We departed from Kaohsiung early in the morning and took the train to Tainan. It was just a short 30min ride~ 
Our accommodation was at Premier Hotel – within walking distance from the train station but not exactly very near and we spent some time trying to locate the hotel. I remembered the pavement was not flat and it was rather troublesome to be pulling our luggage and finding the hotel. And, the weather was just as hot as the past 2 days we spent in Kaohsiung!
Fort Provintia / Chihkan Tower (赤崁樓) was our 1st destination since it was located nearest from our hotel (~700m). It was built in 1653 by the Dutch during their colonization of Taiwan.
This statue depicts a scene from the Dutch surrender to Koxinga forces
There were many students visiting this historical place and this was also where we saw the fish food dispenser (in the form of a huge fish) and recognize it for what it is!
A fountain of a fish sprouting water…
This is the Sea God Temple.
I like to take photos of interesting lamps…kekeke. 
Pretty view of the garden and main entrance from the Sea God Temple.
At the fort, you can see nine sets of stone turtles carrying plates. These were made in Qing Dynasty and were removed from elsewhere to be located here. Legend has it that the stone turtle is one of the dragon’s nine sons and it shifted into a turtle because it loved to endure heavy objects.
There is also a Stone Horse with a broken leg. There’s an interesting legend behind it – the stone horse’s leg was broken by farmers because it shape-shifted into a goblin at night and destroyed the farm. We couldn’t really figure out which is the broken leg… 
It was probably this back leg, since we observed that there’s a line of crack?
The legend in detail… 
This is a Dutch Well relic. According to the accompanying plaque, it was rumored that there was a tunnel under this well connecting Chihkan Tower and Anping Fort. However, this was put to rest after it was excavated and proved to be simply a well providing water to those who lived within the fort!
The Wunchang Pavilion is a 2-storey pavilion dedicated to Wun Chang God of Education. Students come here to pray before examinations.
This is a figure of the God of Literature – the figure holds a writing brush in the right hand and a ink cup on the left, with one foot on the head of a huge legendary sea tortoise and the other foot kicking starts. This symbolizes the attainment of the top position in examinations.
The numerous prayers, presumably from students.
Another pretty lantern!
Remains of the bastion of Fort Provintia.
This is the Peng Hu School constructed by Sheng Shou Qian, the magistrate of Taiwan in 1886. The only remains are a part of the door, with a tablet that was written by himself, stating the name of the building.
Standing at the entrance of the souvenir shop to enjoy the air-conditioning!
Here’s the layout of the fort.
Till next post~
recent comments