Tainan: Day 2 [tea, anping fort]
I walked in the wind and rain to the train station Tainan Visitors’ Center, where I asked them to call to see if San He Tang or Yanqing Hao were open. They were not open on weekends, and I was advised to seek them out on Monday. Still wanting tea, preferably good green pu’er tea, I decided to try another tea store listed in Puerh Teapot as being on Lin An Lu. On the way I found Búyǜ (Bóuyǜ?), a.k.a. the new version of the Fei Tai company store, Fei Tai being known for their mobster boss who fled to the Mainland. Well, the mobster’s son runs this (new?) company in Taiwan now. The young woman at the store was very friendly and not “all business” or “shady shady gangsta lady” like I suspected, so I stayed and tried a few teas. The store only sells Xiaguan and Menghai/Dayi tea, and generally their own productions of these factories’ teas, though not always is this the case. I tried the FT Xiaguan Cang’er, FT Xiaguan Nanzhao, and FT 8633 cakes, as well as an unknown aged shou pu’er. These teas all met my expectations based on the FT Xiaguan Baoyan stuff I tried: they tasted like better versions of state factory productions, which they are. I couldn’t afford their prices, though, so I left and continued on to Lin An Lu.
PHOTO (above): Shady Shady Gangsta Lady
PHOTO (below): Bouyu Tea Store
The store on Lin An Lu oddly enough was located in an antiques and jade bazaar. Crowds crowded and sellers touted, and I took some time to look around, but none of the tea and teaware interested me, so again I left without purchase. Figuring the day was just not a tea day, I walked to a main road and grabbed a taxi to the Anping Fort area to do some sightseeing.
PHOTO (above): Anping Fort
PHOTO (below): The old Dutch wall, c. 17th century
The Dutch built Anping Fort during their short occupation of Ilha Formosa, and it later became a Japanese fort during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Today, little of the original 17th century architecture exists, just a wall or two and some of the foundation. A new lookout tower was built, I think for tourism, and a museum constructed on the mound where the previous fort burned down. Though the weather was drizzly I enjoyed the place. Nearby the fort are several temples and historic sights including an ancient kiln and historic mansions. A snack street lined with vendors of sweets, deep-fried things, hand-tooled leather, knick-knacks, etc. entertained me for a while, but I liked most the hills covered in creepy burial mounds and weeds. I took pictures:
Quickly it became too dark for me to see much else, so I headed back to the hotel with hopes that I could use the internet. But, the internet didn’t work, so I instead walked to a western restaurant and had some pesto pasta, quite good perhaps because the sauce was made fresh. Taiwanese cuisine, oddly enough, features many dishes cooked with basil. I returned to my hotel room to see my oddball roommate, a middle-aged Taiwanese man who walks around the room with nothing but speedos on, showering with the door open, still wearing his speedos. This man lays in his bed nearly all day, rarely leaving the room; he’s there when I wake and there when I return in the afternoon or evening. Every occasion I see him, he remarks about how cold he is, mock-shivers, and wiggles under the covers. Strange guy.
PHOTO (above): Shady Shady Gangsta Lady
PHOTO (below): Bouyu Tea Store
The store on Lin An Lu oddly enough was located in an antiques and jade bazaar. Crowds crowded and sellers touted, and I took some time to look around, but none of the tea and teaware interested me, so again I left without purchase. Figuring the day was just not a tea day, I walked to a main road and grabbed a taxi to the Anping Fort area to do some sightseeing.
PHOTO (above): Anping Fort
PHOTO (below): The old Dutch wall, c. 17th century
The Dutch built Anping Fort during their short occupation of Ilha Formosa, and it later became a Japanese fort during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Today, little of the original 17th century architecture exists, just a wall or two and some of the foundation. A new lookout tower was built, I think for tourism, and a museum constructed on the mound where the previous fort burned down. Though the weather was drizzly I enjoyed the place. Nearby the fort are several temples and historic sights including an ancient kiln and historic mansions. A snack street lined with vendors of sweets, deep-fried things, hand-tooled leather, knick-knacks, etc. entertained me for a while, but I liked most the hills covered in creepy burial mounds and weeds. I took pictures:
Quickly it became too dark for me to see much else, so I headed back to the hotel with hopes that I could use the internet. But, the internet didn’t work, so I instead walked to a western restaurant and had some pesto pasta, quite good perhaps because the sauce was made fresh. Taiwanese cuisine, oddly enough, features many dishes cooked with basil. I returned to my hotel room to see my oddball roommate, a middle-aged Taiwanese man who walks around the room with nothing but speedos on, showering with the door open, still wearing his speedos. This man lays in his bed nearly all day, rarely leaving the room; he’s there when I wake and there when I return in the afternoon or evening. Every occasion I see him, he remarks about how cold he is, mock-shivers, and wiggles under the covers. Strange guy.