The city of #Tainan was celebrating #Christmas on Saturday and someone invited me to have a look. First of all, they had a relatively long (four intersections?) Christmas market, occupying a split road..

Of course there were food stalls and I made the mistake to buy takoyaki here. They were not really through and although I had selected wasabi, I didn't really notice any. It did look good though.

At one point, Santa, his clones and his friends arrived on heavy bikes. Unfortunately it was already a little bit dark and I my hands were not fully free, so of the few photos I took of that caravan, this is the one least shaken. (OIS, where were you?)

And then hell froze over and it snowed in Tainan.

Almost got you there, didn't I? For a short time I too thought that someone had actually installed two small snow cannons, but this was just foam. Nevertheless, children just loved it.
Location change, but this being Taiwan, there can't possibly be an event without something to eat. In the centre you may be able to spot two sections of bamboo. Inside is sticky rice and I just love that. Of course I got one.

The main attraction there was (after the children's event on a close-by stage had ended) an open air concert. And it was an open open air concert, meaning that the city of Tainan had arranged and paid everything and everyone could just come and go as they pleased, no ticket required.

Among the artists performing there was a Dutch person named "Martin". Is there any Netherlander who may know him?

Listening to so much music that I don't like very much makes hungry, so let's go for a stroll through the culinary support section.

OK, this wasn't limited to eating (and drinking), there were also people selling toys, usually with many LEDs and mostly made out of plastic, plastic, plastic. Yes, sadly.

Duck rolls are not bad, but I was not very hungry then. To be honest, I wasn't hungry at all, but with all those delicacies...

Living near a fishing harbour I am pretty immune to these, because we have plenty of them, but these were so nicely arranged, I had to take a photo.

And finally there were steamed yeast buns, but not the regular kind. I wish I was half as good as that, my attempts at this were rather clumsy.

After that I had to get back to Kaohsiung, so the photos end here.
#Taiwan #myphoto

We do indeed still have train stations here in #Taiwan looking like this one. It is located close to the #Chimei Museum, in #Tainan, but not far from Kaohsiung.

When I arrived there, I found that they had no machine to check my (magnetized) paper ticket, only an RFID reader. I had a card, but didn't get to use it, because when I asked about a train to this station in Kaohsiung, the lady at the counter was so happy someone showed up, she immediately issued me a paper ticket.

There were also no gates as such and nobody was checking (although the station should be manned by at least one person), they simply expect people to be honest.

Reisetipp: Tainan in der New York Times

If you can travel to Taiwan, go visit Tainan, the former capital in Taiwan. The New York Times thinks you should. I wholeheartedly agree.

Immer mehr Taiwanesen wandern aus dem Norden der Insel zu, so dass man inzwischen von einer „Abwanderung in den Süden“ spricht. Darunter auch viele Kreative, was sich im Stadtbild durch Boutiquen, Bars und Restaurants zeigt. Die New York Times gibt mehrere Tipps, darunter die Restaurants Zyuu Tsubo und Jai Mi Ba sowie die Bar Swallow. Sehenswert seien auch das Tainan Art Museum sowie der Hayashi Department Store. Nicht zu vergessen bei der Lobpreisung Tainans sei aber auch die schöne Landschaft und das fast ganzjährige angenehme Klima.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/t-magazine/tainan-taiwan-travel-guide.html

(via chinahirn)

#Taiwan #Tainan #newyorktimes #臺南 台#北 #台灣 #travel

Queen of balloons hearts
Decoration at a travel/tourism exhibition

#Tainan #Taiwan #myphoto

This place looks nice, doesn't it? Unfortunately, that's about it.

This is in Tainan, in front of a school. Tainan is in the tropics. That means, nobody would want to rest directly under the sun, everyone wants some cooling shadow. Had this structure been overgrown with plants - great. But the way it is, it only looks pretty, but is rather useless. Nobody will sit there during daytime - unless it is "winter"...
#Taiwan #Tainan #myphoto

Return of the Nature

#Tainan is the oldest city in #Taiwan, already being some kind of town when the #Dutch arrived in 1624 and built their fort #Zeelandia. The Dutch started trade, which later flourished indeed, indicated by several trading companies settling here. Those built warehouses and some of those still exist today.

OK, ruins of those warehouses still exist.

And they have been taken over by nature in the form of Banyan trees.

Some of the old wooden beams still exist, but they can't carry anything anymore, they need to be carried.

These ruins are close to the fort and part of a larger complex, including exhibitions, souvenir shops and cafes. Should you be in town: Admission is NTD50, about USD1.7...
#myphoto