Tainan was a surprisingly nice stop on my tour of Taiwan. Originally, I intended to use it as a base to visit amusement parks and do a little bit of sightseeing, but upon doing a bit more research and certainly after arriving, I learned it had a lot more to see.
The town is quite old and has a lot of remnants from its past, which you'll see as I continue my posts. We start where I finished my day of sightseeing - the Taiwan Confucious Temple.
The grounds around the temple are nice, and in the late afternoon were quiet and great for a pleasant stroll.
Wenchang Pavilion. There are several small buildings around the temple on the grounds.
The temple's grounds are chopped up into small sections with their own feel, split up by walls, buildings and gates.
An empty pavilion.
The temple wall.
The temple has a lot of dark reds, but door-like walls have a whiter appearance.
After passing through the doors, I turned around and shot back through towards the pavilion.
This gate must have some meaning, but I forgot to take a picture of the sign to help me out. The garden in the pictures above was to the side of the temple, while this gate was in front.
Also in front of the temple entrance was an interesting piece of art.
Here is the temple entrance itself. There's a reason why the temple was so empty. Notice the doors?
As always, beautiful details can be found in the ceiling.
Off to the side, a small room holds these things. I don't know what they are, other than some sort of token. I'm not sure if they represent big donors or Gods or events...
Like other Chinese architecture in Taiwan, there is a half-circle pond. This pond is named Pangchi. The use of a semi-circular pool symbolizes that Confucious' wisdom was only second to the Emperor in rank. Water celery picked from the pool was inserted into the caps of scholars to represent determination and hard studying.
There always seems to be a couple floors in bloom everywhere in Asia.
This one blossom sits next to the pool.
So, are you wondering why there are no pictures of the inside of the temple? Well, here you are - the temple itself closes at 5, but I caught a glimpse through the gate. With everything put away and the grounds empty, the peek through the gates shows an empty, clean, almost desolate area.
Tainan has a tourist bus - actually two, numbers 88 and 99. Ask at the tourist information center for details, as the bus can be used to get around to all the major sites. Otherwise, you'll need a taxi, as getting around Tainan is quite complicated even for those who speak the language. The temple isn't far from the station, and it is possible to walk (15-20 minutes) from one to the other. However, getting your bearings to continue on your journey may not be easy without GPS.
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