We wake at 5.00 as it’s already light and our internal clock thinks it’s time to get up. We try to delay breakfast a bit to reset our clock but at 6.30 we are too hungry to wait any longer. We enjoy our oatmeal once more and get ready for the day. Since yesterday evening, we switched of all the ACs to force our bodies to speed up the acclimation with the humid hot weather.
This seems to have worked as when we get out it’s no longer a shock to our system. We leave at 7.30 to start with a temple and shrine tour as they are open early. The first stop is Koxianga’s Shrine, whose father defeated the Dutch and who fought against the Qing dynasty and lost.
Next door is the Lady Linshui Temple, the Chinese goddess of mothers children and pregnancy. It’s busy in all the temples and people are waving their incense around. We take a quick look at the Dongyue temple before walking further to the City God temple.
Chenghuangshen is the protector of villages and looks frightening. This temple is the oldest city god temple on the island and there is a nice explanation on how to pray at all the various shrines in the temple.
The first site with an entrance fee opens at 8.30 which has passed so we make our way to Chihkan Tower. But first we stop at two next door temples, Szu WuMiao the temple of the martial god and the former palace of Koxinga. And the Grand Matsu Temple, dedicated to the sea goddess, as Taiwan is an island, it has many of these temples but this is the oldest on the island. This makes sense since Tainan is the oldest city of the island, founded by the Dutch as a trading post and conquered by the Ming dynasty some 50 years later.
This leads us to the first Dutch fort on our list, the former fort Provincia, now Chihkan Tower which was built on top of the old fort’s foundation. There is some information about the Dutch settlement on the island and the following occupiers, the Ming, Qing, Japanese and finally the KMT.
The old city and the former Dutch Fort Zeelandia lie closer to the sea, outside of the city centre. Buses go very irregular but we are lucky as one is due in 3 minutes as we leave Chihkan Tower. We take the bus to its final stop and then have to walk for fifteen minutes alongside the harbour. It’s quite hot in the burning sun. Cleo cheeks look like two big tomato’s.
Once again most of the original fort is gone and what remains today are the foundations and later reconstructions. Here we get some more information on the Dutch settlement, the war and battles with the Chinese and the later development of the area.
As we are close to the sea and the wetlands, we take a taxi ride to Sicao Mangrove Green Tunnel. Here you can take a boat ride through the mangroves. When we get there we have to wait for 40 minutes until the next boat leaves, so we visit the next door temple and get some fried rice for lunch.
The boat is fully packed, mostly with Taiwanese tourists and the explanation is in Mandarin too. So we miss the jokes and the stories, but focus on the trees and the wildlife instead. There are many different species of fish swimming around, little crabs are crawling in the mud and we hear the singing of many birds. The boat goes through a small tunnel among the trees and it is very nice. At the end we spot a big bird, some sort of egret.
When we check the bus schedule again, our bus passes us in high speed. So it was not our bus. The bus back would take over an hour anyway, so we get the taxi back to the city centre and the Tainan Art Museum. This recently built museum spans two buildings and has a modern art exhibition on fort Zeelandia. Focusing on the different aspects of colonization, cultural exchange and geopolitical tensions and the fear of war. We first explore building two which is the modern building before walking to building one, a Japanese art deco building.
On our way back to our apartment we walk along the Confucian temple and the Great South Gate of the original 1736 city walls. When we continue we stumble upon a big playground. So we put the children down and let them run around in the shaded play area. Tim gets two ice-creams to share and we relax a bit.
It’s just a couple of blocks to our apartment and we only have two temples left on our list. But when we visit the Temple of the Five Concubines we feel that it’s enough, we leave the last one for tomorrow and head home.
There, we cool down with a bath, treat ourselves with some air conditioning and call our family. Then Olga feels suddenly sick and all of today’s food leaves her body again. She feels better straight away and we blame the fried rice, as this was the only meal where Olga had a different portion. We go out for a vegetarian buffet dinner anyway, as the rest of the family is hungry.
Despite Olga’s sickness, it was another great day to add to our adventure.
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