Today, people consider Tainan as the
“Cultural Capital City” in Tainan. When it comes to Tainan, local cuisines and
historical site always come up to people’s minds. Actually, that kind of images
are from the former Tainan City. The Tainan City now are combined with Tainan County and the former Tainan City. Compare to former Tainan City, Tainan County
is famous for Chianan Plain(嘉南平原), a variety of
crops and natural scenery. However, the features are sometimes ignored by NCKU
students since it is relatively far away from the university.
Honestly, I have
also visited there for few times. However, the experience there was fantastic;
therefore, I would like to share my journey to there and also hope that I could
visit places in the origin Tainan County more often.
Guantian District
Pheasant- tailed Jacana Garden
The place I introduce in this article is Guantian District. First, I would like to talk about the Pheasant- tailed Jacana Garden(水雉生態教育園區). Pheasant- tailed Jacana(水雉) is a beautiful bird with yellow fur behind its pure white head, black body, white wings and a long elegant tail. Pheasant- tailed Jacana is also the Bird of Tainan City. However, because of the devastation of its habitats, the Jacana have become an endangered species. Nowadays, ecologists and governments are making great effort to protect and rebuild their habitats. The Pheasant- tailed Jacana Garden is a great place to know more about the Jacana and enjoy their elegance. That is an ideal place for people to escape from their busy life, slow down their pace and get close to nature.
Trapa
Besides the Pheasant- tailed Jacana,
Guantian is also well known for trapa(菱角), which is a
plant grown in fresh water. The shell of it is black and the shape is like a
cow’s horn. Inside the shell, the fruit is white and boomerang-like with violet
pink skin on the top. If you want to experience how to collect trapa you can
visit here.
Bottle Gourd Pond
I visited a pond called Bottle Gourd Pond(葫蘆埤). Beside the pond, there is a grocery called Chien Lai Yeh Grocery(錢來也雜貨店) offering traditional snacks and toys. It is interesting to note that you can buy
the "trapa ice cream" there. It is an innovative flavor for me. There are some
trapa fragments added in the trapa-flavored ice cream. Although it is too sweet
for me, I still think you can try it to see if you like it or not.
Every time I read your article, I will feel kind of embarrassed since I, as a local, don't even notice these fantastic places!
回覆刪除Believe it or not, not until the moment I finish reading your article do I know that we have such a beautiful bird that represents the Tainan city.
Trapa is the first thing that comes to my mind when seeing the word Guantian. lol
I still remember when I was in elementary school, my father bought me a small bag of trapa, and that was so delicious! However, I haven't tried the ice-cream before. I guess I will like it since you mentioned that it is really sweet!
You have visited so many places around Tainan that I even start to doubt that whether you are a local or not XDD
Perhaps I should step out of my small comfort zone and explore more fantastic places just like you do!
Actually I'm not familiar with my hometown, Taoyuan. Compared with Taoyuan, Tainan is so interesting. That's why i love this place so much.
刪除Tainan is really an amazing city. And I think one of the most impressive things about this city is that the locals and the students who study in Tainan don't have to pay for any historical sites tickets. In my opinion, the offer is really brilliant because the historical sites should be for inheritance and education, not for business.
回覆刪除Never thought of "trapa ice cream". I mean trapa and ice cream just like from two different world XD, how can someone combine these two togethter???
At firs I also thought the combination is amazing. That is the reason why I recommend you to try it.
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