Tainan

[Gabriel Valdez]

Tainan

Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan and was the capital during imperial times. It is famous for its temples, historic buildings and snack food. The city is currently the fifth largest city on the island. English speaking is at a premium and very few people speak English outside of high school and university students. The older generation is more likely to speak Japanese. Indigenous people lived in the area and after the arrival of the Dutch East India company used the city as a base to conduct trade with China and Japan. The area was not as profitable as the Dutch had difficulties in convincing the local indigenous base to switch to cash cropping. Eventually they appealed to China for help with cheap labor. China sent cheap labor but eventually loyalist groups seized control from the Dutch in the late 1600’s and Tainan was selected as the capital. The city has many historic sites, temples, and more. Tainan now is more of an industrial center that is looking towards the tech sector to improve the economy.

Connections to our study tour: Maritime Silk Road/ Dutch East India. Imperialism: Dutch, Chinese, Japanese. Migration - forced relocation from Fujian province in China for international trade while part of VOC. History: People's Republic of China v Republic of China. Relocation of capital in the late 1800's. Economic - trying to revitalize economy and connections from previous centuries aka Silk Roads. 

Local Snack Delicacies:

• Coffin toast (棺財板 guāncaibǎn) - fried bread stuffed with various ingredients, such as chicken, beans, seafood, vegetables and milk-based sauces

• Oyster omelette (蚵仔煎 kèzǎijiān / o-a chen)

• Oysters and thin noodles (蚵仔麵線 kèzǎi miànxiàn / o-a mi soa~)

• Rice cake (碗稞 wǎnkē)

• Dan Zai Noodle(擔仔麵 dānzǎi miàn)

• Elite Cake (狀元糕 zhuàngyuan gāo)
• Pearl Milk Tea
• shrimp rolls (zhou-shi) down along the canal.

There's a massive (and crowded) night market at the corner of Hai-an and He-wei Roads.

A good place to sample many varieties of food is Guohua Street (Guóhuā Jiē 國華街) between Minshen Road and Minzu Road. It is lined with stalls and small restaurants that give you everything you might want to try. It opens early and is busy with people getting breakfast before heading to work.

Street Food in Tainan -

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/tainan-street-food/index.html

 

Top Things to do- according to Trip Advisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g293912-Activities-Tainan.html

Top Sites – according to Lonely Planet:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/taiwan/tainan/attractions/a/poi-sig/357550

9 Reasons Why a Visit to Taiwan must include Tainan:

https://www.tripzilla.com/trip-taiwan-tainan/71239

 

Travel Blog about Tainan

https://tainancity.wordpress.com/about-tainan-city/

Taiwanese Professional Baseball Schedule

http://www.cpblenglish.com/p/schedule.html

25 must eats in Tainan

https://www.seriouseats.com/2012/09/what-to-eat-in-tainan-taiwan-best-food.html

 

[clay dube]

If you have time on your own in Tainan, the Chimei Museum is worth a look. It may be the largest private museum in Taiwan. http://www.chimeimuseum.org/ml/English/3
Part of the permanent collection is an exhibition of arms and armor. http://www.chimeimuseum.org/ml/English/3/2/6 

To demonstrate the range of exhibitions, another permanent exhibition focuses on music, producing it, recording it and sharing it: http://www.chimeimuseum.org/ml/English/3/11/15

The museum site includes virtual tours as well. Please take a look.

[Barbara Miller]

In Indiana, there are only a few connections we might make to regional areas that have serve specialized foods. 

The first is the Indiana State Fair in the heart of Indianapolis with its midway that offers regional food delights, including buttered "roastin' ears," breaded tenderloin sandwiches as big as a dinner plate, and the famous grilled cheese sandwich at the Dairy Barn.   

"Old-fashioned" or "sugar" cream pie is native to Indiana and a specialy of Wick's pie shop in tiny Winchester, Indiana.  Some historians believe the recipe was brought to Indiana by the Quakers from North Carolina or the Amish.

Amish country in Northern Indiana also offers visitors plenty of home-cooked comfort foods like pulled pork sandwiches, chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, and Dutch Apple pie.

Indiana is also known for its popcorn, producing over 500 million pounds of the fluffy stuff annually, but there is no more popcorn served here in my estimation that anywhere else.  

One final Indiana treat for long-time Hoosiers, is the regionally famous persimmon pudding, often served only at special family meals in the fall because finding persimmon trees or pulp is becoming harder and harder in Indiana.  I don't know where it can be purchased.  Most Indiana families who like it follow their own family recipe.

[Tamara DeCarter]

As stated, Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan with many historical and quaint streets and sites to visit. Whether a foodie, history buff, shopper, or culturalist Tainan is a city for everyone. Travelers enjoy walking down quaint streets with Dutch architecture, museums, parks, temples, and markets. An easy city to travel around by foot, the Historic District is a must-see with Anping Old Fort  (renamed after it was rebuilt) with replication of its earlier roots as Dutch East India Company’s fortress in the early 1600’s. It’s a historic replica for tourism today as brick from the original fort was used for the Eternal Fortress and further destroyed during Japanese occupation.

 

Another major landmark of Tainan includes the first Confucius Temple built in 1666 before the end of the Manchu Dynasty. Since then it has been reconstructed over 30 times due to wars and natural disasters. However, articles and horizontal boards scriptures along with musical instruments from the Manchu Dynasty have been well preserved. Located in the West District, the Confucius Temple is referred to by a few different names including “Taiwan Confucius Temple” and the “Scholarly Temple” for its known as the first place of public education. Additions to the temple were constructed by the Qing Dynasty and further expansions during Japanese occupation until World War II when it was bombed during Allied invasions. Later, the Chinese Nationalist Party took steps to promote Chinese culture and revive Confucius philosophy and education within the temple. A new tradition began with the Republic of China presenting presidential plaques with Confucius sayings for each president. The temple grounds include Wenchang Pavilion a three story looking pagoda with each floor offering a shrine to a Taoist god. For instance, the third floor is a shrine to the Taoist God of Literature; important for students seeking to do well on exams or gain admission to a school.

 

Other notable attractions and points of interest in Tainan include….

Salt Mountain

Anping Treehouse

Lion’s Baseball game

Taijang National Park

 

[clay dube]

We were all struck by the planes buzzing around Tainan during our time at the Confucius Temple. Here are some links to information about the Tainan Air Force Base:
http://taipeiairstation.blogspot.com/2015/11/tainan-air-base-1972.html

https://fas.org/irp/world/taiwan/facility/tainan.htm

John and others got some great photos. Here is a video someone shot in 2012 of planes landing and taking off there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EMQSl4TYtI

The photo below is of mechanics working on a US plane in 1966. The US sometimes bombed Vietnam using Taiwan-based planes.
https://www.stripes.com/news/us-military-history-on-taiwan-rooted-in-confrontation-with-china-1.445146

 

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