The city is big enough for us to explore, and global strangers here are warm-hearted enough to help out. My first day of the city tour provides a glimpse of local culture and art, it’s both educational and entertaining.
Tainan has started building the subway systems; I saw a few subway stations in some areas of the city center, but it hasn’t been operated yet. So if you don’t own or rent a car, most tourists and residents count on public transportation tools such as trains and buses to move across the city and suburban areas.
My hotel was near the train station in the city center area, at which you could take the district train or different buses going to places across the city or the suburbs. On the first afternoon here, I walked around the nearby hustling and bustling streets and had local snacks and meals.
On the second day, I went to the Tainan Park where local people gathered to entertain themselves all year round. There was a quiet lake, and a colorful pavilion called “Nianciting” meaning “remembrance and affection.” I guess that’s the most popular residential park in Tainan.
I also visited one of the tourist hot spots “ Shennong Street”; Shennong means the “Great Emperor of Medicine.” It was a deep alley, entering it, you could discover the little boutique stores, and gift shops with latterns, and other traditional ornaments, at the end of the alley, it was the temple to memorize Shennong and his legend. To better understand Chinese medicine, he tasted hundreds of herbs by himself and taught people knowledge about them. There are a few popular shopping markets nearby. The subway stations were under development in this district.
The bus also passed by “Chenggong University” named after one of the Ancient national heroes “Zheng Chengong,” who had deep family roots in Tainan and Fujian.
Then, I arrived at the Tainan Museum in the local culture center. The museum is composed of two buildings. The first building has a longer history and I guess, in recent years, the city built the second building with more modern design architecture to increase its capacity. I went to the second building first. It has a limited collection of oil paintings, photographs, and other art artifacts. On the second floor, there was a liberty of art session, I thought the organizers intended to convey the message about the freedom of artistic expression. But most of the artwork was not very sophisticated, in my opinion. So I walked them through quickly and went to the other halls.
There were a few video sessions that introduced local histories, and the self-expression of people or creatures. Then I went to the first building which was a few blocks away. There was an abstract art exhibition of local artists. I also found small pottery artifacts, plantation samples, and a variety of art pieces. Overall, it’s a mid-sized museum with local artistic taste.
After that, I went to the neighborhood -Tainan National Literature Museum, it was over 5:30 pm, I had less than thirty minutes to walk around the exhibitions. It introduced the history of Taiwanese literature development, how literature impacts local politics and administration, and how to encourage democratic voices and inspire societal progress.
I read essays, romance fiction, Kongfu novels, and poems written by Taiwanese or Hong Kong authors since I was a teenager. Those authors had strong educational backgrounds in Ancient literature and their writings often conveyed the ideal land of benevolence, the mastery of special talents, or the purity of romance. Some sessions introduced how Western literature and philosophy influence on local journalism politics or management disciplines.
After exiting the museums, I also walked through the nearby shopping center, at which you can buy brand-name electronics and other merchandise. There was a blue robot-like figure standing on the sidewalk, blinking its lightning eyes to greet people. There was a cultural park in which you could find some art studios and gift shops. Teachers brought young school kids here for art education.
After visiting a couple of museums and gardens, art parks, and shopping centers, I knew local culture to a certain degree. I thought Tainan had its deep anthropological roots and historical heritage. The city is big enough for us to explore, and global strangers here are warm-hearted enough to help out. My first day of the city tour provides a glimpse of local culture and art, it’s both educational and entertaining.
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