East Dist.

The banyan trees of National Cheng Kung University (成大) have long been a symbol of Tainan. It is said that they were personally planted by Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito (Later known as Emperor Showa) when he visited Taiwan in 1923. Even now, the banyan trees are like kind old alumni, standing watch over the Cheng Kung University campus every day. When graduation time comes around, there are always lots of students here taking photos, reluctant to leave. In the sunshine, the Banyan Park (成大榕園) exudes strong educational institution charm, and has a most exotic atmosphere.

Completed in 1933 as the administrative center of Tainan Technical College, the National Cheng Kung University Museum is now an on-campus museum; the first of its kind in Taiwan and an important landmark on University Road. The museum has an incredibly diverse collection of over 2,600 items, from pottery and stone implements to wooden articles and embroidery. Exhibitions with a different theme are held through the year, giving additional artistic flavor to a campus that already has a rich atmosphere of cultural education.

Longshan Temple(龍山寺) in Tainan’s East District is one of the city’s “seven Buddhist temples and eight Taoist shrines”. It was built from coral stones in 1715, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty Kangxi Emperor outside the city walls at the East Gate. The original temple was rebuilt in 1778 and was demolished when road widening was carried out in the Japanese Colonial Time. The temple has been rebuilt several times. The three-story building seen today was rebuilt on the original site. It contains a large number of cultural relics, including Qing Dynasty plaques.

Guan Di Temple is an extremely well-known temple that was rebuilt as a large temple in 1817 after worshippers believed Tai Zi Tai Bao Wang(太子太保王) had indicated that they should do this; however, a temple has existed on the site during the reign of the Yongli Emperor in the Ming Dynasty dating back to the mid-1600s, giving it a very long history.