Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan. The city is rich in Taiwanese culture and history. Also, it has a much slower pace than Taipei. One day in Tainan is definitely not enough if you want to explore the city in depth, but you can see some of the highlights of Tainan in one day if you plan ahead.
Here is what our day trip looked like.
Before our trip to Tainan
Because we only had one day in Tainan, we booked a car rental (with a driver who also acted as our guide) from Daisuki Taxi to save traveling time and cover as many places as possible. We researched the places that we wanted to visit and discussed it with the tour operator prior to our trip.
We also purchased our HSR tickets in advance. On the day itself, we took the HSR train from Kaohsiung Zuoying station to Tainan. Because it is only one station away and takes less than 20 minutes, we arrived at Tainan station at 10:00 a.m. and met with our guide. Before we started the tour, our guide briefly discussed how our itinerary was going to be.
港濱歷史公園-大魚的祝福 Big Fish’s Blessing
Our first stop is Big Fish’s Blessing. It is a large whale art installation located in the Harborside Historical Park. In addition to being an art installation, it actually doubles as a lookout. There are stairs in the middle that lead up to the viewing platform. We went up the whale’s tummy to check out the sea view. Inside the whale, there was colorful glazed glass that was shaped like Taiwan.
I am not sure if this is counted as a tourist attraction or not, but when I saw this cute whale art installation online, I really wanted to see it in person so I included this in our itinerary. I remember our guide asked us why we wanted to come here.
台灣鹽博物館 Salt Museum
The Salt Museum was not part of our itinerary. But it was near Qigu Salt Mountain and our guide recommended us to check it out. It is Taiwan’s first salt-themed museum, I like that they designed the structure of the museum to be shaped like a pile of salt. There is an entrance fee to the museum, and fees for adults, children, students, and elders are different.
Inside the museum, there were realistic salt fields and exhibitions about the importance of salt in our daily lives and the history of salt production in Taiwan. A friendly staff approached us and was kind enough to tour us inside the museum.
In addition to salt production in Taiwan, the museum also features different art sculptures made of salt and an exhibition of the salt industry around the world, including the Polish Salt Mine.
When we finished checking out the exhibits, we went to the souvenir shop to purchase some salt products and also ordered their salt-flavored ice cream. Overall, the museum is quite an interesting and fun place to learn about salt.
七股鹽山 Qigu Salt Mountain
Qigu Salt Mountain has an approximate height of a six-story building and is made up of 39 thousand tons of salt. The mountain was particularly popular with Japanese visitors because they believed that salt could attract good fortune, keep away evil influences, and cleanse the soul. It was advertised as the “sacred mountain” by the Japanese travel agencies.
The place was once the most significant solar salt field in Taiwan. Because the solar salt was no longer economical, the salt production ceased in 2002 and the field was transformed into a park with attractions such as the Salt Mountain, Salt sculpture, and Salt exhibition area. When we went up to the salt mountain, some areas were a little slippery, so be careful. The park is really big with different salt sculptures for tourists to take pictures with. Some pictures looked like we were on a snow-capped mountain.
井仔腳瓦盤鹽田 Jing Zhai Jiao Tile Paved Salt Fields
This place was the first and remains the oldest tile-paved salt field in Taiwan. Similar to Qigu Salt Mountain, the tile-paved salt fields were abandoned in 2002 when the salt production ended. However, it was brought back to life as a scenic tourist spot because of the beautiful sunset that reflects on the salt fields.
Initially, I wanted to visit this place during sunset, but our guide said we might not make it back on time to Kaohsiung because this place is quite far from the HSR station. So we had to make changes to our itinerary. If you have more time to spare during your visit to Tainan, try to visit this place late in the afternoon, the sunset pictures I saw online are stunning!
鹽鄉民宿餐廳 Salt Country House
When it was time for lunch, we realized we had forgotten to research where to eat in Tainan. Fortunately, our guide had a great recommendation for us. We had our lunch at a guesthouse near the Jingzaijiao salt fields. It is a homey little restaurant that serves Taiwanese cuisine. After lunch, we headed back to Anping district.
安平天后宮 Anping Matsu Temple
Anping Matsu Temple is located next to Fort Zeelandia. It is the largest temple in the Anping district, and also one of the earliest Matsu temples recorded in Taiwan. Because Taiwan is surrounded by sea, coastal and inshore fisheries are the livelihood of many. Matsu is the Goddess of the Sea, She is believed to protect the sailors, fishermen, and travelers. Unlike other Matsu statues, the Matsu statue in this temple is soft-bodied, meaning the hands and legs can be posed in different ways.
安平老街 Anping Old Street
Anping Old Street is the oldest street in Taiwan. The Dutch built it more than 300 years ago. There is a lot of old architecture retained in this area. The street is very popular with tourists and locals even on a weekday. There are a lot of food stalls and local shops in the area. We were not able to explore the small alleys within the area due to our limited time here, but it is worth visiting again in the future.
安平古堡 Anping Old Fort
Situated near the Matsu Temple, Anping Old Fort was the administrative center during the Dutch regime. The Dutch built the fortress but it was later destroyed by the Japanese during the occupation of Taiwan. It was a great place to learn about the history of this city.
安平樹屋 Anping Tree House
Another popular spot in the Anping district is the Anping Tree House. The treehouse is next to a museum where we learned the history of the place. The treehouse was an abandoned trading warehouse, later invaded by the sprawling roots of banyan trees. With the roots of banyan trees all over the place, it gave off a historical and mysterious vibe. Isn’t it amazing?
It took us about 30 minutes to explore the area. It has a walkway that allows us to safely walk through. Watch out where you’re going though, there are branches everywhere. Also, there is a fish pond at the back of the treehouse and a coffee shop, a good place to have a relaxing afternoon.
Until next time, Tainan!
Anping district was the last destination on our to-visit list, it was time to go back to Kaohsiung. At the end of the day, we had learned so much about the history of the city. It is a city that I definitely want to come visit again, with more in-depth exploration next time.
I would also like to thank Daisuke Taxi again for their professional input on our itinerary. They made our trip so much smoother and even added a stop at the Taiwan Salt Museum. I highly recommend their service if you are looking for a car rental service. However, we discussed the details with them in Chinese, so I’m not sure if they have English-speaking guides or drivers.
