I still remember my childhood memories. My father moved our family to Annan District, Tainan City for work. My childhood impression was that there were many temples and they were very popular. In addition, my family lived near Benyuanliao Chaoxing Temple. There was a night market every Friday in the square in front of the temple. My mother loved to eat the fried stinky tofu that was very crispy. It is one of my beautiful memories of my childhood. After I grew up, I left this paradise of my childhood and went to study and work in the north. The busy and stressful life made me gradually lose my original innocence. It was a rare long vacation, so I decided to arrange a nostalgic trip back to my hometown, the ancient capital of Tainan. In addition to relaxing, I could also relive the good times in my memory.

After several hours of traveling, I finally arrived in Tainan. As soon as I left Tainan Railway Station, I could feel the warm sunshine of southern Taiwan. It took less than five minutes to walk to the hotel recommended by my old friend in Tainan, Sandaomen Architectural Cultural Hotel, to check in. My friend who is known as an expert on Tainan helped me plan the itinerary this time. Sandaomen is his first choice of high-quality hotel in Tainan. The absolute advantage of being very close to the railway station is enough to attract a tired traveler like me. When I arrived at the hotel, the friendly greeting of the counter staff, “Hello, welcome home”, made me feel warm as a customer, just like returning to my own home. The self-service dim sum bar on the right sells Tainan’s traditional dim sum for more than 60 years. They are all small dim sum sold in grocery stores when I was a child. I can’t help but want to taste them. The most important thing is that they are free! On the left is the bar, which sells the world’s best-selling craft beer. If you want to relax your body and mind with alcohol at night, it is also a good choice.

After the front desk staff showed us the room and gave us a complete introduction, we found that each floor has been designed with a special theme and a well-designed style. When we arrived at the door, we found that the room number was projected onto the wall, which was indeed a unique design. When we entered the room, we found that it was very large, just as described, more than 10 square meters. The overall design is environmentally friendly. According to environmental regulations, each room has one air conditioner. Generally, it is not environmentally friendly and energy-saving. It may jump to the degree you set. The hotel senses the room temperature and then lowers it degree by degree. In addition, there is no carpet on the floor to prevent infection sources. The wardrobe is open to prevent dust mites from attaching to clothes with moisture. The table is made of cypress. The special material of cypress will release dust mites that dry naturally at 45-60 degrees. Flat and thin, just like when we go hiking to enjoy the natural phytoncides. There is an imported cleaning mat under the bed, which is dust-proof and not ordinary cotton.

The bed was really big and comfortable to sleep in, worthy of the level of the Lalu. The bathroom was also really exquisite. The room attendant explained that it used century-old craftsmanship from two major German brands, GROHE and V&B. The toilet was the first in Taiwan to use a hanging toilet, and the bidet was made from top-grade INAX. The toiletries were also carefully selected and were two-in-one with double EU organic certification. You can really feel the hotel’s dedication.

After a night’s rest, I asked the counter if there were any breakfast recommendations nearby. I then realized that there were many restaurants I could choose from in the city center, such as Ah Han Salty Congee on Zhongyi Road, Rishi next to Park Elementary School, Dandan Burger/Minghe Vegetable Zongzi on Chenggong Road, and Shrimp Meatballs near Wu Temple. These are all very good choices.

After breakfast, my friend took me back to the Annan District where I spent my childhood. The first stop was the Tucheng Orthodox Luermen Holy Mother Temple, which my family called Tucheng/Twelve Tenants when I was a child. As soon as I arrived at the destination, I was shocked by the vast temple building. The entire temple imitates the palace architecture of the Forbidden City in Beijing and is magnificent. It enjoys the reputation of being the largest temple in the Far East. In front of the temple square stand two gigantic gods – Shunfenger and Qianliyan – on the left and right. Against the blue sky and white clouds and the magnificent temple behind them, they look as majestic as gods descending to earth. The most famous is the international high-altitude fireworks show during the Lantern Festival, which has become a must-do itinerary for the Lantern Festival in Tainan. The influx of people is comparable to the Yanshui bee firecrackers. If you want to find a good location to take pictures of the beautiful and spectacular high-altitude fireworks, you must go there early. In addition, the annual traditional ritual of welcoming the spring of “Whip the Spring Ox, Welcoming the Spring Ox, and Grabbing the Spring Ox” is a cultural activity that follows ancient rituals and has a history of thousands of years. The Holy Mother Temple has been holding it for decades, attracting more than 100,000 people every year to grab the Spring Ox and pray for blessings.

Afterwards we came to the famous Da Tianhou Temple nearby. The Da Tianhou Temple is large in scale, with four buildings: Sanchuan Hall, Worship Hall, Main Hall and Back Hall. The Da Tianhou Temple with a width of three bays consists of the Worship Hall, Guanyin Hall, Sanbao Hall, as well as the front gate, main hall, back hall, Sanchuan Gate and corridor. Although it has been rebuilt many times, it still retains the architectural style of a Ming Dynasty royal palace, a unique feature found only in Taiwan. There are many ancient plaques and couplets in the temple, including imperial plaques bestowed by emperors such as Kangxi and Yongzheng, which are the most numerous among all temples in Taiwan. All the sculptures in the buildings were carefully carved by famous Fujian craftsmen specially hired in the past, and they embody the beauty of ancient carving art. In particular, the red stone wall in front of the main hall has four dragon heads and turtle heads, which are rarely seen in other temples. The main hall is a traditional wooden “hard roof” structure; the worship hall has the tallest curved roof frame in Taiwan, without a single nail, making the most of traditional architectural mechanics; the stone carvings are mostly concentrated in the Sanchuan Hall, and the carvings are so delicate that even the stone steps have rare dragon head carvings that make people stop and take a look. After leaving the temple, I passed by the Taijiang Cultural Center and found that its appearance was like a fantasy world of white people. It is the first cultural public construction in the country that was initiated from the bottom up, jointly with local communities, cultural and educational circles, as well as leaders of associations, major temples and other citizens.

When lunch time came, my friend recommended us to visit a restaurant in Annan District that only locals know about! Family-style restaurant, fast food restaurant ~ Yimu Tianyuan Life Food Hall. Once you arrive at the destination, you will find that it is like a paradise. The environment is quiet. Although it is just an ordinary fast food restaurant, the price is affordable, the food is fresh, and the choices are diverse. It is not top-notch but it attracts people to come again and again. For afternoon tea, I Googled and chose the Coconut Garden Landscape Restaurant near the Taijiang National Park Visitor Center. It has a beautiful environment, a large fish pond in front of the garden, and many garden landscapes and small animals in the park, just like walking into a beautiful back garden.

The meals and seafood sold in the restaurant are all handmade and farmed by the owner. In addition to ice cream, they also offer stir-fried dishes. It is a very rural garden-view restaurant. What also caught my eye was the signature handmade tapioca pearls ice or the super unique giant tapioca pearls shaved ice. There are so many ingredients that it is really refreshing and heat-relief. If you are traveling to Sicao in Tainan, you can stop by the Coconut Garden Restaurant to taste the delicious meals!

When you arrive at the nearby Taijiang National Park, you must go to the Sicao Mangrove Green Tunnel. If you arrive at the Sicao Green Tunnel near dusk, you can not only see the mangroves on both sides growing together in the center like the Amazon rainforest, interweaving a dense semicircular green roof, and stacking layer by layer to form a deep corridor forward. The long wait is for you to board the raft to this fairyland, slowly moving forward with the ripples, the breeze brushing against your cheeks, carrying the weight of the warmth of the sun, and traveling through this secret city, you can also enjoy the beautiful sunset.

The starting point of the boat ride is the Sicao Dazhong Temple, where the main deity is enshrined as “Marshal Zhenhai”. The temple has been built for more than 300 years and is the center of faith in Sicao, Annan District. There is also a small sperm whale museum next to the temple, which houses specimens of stranded sperm whales, mother and child. The marine ecology and history are deposited here. Afterwards, many netizens highly recommended this 50-year-old local restaurant in Annan District, Haokezhi, which serves pot-fried pasta and oyster omelet. They said it was a pot-fried pasta restaurant worth sharing, so we came to check it out. The last stop is the legendary country-style restaurant Jiawu (Annan Branch), which is just like home. It is a warm and cozy place suitable for gatherings and taking photos, and a good chat with friends.