Koxingas-Shrine-01.jpg

Landscapes

 * Qigu Salt Mountain
 * Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields
 * Caoshan Moon World (草山月世界), Zuozhen District. An interesting region of mud hills and badlands surrounded by thick bamboo forest and some tropical fruit farms. Take the Green bus from Tainan train station to Xinhua (新化), where it's worth wandering around to grab a bite and see the sights. Then take the Green 13 branch line in the direction of Zuozhen (左鎮) and get out at Ganglin (岡林). Walk past the restaurant and the church then turn right and keep walking. A scooter would make this trip much easier, but keep your eyes open for photo ops along the road. As of June 2017 the published bus schedule is not correct, so make sure to confirm with the staff at Xinhua bus terminal.

Buy
The areas around Zhongshan Road, Beimen Road, and the train station make up the downtown of Tainan. South of the main train station is where you can find various boutique stores that mainly focuses on Japanese fashion and sport equipment stores (a popular place to visit for local students).

Eat
Tainan is often known as "the City of Snacks" (小吃城). In addition to the wide variety of food available at night markets, the city also has an abundance of street vendors specializing in tasty and cheap dishes. Oysters in particular, are favored in Tainan, from the long association with Anping port. Try the oyster omelette (蚵仔煎 kèzǎijiān / o-a chen), and oysters and thin noodles (蚵仔麵線 kèzǎi miànxiàn / o-a mi soa~) which are cooked differently from those up north. Danzai noodles (擔仔麵 dānzǎi miàn) should not be missed either. Coffin toast (棺材板 guāncaibǎn), fried bread stuffed with various ingredients, such as chicken, beans, seafood, vegetables and milk-based sauces, was also invented here.

The area around Tainan is also known for producing high quality beef, so be sure to try some beef soup while you are here.

Night markets


There are over two dozen night markets of various sizes in and around the city. Regardless of size, night markets all possess an abundance of stalls selling clothing, shoes, jewelry, toys, food and drink. Some even have live entertainment. Most night markets are only held on certain days of the week. Check before going.



Local specialties

 * Beef soup
 * Eel noodles
 * Rice cake (碗稞 wǎnkē)
 * Don't forget to try the shrimp rolls (zhou-shi) down along the canal.
 * Andi's Party Corner sells traditional Austrian food and beers, an oddity in Tainan.
 * Rice cake (碗稞 wǎnkē)
 * Don't forget to try the shrimp rolls (zhou-shi) down along the canal.
 * Andi's Party Corner sells traditional Austrian food and beers, an oddity in Tainan.

Desserts
Tainan has a pronounced sweet tooth, and nowhere is this more evident than in their love of sweet treats.
 * Elite Cake (狀元糕 zhuàngyuan gāo)

Drink
There aren't many shiny modern nightspots in Tainan; the city delights in retro bars instead, leveraging on its history and countless number of traditional houses to give an intimate, laidback feel. A smattering of Mandarin or Taiwanese will open more doors in terms of nightlife, otherwise it would be easier to stick to expat hangouts where the owners speak English. Some of the bars provide taxi service if you get too drunk.

Pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶, zhēnzhū nǎichá), also known as bubble tea, is a must drink in Tainan. Look out for shops where it is made directly to order! The Hanlin Tea House (翰林茶館) is one of two claimants to having invented the drink. Fruit drinks and desserts are always refreshing in the sticky summer heat too.

Western bars

 * Dirty Roger, Dongmen Rd. (close to the railway station).Excellent small bar. Used to be very hip, still very good. Every Music imaginable.
 * The Armory, Gongyuan Rd. Good for beers and sport
 * Willies Second Base, for beers, sport, food and pool upstairs

Sleep
The local heritage and religious festivals of Tainan mostly draws only domestic tourists, so weekends, Taiwanese public holidays and school vacations are particularly busy for hotels. There aren't the masses of Chinese tour buses that crowd touristy Jiufen or Sun Moon Lake, so Tainan is a good place to be if you happen to be in Taiwan during the Golden Weeks in January/February or October. Staying near the train station or Chihkan Tower may help simplify public transport as they are easy landmarks and most buses stop at either place.

Stay safe
Tainan, like the rest of Taiwan, is very safe for tourists with respect to crime. However, you should keep alert when on the roads - the Bureau of Transportation reports an average of 200 deaths and 20,000 injuries per year from traffic incidents in Tainan alone.

Noise
Adding to the constant flow of traffic in the streets, Tainan also host the greatest number of temple parades in the country which means loud fireworks at potentially any time of day. Moreover, fighter jets performing low passes over the city are a frequent occurrence every day (sometimes up to 30 times a day!), so people who are sensitive to such loud events should be wary.

Go next

 * Guanziling – One of Taiwan's best-known hot spring areas.
 * Fo Guang Shan – The largest and most impressive Buddhist monastery of Taiwan, just 1 hour southeast of Tainan.
 * Kaohsiung – The second largest city of Taiwan, and a port city that took over Tainan's place as the Harbor City, one hour south by TRA train.
 * Chiayi – The next northern city and natural jumping off point for the beautiful Alishan, e.g. by the scenic narrow-gauge Alishan Forest Railway.
 * Kinmen – If Tainan is the bastion of Taiwanese identity, then Kinmen is an interesting study at the opposite end of the spectrum as a pair of islands inextricably tied to the Chinese mainland.