Tainan is a slower city than Taipei, not so high-rise by their standards and has many temples.
Tuesdays are Tainan’s rest day and since the old town of Anping is a bit of a tourist attraction we were pleased to find most shops were closed when we visited.
Suburbia
Suburban Garage
Instead, Tuesday is the day for cleaning, rest and more importantly its Karaoke time! On days off, the older generation get together for Tea and Karaoke. We were warmly welcomed with tea, but we declined the invitation to sing, for everyones benefit.
Tea and Karaoke
The technology and transport is much better than ours, yet they have a simple and relaxed way about them. There was little litter or anti social behaviour. They don’t really show off, the older folks sit out and play games like chess or walk around tracks in the parks for exercise in the evenings. Everyone seems so happy.
Everyone eats out as food is so cheap. You can get a meal for a £1 if you eat in the local cafes. No-one appears to goes hungry..
We met an elderly man at the Confucius Temple who was very well educated and was keen to discuss the political situation in Hong Kong. He criticised the Chinese police saying they were wrong to use force. Here in Taiwan the police will avoid using force but have stronger political voices.
We preferred Taipei but Tianan has become more interesting the further we explored and bikes were the perfect solution and only cost a couple of pounds.
One evening we stumbled across a market, just a few stallholders were still there working late into the night either making clothes or doing their accounts.
The food market here was a massive car park with hundreds of stalls. They seem to eat most parts of the animal - from feet, insides, to head.
Taiwan is probably the safest and friendliest place we have ever been, people go out of their way to help. When we first arrived into Taipei and looking for our Metro a complete stranger stopped in their tracks, came up and asked if we needed help and then took us to our station before resuming their journey. It was the same all the way round, we would get about 6 people helping to find the location or translate when we caught a Taxi. They go out of their way to help, not looking for tips or payment either, just to be good.
Maybe it stems from the ethos of their religion -Taoism. One cab driver said in Taosim if something grows good and strong, then it becomes a god and you worship it. It is bad luck to destroy it.
There is not much that is negative about Taiwan except the music is pretty dire and they have an obsession with mobile phones and games which appears unhealthy. They also, by their own admission, have a very sweet tooth. Practically all their food and drink has added sugar and is very, very sweet.
We will really miss Taiwan. Japan here we come.