Tainan is a city best explored on foot. A fort built by the Dutch four centuries ago, a station from the Japanese colonial era and a library that opened only a few years ago all sit on the same map, with one small food stall after another in between.

ExploreStamp's "A Walk Through Tainan" route picks six of them: two historic sites, a station, a library, a museum and a bowl of tofu pudding. This post covers what's worth seeing at each one and how to fit them into two days.

The route at a glance​

The first four are between the city center and Anping and fit into a single day. The library and the museum lie to the north and south of the city, so they work better on day two.

Tainan Station: starting in the Showa era​

Most people arrive in Tainan by train, so this is the natural first stop. The current station building dates from the Japanese colonial era. With its white walls, red-tiled roof and row of arched windows, it is one of the few major stations in Taiwan that still uses its original building. The second floor once housed a railway hotel, a fashionable place to stay in its day.

Once you're out of the station, turn around to take in the front of the building, then head west into the old town.

Chihkan Tower: a Dutch fort under Chinese pavilions​

Chihkan Tower is about a fifteen-minute walk west of the station. This was originally Fort Provintia, built by the Dutch in the 17th century. After the fort fell into ruin, Qing-era builders put up the Wenchang Pavilion and the Sea God Temple on its old foundations, giving the site the look it has today.

Look out for two things. One is the remaining Dutch red-brick foundation, which makes an interesting contrast with the Chinese eaves above it. The other is a row of stone tablets carried on the backs of bixi, turtle-like mythical creatures, left from the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty.

The streets around Chihkan Tower are the heart of old Tainan, with more than enough food stalls to sort out lunch.

Anping Fort: walls four centuries old​

Anping lies west of the city center and is easy to reach by bus or YouBike. Anping Fort began as Fort Zeelandia, which the Dutch started building in 1624, one of the earliest forts in Taiwan's history.

The most rewarding part of the site today is easy to miss: a weathered red-brick wall wrapped in the aerial roots of old banyan trees, one of the few original Dutch-era structures still standing. The white lookout tower in the middle of the grounds was added later; climb it for a view over the streets of Anping.

Tong Ji Anping Tofu Pudding: the dessert stop​

Save the tofu pudding for the end of your time in Anping. Tong Ji is a long-standing tofu pudding shop in the area, with a silky texture and toppings such as tapioca pearls, red beans, or the local favorite, candied sweet potato. After a full day on foot, it's the right way to finish.

If you have time, the shops along Anping Old Street sell shrimp crackers, candied fruit and souvenirs featuring Anping's sword lion.

Tainan Public Library: the city's new living room​

On day two, head north to Yongkang District. The main branch of the Tainan Public Library opened only a few years ago. Its exterior is a large fair-faced concrete volume lined with vertical fins, and inside, the tall, bright space has seats tucked between the shelves. After a day of historic sites, this is a look at Tainan as it is today.

Anyone can come in to read, no library card needed. Buses run here from the city center.

Chimei Museum: a collection in a European-style palace​

The last stop is the Chimei Museum in Rende District, to the south. The white European-style palace stands in Tainan Metropolitan Park, fronted by a fountain with figures from Greek mythology and a long bridge. Just walking around outside is worth the trip.

Inside, the collection focuses on Western art, musical instruments (especially violins), arms and armor, and natural history specimens. It's large, so set aside at least half a day. From Tainan Station, take a local train south and transfer from there.

A two-day plan​

Day 1: the city center to Anping

1. Arrive at Tainan Station in the morning
2. Walk to Chihkan Tower and have lunch nearby
3. In the afternoon, take a bus or YouBike to Anping Fort
4. Finish at Tong Ji Anping Tofu Pudding in the evening

Day 2: north and south

1. Visit the Tainan Public Library in Yongkang in the morning
2. Head south to the Chimei Museum in the afternoon

With only one day, do the four places from day one and save the library and museum for your next visit.

Before you go​

• Opening hours, closing days and ticket prices can change, so check each place's official website before you set off.
• Tainan's summer sun is strong. Bring water and sun protection for walking around the city.
• Most historic sites charge admission. Ask whether a combined ticket is available.

Collecting this route with ExploreStamp​

Open ExploreStamp, find "A Walk Through Tainan" among the themed routes and tap "Check in" at each place you reach. The app confirms you're within range, adds the place's stamp to your stamp book and records the date of your first visit. Collect all six stamps to complete the route.

See the other routes under Explore.

Cover photo: Eagan Hsu / Unsplash

Many people who travel in Taiwan collect commemorative stamps. Next to a station ticket window, at a museum exit, at the door of a shop on an old street, there's often a stamp and an ink pad waiting. What makes stamping fun is that you have to actually go there.

ExploreStamp brings this onto your phone and adds what a paper stamp book can't do: photos, dates, a map, and routes planned in advance.

Start with a route​

When you open the app, the first screen shows themed collections. Each route picks 6 or 7 places around one theme, for example:

• 6 Classic Taiwan Railway Stations: Neiwan, Jiji, Shengxing, Jingtong and other stations that still have their wooden station buildings
• A Walk Through Tainan: historic sites, a station and a library in Tainan, finished off with a bowl of tofu pudding
• Night Markets & Street Food: from Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle to Penshui Turkey Rice
• Botanical Gardens Worth the Trip: from Erbazi Botanical Garden to the Fuyuan forest park

Every route shows your progress. If you'd rather not follow a route, you can search for a place by name. There are currently 43 places and 8 routes, and the place data updates automatically in the background.

You have to be there to get the stamp​

When you arrive, tap "Check in" and the app reads your location once to confirm you're within the place's check-in range. The range depends on the type of place, from 150 meters for a food stall to 500 meters for a forest park, and the accuracy of your phone's location is taken into account so you aren't left standing at the entrance unable to check in.

Once you've checked in, the place's stamp goes into your stamp book. The frame shape shows the category — hexagons for historic sites, ticket shapes for railway stations, book shapes for libraries — and the stamp carries the place's name and the date of your first visit. Places you haven't been to yet leave a dashed outline in the stamp book.

You can visit the same place many times. There's only ever one stamp, but every visit is recorded.

Photos, calendar and postcards​

When you check in, you can add up to 6 photos and a short note. These visits are saved to your calendar, where each day uses the first photo you took that day as its cover, and each month shows how many stamps you collected and how many new places you visited.

If you want to share the trip, the photo, stamp, place name and date can be combined into a portrait postcard that you send to friends or post on social media through your phone's share sheet. If you didn't take a photo, the app uses a stamp-focused layout instead.

No sign-in needed to start​

ExploreStamp works without signing in. Your check-ins and photos are stored on your phone and aren't uploaded by default, and your location is read only once, when you tap check in.

For now, moving to a new phone means moving your data yourself, so the app has built-in backup export and import: it packs all your records and photos into one file that you can save to whichever cloud drive you use. Optional accounts and cloud backup are planned for the future.

Kinds of places​

Places fall into 20 categories. Here are the ones Taiwan has so far, with examples:

The other categories are zoos and aquariums, theme parks, landmarks and viewpoints, performance and sports venues, bookstores, university campuses, shopping, markets, cafés and airports, which are being added country by country.

See the themed routes under Explore.

No need to wait for a long holiday​

Collecting stamps doesn't have to mean a big trip. If you live in Taipei, you can visit the Beitou library or Bopiliao on a weekend; in Tainan, you can cover most of "A Walk Through Tainan" in an afternoon. Turn on place suggestion reminders in the app's settings, and it will suggest somewhere you haven't been yet at a time you choose.

To hear about new places and routes, subscribe to the newsletter or join the Facebook group.

Cover photo: Jumi Park / Unsplash