RV Trip Advisor (Day 3)

We are now in Tainan! :)

Anping Fort 安平古堡 Rating: 3 stars ★★★☆☆

The Anping Fort is first built by the Dutch in 1624, which acts as the administrative centre of the Dutch regime and the hub for trading. The name ‘Anping’ was derived from the commemoration of Cheng Cheng-Kung, the man who successfully drove the Dutch out of Taiwan.

Entrance of Anping fort 

Souvenirs sold in the shop

There was also a souvenir shop where you can buy some memorable keychains /postcards back to Singapore! It is not just a souvenir shop but it also displays historical items such as the picture shown below.

Display of weapons

Anping fort is well-equipped with many artifacts and different types of weapons used by the Dutch in the past, such as cannons and the different types of blades.

However, what we felt could be improved was the presence of a guide. As without one, it would be difficult for us to comprehend the information ourselves. The facilities there could be improved by adding more shelters as the place could be considerably hot especially during summer.

Anping Old Street 安平老街 Rating: 3 stars ★★★☆☆

The Anping Old Street has many restaurants offering delectable local dishes such as the oyster omelette and coffee toast. There were also many shops selling souvenirs and titbits that represented Taiwan. Sold at considerably reasonable prices, these goods were attractive to visitors. However, there was a rather limited number of shops present,which does not offer a variety of items. This could be improved to a better attraction by adding in a number of shops.

Our lunch

We had our lunch at a mini restaurant serving Taiwan's famous street snacks! These dishes were very unique and could only be found locally.

弹珠汽水 

The 弹珠汽水 is just an ordinary soft drink but there is something interesting about it. A marble inside a drink! As we tried to get the marble out, we realised that we have difficulties opening the bottle cap. It was after a moment of figuring that we realised that there was a special way of opening the bottle cap! You would be surprised by how we are supposed to open the bottle cap! (Thinking back, it was actually rather easy to open the bottle cap, and it would seem foolish if you don't know how to open, haha!)
Walking along the streets, realising there are no dustbins! It is so hard to find even one dustbin to throw your rubbish. Surprisingly, the street is substantially clean, with few or no litter, making it a good environment for visitors. 

Eternal Golden Castle 亿载金城 Rating: 3.0 stars ★★★☆☆

The Eternal Golden Castle is a defensive castle in Tainan. It was built in 1874 by a famous Qing official Shen BaoZhen.

Entrance of Eternal Golden Castle

There were interesting exhibits present in the Eternal golden castle, such as the different displays of cannons. These exhibits were great symbols and representations of the history of Taiwan, and we also enjoyed viewing the interesting exhibits.

Cannons 

 Of course we are not here just to see these cannons, we are also here to learn the history of Eternal Golden Castle!

Signboard explaining the arched gate (1st picture) and the entrance bridge

Although it displays different types of cannons, we felt that there is nothing much we could learn about this place. The exhibits were lesser than we thought. Nonetheless, we at least visited this historical place and knew more about Taiwan's history.

A big field that we saw once we entered Eternal Golden Castle 

Tainan Confucius temple 台南孔庙 Rating: 3.0 stars ★★★☆☆

The Tainan Confucius Temple was built in the year 1666, the first temple constructed in Taiwan. It has since become one of the most tourist attractions in 1983.

Some of our classmates holding their wishes

This temple allows visitors to jolt down their wishes on a piece of yellow paper with their names and country, with hopes that they might come through. Many of us wrote things like,'GPA 4.0',(haha) hoping that we would score well for our EOY. This is what we enjoyed the most as not all temples are equipped with this particular feature. 

Picture of the temple 

孔子

A display of a traditional handle stove

The temple also exhibits a great deal of artifacts such as the cultural articles and musical instruments, and most of us have developed a deep interest in its history through viewing these pieces.

This is a good choice for historical places but as this temple was renovated before, some of the traditional elements were lost. 

Chihkan Tower 赤坎楼 Rating: 2.0 stars  ★★☆☆☆

Established in 1653 by the Dutch, it is classified as one of Taiwan's Tier-One heritages since 1982. So how did it get its name? It wasn't called Chihkan tower in the first place. Chihkan Tower actually means " Red-topped tower", which derives from the Taiwan aboriginal word "Chakam".

Map of Chihkan Tower

Chihkan Tower

Turtle monument (9 steles)

Display of ships

It does not display much historical stuff except for a few displays and the ships shown above. Hence, we felt that it is rather boring as there were not much stuff as we expected. It will be worth a visit if you are very interested in history. However to most of us, it was not as interesting as we expected and the hot weather makes it even worse... But then if you were to climb up the stairs to the top, it will be nice to enjoy the scenery, having fresh air and slight breeze. Looking down from the top of the Chihkan Tower, it is a pleasant sight as it was well-maintained by the staff.

This wraps up Day 3! In day 4, we went to Sacred Hearts High School and in the afternoon we visited a few places. We shall reveal them in the next post,  do check out Day 4 RV Trip Advisor.