Yongcheng Theater (永成戲院) originally opened for business in 1945, but in fact its forerunner was not even a theater. Rather it was run by Mr. Huang Zhi (黃直先生) as the Yongcheng Rice Mill (永成碾米廠). During the Japanese Colonial era, the Huang Family Rice Mill was in a long-term co-operative relationship with the Japanese government, and it built up an extensive network of contacts amongst government officials and merchants. As such, business flourished.
Fucheng (府城), Lugang (鹿港), Manka (艋舺) and Yuejin (月津) are the best highlights of Yanshui town, which used to be the fourth biggest city in Taiwan. Each year, the lantern festival attracts large numbers of tourists, all eager to receive the beehive baptism of fireworks.
The Yuejin Lantern Festival, held from 2012, raised the profile of Yuejin Harbor Water Park (月津港親水公園), and the crowds during the festival have turned it into a major Spring Festival event in Taiwan.
Hubi Temple (護庇宮), located on Zhongzheng Road (中正路) in Yanshui district (鹽水區), is one of Taiwan’s earliest Matsu temples, and it traces its origins back to 1623. With almost 400 years of history, the temple dates to a time when merchant vessels would pass through Yuejin Harbor (月津港), and it was a place where the citizens of Yanshui town would seek blessings. At that time a whole variety of trades and occupations flourished at the harbor edge, and Hubi Temple was an eternal partner during the development of Yanshui.
Built in 1955, Yanshui Catholic Church (鹽水天主神聖堂) has long been a place of fascination for tourists, and even though it is quite clearly a church, it also possesses characteristics of a temple building. From this perspective it would be possible to say that it embodies an East-West fusion. In the early period, it provided a place for those who believed in Jesus, and indeed it was a place where early Christian priests were given room to spiritually express themselves.
Walking into Qiaonan Old Street (橋南老街), tourists will be met with the familiar sounds of the Quanli Blacksmith Shop (泉利打鐵舖), a sound that has rung out consistently for over a century. Once the main street in Yanshui(鹽水) and a gathering place for merchants, Qiaonan Old Street gradually declined after the Yuejin Harbor (月津港) silted up, and the clamor of the bustling port is no longer heard.
Built in 1715, Yanshui Martial Temple(鹽水武廟) enshrines Guan Sheng Di Jun. Yanshui Beehive Fireworks is a wild carnival that attracts many domestic and international tourists on Lantern Festival every year. The streets are full of people the day before Festival, on the day they are packed, and the township is full of excitement. The origin of Yanshui Beehive Fireworks was the procession by Guan Sheng Di Jun to eliminate disease by sending off the plague gods and it has become Taiwan’s most important Lantern Festival activity.
In days gone by Yuejin Harbor had a large number of merchants and was where cargo ships gathered. One of the famous scenes of the harbor at the time was the lights on the fishing boats at Jubo Pavilion. At the side of Jubo Pavilion(聚波亭), Dazhong Temple was built in 1741 and enshrines Lei Fu Da Jiang Gong, one of the followers of Er Ma Jiao of Yanshui Hupi Temple. The temple has tranquil surrounds; local people like to sit in the shade under the big tree in front and chat.
The Bajiao (Octagon) Building(八角樓) is a wooden building completed in 1841. At the time, Yanshui’s Yuejin Harbor was busy with cargo ships and merchants filled the streets. The Bajiao Building was built by craftsmen brought in from China by the Ye family who had made their wealth in the sugar industry. The building materials were mainly Chinese Fir and bricks transported from China. It was a grand house.
The Road was created by Taiwan literature enthusiast Mr. Lin Ming-kun(林明堃). He dreamed of a home for Taiwanese poetry where people could learn about its beauty. He made more than 90 well-known Taiwanese poems into pottery pieces and inlaid them in a red brick wall.