Tainan travel guide

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.

• Anping Tree House
• Chihkan Tower
• Eternal Golden Fortress
• Anping Fort
• National Cheng Kung University
• Great South Gate
• Yongcheng Theater
• Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple
• Confucius Temple
• Koxinga's Shrine
• Tianhou Temple
• National Museum of Taiwan History

Do

• Tainan Park
• Uni-President Lions Baseball
• Sicao Lushe Tunnel
• Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival

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.

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.

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. 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.