Tainan Night and Day

The first thing we did after arriving, renting a scooter, and checking in was to go check out the Hua Yuan (Flower Garden) Night Market 花園夜市. It’s only open Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Being Thursday night, it was our lucky day. Unfortunately, it was lucky for everyone else who loved this market. I can see why. It’s out in the open, like in a large parking lot and was split between food, shopping, and games. We stuck to the food area like everyone else. The place was packed and you pretty much had to eat standing or walking around. There were places to sit but they were for specific stalls if you ordered from them. There was a good variety of foods, including the local favorite Coffin Toast 棺材板 and Danzai Noodles 擔仔麵. After trying it here, I wasn’t a fan, but thankfully there were other foods we tried, like, grilled conch, pork cutlet, stinky tofu, skewered lamb, and deep fried king mushrooms (my favorite!). Sorry I don’t have the Chinese names for them. I’m too lazy to look them up. But the main good thing about this market was what I mentioned earlier. It was out in the open-open, not cramped into city streets surrounded by buildings. So by the end of your eating frenzy, you’re properly aired out and cleansed of that nasty stuff you just tried out. Now if they could do something about stinky tofu breath!

The next day we went into the Anping District (Old Tainan) 安平區. Highly recommended. Plenty of vendor stalls for your tourist trap needs. I usually avoid them, but I saw a mini Coffin Toast stall which I say is how you should eat the stuff. So let me clarify. I’m not a fan of Coffin Toast, but mini Coffin Toast I do like. The right balance of breading and that potpie filler stuff. Anyways, I hate digressing back into food. That’s what the food section below is for. Back to Anping. You can see the famous fort and stuff but the real fun was getting lost in the neighborhood. Okay, you really can’t get lost, but you want to feel like you are so when you stumble upon a small historical building it’s amazing. You can read all about it’s history on a plaque outside and wonder if the people living around there were just designating themselves as historic. Because I know I would. Still it’s cool to walk through the area. We found old Japanese style houses and small temples.

Our favorite find was Haishan Guan 海山館, a recently renovated building combining old time architecture with cartoon pop flare. I’m not sure what the purpose of the building was for. I think it used to be a hostel, but now it’s a place for people to come play and, I guess, to buy things like I did, some nice little lion-like figurines. The people were great and offered to ship them for me since we were traveling like. My way of “back packing” through Taiwan.

We spent most of the day walking through old town. It’s a shame we didn’t see the other side of town. This will do though. Tainan will be this old town with great little places you can find by scooter. Yeah, it felt pretty safe riding in this town. Not so much by traffic laws, but by safety in numbers. There appears to be a larger number of two wheelers in this town that others. And I have to say, they were nicer. And we were your average, but apparently not annoying, tourist by asking our fellow motorists for directions. Not even an eye roll.

Tainan, I will be back to know you more. You supply the alcohol and I’ll bring my drinking habit.

Food:
Don’t really like the lighter/sweeter taste of the Tainan food. There was nothing I tried that a year from now I’ll be craving to have again. The Coffin Toast would be memorable though. It’s a chicken pot pie, with other stuff, and in a better deep fried crust, but still, it’s pot pie. Sorry, I never was a fan of it. The good food was your neighborhood local food. Try out the seafood. They may deep fry most of it but it’s worth the taste.

Getting Around:
Safely around by scooter.

Overall Feel:
Great city. Big, dirty, but warm with character and history. Definitely worth revisiting.

Travel Cost(s):
$105NTD by Tze-Chiang train from Taiching to Tainan to (limited express)
$350NTD scooter rental (50cc for a day)
$1650NTD night at a three star hotel