Island Travel Notes｜Exploring the historical sites of Fucheng and looking for Anping delicacies

This is ’s second trip alone! The first time was from Wuhan to Xi'an in May this year, and this time it was from Taichung to Tainan.

Traveling alone is a way of solitude across space. The advantage of it is that you don’t have to coordinate time with your companions, cater to your preferences, and stop and go according to your mood. But its shortcoming is that you need to pay extra attention to safety.

The first experience of being alone in a strange place was probably when I went to Wuxi Lingshan Giant Buddha during the summer vacation of my second year of junior high school. I had been to Lingshan Giant Buddha when I graduated from elementary school, and I didn’t go in again the second time. . Take a Bluetooth speaker to the nearby woods and take a camera to take pictures of butterflies and dragonflies on a deserted forest path. It’s like time has stopped here. On the same trip, in the evening of the next day, I was near Songcheng and came across some European-style palaces, such as A Wonderland with No One . At that time, there was no navigation on the mobile phone, so I could not know what the scenery in front of me was, but I could observe the scenery in front of me more deeply.

Alone on the Taiwan Railway

Why Tainan? After planning everything, I discovered that this trip had many similarities with Xi'an on May 1st.

First of all, Xi'an and Tainan are both historical and cultural ancient cities. Xi'an was the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties. Since the Dutch entered Taiwan more than 300 years ago (1624), and for more than 200 years since then, Tainan has been Taiwan's political center .

Taiwan History Museum in Tainan

Secondly, the places I chose to stay in these two destinations were B&Bs where I stayed with the host. This way of accommodation that integrates with the locals gives me a unique accommodation experience as a solo traveler. Interact with local people and learn more about their living habits. The owner of the B&B we stayed in Tainan this time was a young couple who had a cute little son. When I first arrived downstairs, they happened to be at the 7-11. I was surprised that they didn't buy dinner until nine o'clock, but the little boy was still in the living room at eleven o'clock. It can be seen that Taiwanese people have a habit of going to bed late since childhood.

This ticket left me when I left the station.

Finally, because I have always heard that Tainan is “very delicious”, this is very attractive to me as a foodie^ ^

Tainan can satisfy my preferences for history and food at the same time, so choosing it is a must!

This semester, I took the course "Taiwan History". Before the midterm exam, I read some literature and three or four reference books, and I realized that I had such a limited understanding of Taiwan’s history. But seeing is better than hearing , so this time I came to see Taiwan’s historical sites.

Most of the students studied Taiwan history in middle school, so the teacher often A word of But the "Zelandia Fortress", "Anping" and "Luermen" mentioned by the teacher often made me dizzy. Can't tell where they are.

Remains of the ancient city wall of Relanja City

Relanje City (now Anping Castle) is a fortress built by the Dutch in Taiwan (founded in 1624). It is the center of the Dutch rule of Taiwan. In 1662, after Zheng Chenggong captured the city of Relanja, the Zheng dynasty also lived here. He missed his hometown of Anping and renamed the original city of Relanzha to "Anping Town".

After the Qing Dynasty took over, the city was gradually abandoned and turned into ruins during the war.

Now there are only ruins left

The ancient cannon is well preserved

Here, listening to the Hokkien-speaking tour guide is very friendly and comfortable. The tour guide told about the treaty negotiated between the Dutch and Zheng Chenggong, which preserved the national dignity of the Dutch and allowed them to take away what belonged to them.

It would be beneficial for both parties to make concessions.

The names here are so diverse that it's easy to get confused. To be honest, I didn’t know this was the city of Relanja before I bought the ticket. I wonder if the Anping Castle was built by the Zheng family. When I came in, I found out that it was the city of Relanja, which was a pleasant surprise. There is also a observation tower, where you can observe the surrounding situation through the window.

Anping is now an administrative district of Tainan. As mentioned above, Zheng changed the name of the city of Relanzha to "Anping Town" because he missed his hometown, and the nearby area was Anping. The next afternoon, I walked around Anping for a long time. Almost no ruins from the Ming and Zheng Dynasties exist anymore, and most of the remaining are from the Qing Dynasty .

Haishan Pavilion

The dormitory of Qing soldiers stationed in Anping during the Qing Dynasty

This architectural style looks very "Qing Dynasty" at first glance! The architecture was very similar to the clothing colors of Qing Dynasty ministers, so I made an association. There is a cute "evil-warding" door god and a painted wall outside the entrance, adding a bit of interest to this otherwise serious place.

After the signing of the "Tianjin Treaty" and the "Beijing Treaty", Anping was opened as a treaty port, and many foreign businessmen came to Taiwan to do business. They set up foreign companies in different places on a country-by-country basis , which is equivalent to the current "International Trading Company".

German Business Dongxing Foreign Trade Co., Ltd.

Dongxing Yangxing is a Fujian and Western mixed style building, which combines the architectural styles of southern Fujian and foreigners.

British Business Morality Book

Among the foreign firms in Anping, the British ones account for the most. This is one of them, now located in the Anping Tree House Scenic Area. The tour guide said this is the most beautiful Western-style building in Anping, but I prefer the style of Dongxing Yangxing. Probably because I am from southern Fujian.

I'm not sure if the building not far away is the result of the renovation of Hutchison Company, so I won't post the picture~

Anping also has some buildings from the Japanese colonial period.

During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese opened some salt fields in Anping. This dormitory is a Japanese-style building that looks like a private residence, some distance from the salt field. I speculate that this was the residence of the Japanese who managed the saltworks. (After verification, it is the residence of high-level personnel of Taiwan Salt) So what is the place where the real salt people live ?

I found the answer next to the Anshun Saltworks site (Annan District).

16 houses in the old Yanmin settlement

The buildings where Yan residents live are located next to the salt fields. They are dormitories of the same type located side by side. The facilities of that time cannot be seen now, only the empty houses and house numbers remain.

Anshun Salt Farm (discontinued in 1994)

Taiwan’s first salt production industrial zone

There is also a famous attraction near Anping Castle - Anping Tree House . It was originally the warehouse of Tak Kee & Co., and was later used by the Japanese. Here you can see the amazing growth speed and growth posture of the banyan tree. Many artists create here, and the ecological environment is also very good.

On the viewing platform, the tree house is integrated

The origin of the name Luermen is said to be because The terrain resembles a deer's ear .then Luermen Port Road is a dangerous place , wide and shallow, ships are prone to run aground and difficult to land, so it is called “The natural barrier of the city” When Zheng Chenggong arrived, it was high tide and he went on stage smoothly.

Luermen Port where Zheng Chenggong took the stage

There is a Zhenmen Palace next to it, which looks a bit dilapidated because no one has repaired it. There are images of two Dutch door gods on the Zhenmen Palace, guarding Anping Town for Zheng Chenggong.

Luermen is located in today's Annan District. When I first came to Annan, I wanted to go to the "Taiwan Amazon" Sicao Tunnel. There were just too many people, so they took a look at the mangroves and left.

Mangroves line both sides of the river

When I found out that this was Taijiang Ecological Cultural Park (I was sleeping on the bus and didn’t pay much attention), I decided to continue going.

There was no one on the road, only a few vehicles passing by. I headed forward under the scorching sun, preparing to go to Yantian Cultural Village (Anshun Salt Farm). At this time, an uncle riding a motorcycle kept looking back at me. At first I was surprised. Later he came back and asked me where I was going. I told my destination. He said it was a long walk and he took me there along the way. I got in the car. Later he sent me there and left.

When I left the salt field, another uncle spotted me. He asked me why I was alone. He can give me a ride. I asked him if he was on his way, and he said yes. I got in the car again.

In Wanwan, motorcycles are really a very convenient means of transportation. Abel calls me a backpacker. He introduced Luermen and Anping to me. Asked me which places I hadn’t gone to yet, and he took me there. We went to Fucheng Tianxuan, Luermen Tianhou Temple, Notre Dame Temple...

The distant scenic spots on the map are connected together into a cultural exploration route for tourists under the warm hospitality of the locals.

Walking alone on the road in Taijiang, I often see birds landing on the wetlands, as if they are enjoying the unique good weather.

There are many temples in Tainan. Each one amazes me more than the other The old man said that because it was the New Year, the temple had just been rebuilt. I was curious about the relationship between the Luermen Tianhou Temple and other Tianhou Temples, so he helped me get a guide booklet. We also went to the Holy Mother Temple. He said that originally, you had to take a long detour to get between the two temples, but now The bridges built on both sides of the river make travel much more convenient . More people are going there. Transportation is indeed an indispensable condition for sightseeing! Speaking of communication, he said, "The two sides of the Taiwan Strait should communicate more! We are all one family." Maybe we are exchange students. Building an invisible bridge between the two sides Bar ^ ^

There are also monuments in the city center, which is probably one of the characteristics of historic city. Just like my hometown of Quanzhou, the bustling West Street is home to the East and West Towers from the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the ancient city of Xi'an, city walls and bustling commercial districts coexist.

Exhibition of Works of Taiwanese Female Poets

This is an exhibition of works outside the Taiwan Literature Museum. This kind of exhibition makes the occasional passers-by unable to help but stop. The Taiwan Literature Museum located in the city center was rebuilt from the former Tainan State Office (during the Japanese colonial period) .

By the way, when we were in Tianxian, Fucheng, Uncle pointed me to the oyster field not far away where oysters are raised. He said the oysters raised there were of the best quality.