MFC: Tainan, Taiwan
Part of My Favorite Cities series, where I pick my favorite city in each of the countries I visit and write about why.
My choice for Taiwan’s MFC was without a doubt Tainan.
Honestly, am I surprised? Everyone told me that Tainan was the foodie capital of Taiwan. Even Taipei natives travel down to Tainan to get some of the best street food in the country. Much like the USA, down south they like things sweet. But even putting the cuisine aside, Tainan had such a calm, warm atmosphere offered immediately upon arrival. People were so kind to me. They’d offer directions, chat with me about my travels, and in one case, a lady ran after me to return my lost IC card.
Being the oldest city in Taiwan, it’s also got a wealth of history. First colonized by the Dutch and later the Japanese, Tainan is home to the old forts and tea/sugar processing factories. Like Jiufen, it’s got an Old Street where you can stroll along, watch buskers, and sample tons of street food.
The Sights
I arrived early at my hostel, Caoji Book Hostel. I’ve talked about place before, but it’s the coolest hostel I’ve ever seen. It’s stuffed with books (some in English!) and giant windows. All four floors are ridiculously cozy. I never wanted to leave. It’s a bit pricier than your average hostel, but still cheap by Western standards and totally worth it.
By far my favorite thing about Tainan is how perfectly wander-able it is. You can walk down any alley and find cafes, art exhibits, little stalls with handmade souvenirs. Craft leather is a big trade of Taiwan, and especially so in Tainan. Artisans will line up their stalls late in the morning.
My first day, I wandered away from my hostel and found the Confucius Temple across the street. Established in the 1600s, it’s a lovely park with orange-red buildings. Despite the ongoing construction, I felt such peace here.
Just down the street is the Tainan Contemporary Art Museum with exhibits ranging from calligraphy to modern art to interactive exhibits. Their little cafe has the BEST green velvet chairs. I can’t explain why I’m so excited about that, but I walked in and gasped.
Down the street from that is the Tainan Museum of Literature. While hardly anything was in English, it’s also free and I loved their exhibits on textiles and Hong Kong.
The most famous tourist sites in Tainan include Anping Fort and Anping Treehouse. The fort is an old watchtower and museum, with artifacts dating back to the Dutch colonization, around 1624-1662.
Anping Treehouse is an old manufacturing warehouse now overclaimed with trees. I headed there expecting it to be just a small corner with a tree in it, but this place was massive. I couldn’t tell where one tree ended and another began, or if it was all just one tree.
The place has been refortified with steel bars and walkways so you can explore without accidentally dying.
The Food
And, of course, none of the food disappointed. I did a full write-up of my favorite foods from Tainan here.
I found a souffle pancake cafe, O.原點巧克 Soufflé Pancake, near my hostel, and went back the next day for another plate. The owner is chatty, and he explained to me they use little sugar in their pancakes, preferring the flavor to come from other additions, like cognac, lemon, or strawberries.
lemon cream cheese souffle pancakes
My favorite meal in the entirety of Taiwan was dan bing, a traditional Taiwanese breakfast. It’s a crepe-like roll stuffed with whatever you want, usually pork floss, egg or cheese. I stopped by GA.YO-早餐專賣店 and I chose their mashed potato and cheese dan bing with milk tea. IT WAS SO GOOD. I DREAM ABOUT THIS MEAL.
dan bing with milk tea
Beef noodles and hot pot are other good choices for food in Tainan, but really, you can’t go wrong. My first night in Tainan, I had two dinners: fried chicken from 京都輔炸雞 - 臺南在地最好吃 No.1 炸雞品牌 and a california-like sushi roll from 曙壽司AKEBONO加州壽司. After I ate, I made my way to Shenning Street, which is a very old street lined with lanterns and filled with souvenir shops, cafes and artisan stalls.
One of the most famous street foods in Tainan is coffin bread, which is a deep fried piece of bread stuffed with chicken and gravy. It’s something you’d expect to find at the Texas State Fair, which is to say it’s very heavy, but sooo good.
coffin bread
Wrap Up
Tainan was all about the atmosphere for me. Sunny, laid-back, and warm, with good food and pretty museums. Every place in Taiwan was gorgeous—Jiufen in particular—but Tainan has a charm to it.
They’re really trying to bump up tourism to Tainan. I saw tourism posters that said something like, “If you don’t go to Tainan, you haven’t been to Taiwan.” Obviously, if you’ve got only a weekend in Taiwan, Taipei and maybe Jiufen will be your destinations, but if you’ve got the time, I 10000% recommend Tainan.
thanks for reading