Shennong Street (神農街) was the entrance to the Tainan Five Channels area important river ports from the Qing Dynasty. Merchants at the time would all enter Tainan through this street, making it the busiest district. However, a century of evolution has transformed the original river port into a city road.
Over the past few years, Hai'an Road (海安路) has become the busiest art walking area in Tainan at night. Both sides of the road have a rather dilapidated look, as buildings have been half torn down to widen the road, with exposed steel reinforcing bars and crumbling bricks and tiles. Due to the enthusiastic rallying of well-known curator Du Zhao-xian, artists make use of the current appearance to recreate all kinds of public art. The City Government has been actively pursuing landscape transformation in recent years, and wants to give tourists more comfortable walking spaces.
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature(台灣文學館) is arguably the most important landmark in Tainan city center. It was designed by the Japanese architect Mariyama Matsunosuke(森山松之助), and construction was completed in 1916. At the time, under the Japanese Colonial Time, Tainan Prefectural Government was the highest administrative center in Tainan. During the World War II, it suffered damage from Allied bombing, but was later restored to its original state.
Beiji Temple(北極殿) mainly worships Beiji Xuan Tian Shang Di, and lies above Jiuling(鷲嶺), a relatively high point in Tainan. Because of the Northern Black Tortoise, unlike other temples, Beiji Temple uses black as its main color. The temple currently has the oldest horizontal plaque in Tainan, the "Wei Xian He Yi" plaque (威顯赫奕)from 1669, presented by King Ning Jing Wang Zhu Shu-gui.
The Hayashi Department Store (林百貨) was founded in 1932 by Lin Fang-yi in Suehirocho 2-chome (末廣町二丁目), Tainan. It was the first building in Tainan to be equipped with an elevator, and is commonly referred to by elderly Tainan residents as "the five-story building" (五棧樓仔) in Taiwanese. The first is easy to remember, and the ones after easily ignored. After the glory days of Hayashi, Tainan City's second department store was Meili An Foreign Product Store (美麗安洋品店) on Minquan Road (民權路).
On June 30th 2013, the Hayashi Department Store(林百貨), the largest of Tainan's old building's, was opened for tours after refurbishment. Crowds lined up from 7 am until the afternoon to enter the "five story building" (五棧樓仔) built in 1932 during the Japanese Colonial Time. It was a very busy part of Tainan, but after the end of the Japanese Colonial Period, the owner returned to Japan, and the Hayashi Department Store was left empty, leaving people to eventually forget about its former glory.
Dajintou(大井頭)is an old well located on busy Minquan Road. The well mouth is sealed with an iron cover and there is an introductory sign at the roadside.
The Former Tainan Shinto Shrine Office and Garden(原台南神社事務所及外苑) and Tainan Butokuden were built at the same time and completed in 1936. They used similar materials and have similar styles. Some people believe the Office was actually the shrine’s Rest House; no matter what it’s use was, it is a beautiful Japanese Colonial Period building.
Historical records show that when the Qing forces led by Shi Lan attacked Taiwan, Zhu Shi-gui, Ming dynasty Prince of Ningjing, resolved to die for his country; his five concubines decided to die too and hanged themselves from a beam in the palace. After they died, Zhu Shu-gui personally buried them and then committed suicide. Wufei Temple was built in 1683. It is a single courtyard and two-wing style building and has a small shrine at the side, Yi Ling Jun Tomb(義靈君墓), that enshrines two servants who died alongside the concubines.
Chihkan Tower (赤嵌樓) is the oldest building in Tainan's West Central District (台南中西區), and along with Anping District's Anping Fort (安平古堡), are two of Tainan's most famous landmarks. Originally built as Fort Provintia (普羅民遮城) in 1652 by the Dutch, the building set the tone as the location of the administrative center of Tainan, and has gone through numerous repairs and refurbishments over the past 300 years to give it its current appearance.