Treadling Among the Temples in Tainan - Taiwan - CycleBlaze

January 3, 2020

Treadling Among the Temples in Tainan

Tainan, on the south west coast of Taiwan, is described by some guides as Taiwan’s Kyoto. Well as an old capital and home to numerous temples, it has a few similarities to Kyoto, but Tainan still has that special touch of Chinese chaos that Japanese sensibility and would never permit, especially in spiritual Kyoto. 

Today our mission was to treadle around as much of the historic parts of Tainan as we could.

We did well, covering about 30km, six temples, one art gallery, a historic department store, one amazing lunch and the canal area.

The conclusion is that Tainan is an attractive, interesting and very cycleable city. We could easily spend several days here but we’ll move on tomorrow.

How much disorder can two cycle tourists cause in a hotel room?
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Joe and a temple sculpture. Amplified drumming attracted us to this temple. There seemed to be a mini festival of some kind happening in the temple yard.
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Temple roofs intrigue me with their detailed craftwork.
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A restored tower in the oldest Confucian temple we visited today.
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Eye catching wall mural
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This gate opposite the Confucian Temple led to a very peaceful small temple and courtyard. A haven from the bustle and street noise.
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Yet another temple tucked into street niche.
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There are numerous quiet side streets like these to explore.
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A trees with many hundreds of little message discs on it.
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One of the discs warned of a turtle uprising.
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From the roof garden of the heritage department store.
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Conserved damage at the heritage department store from World War II. U.S. bombing raid on Tainan.
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More conserved WWII bombing damage
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Before Spotify, these were needed to play recorded music. On display in the department store.
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Also on display in the store. From back when TVs were proper furniture.
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Industrial scale joss paper burner at a temple.
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Heritage lift floor indicator
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Incense burner and worshippers
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Maintenance needed.
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Joe escaping a temple on a bicycle
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Joe mixing it with the motor scooters
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The canal area on the west side of Tainan
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Our bikes well guarded by dragons in a temple bike park.
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Very odd, but eye catching front to a restaurant lured us in for a fantastic lunch. Table top mini BBQ style. All you can eat in two hours for 550 Taiwanese $. Not a word of English in sight. The My Deer BBQ 92 Huahe Street Zhongxi District.
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Posing at lunch. High vis is safer when eating.
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Quick visit to a bike shop to buy chain oil and pump up tyres with a floor pump.
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Our hotel for two nights in Tainan. The City Place Hotel in Zhongyi Rd West Central District.
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Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 135 km (84 miles)

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