The National Palace Museum Southern Branch (故宮南院) is the southern home of the National Palace Museum, and it makes one of the easiest rainy-day escapes from Tainan. It isn't in Tainan: it sits in Taibao City, Chiayi County, one stop north on the high speed rail. Where the Taipei museum is known for Chinese imperial treasures, the southern branch was set up as a museum of Asian art and culture, in a striking building inside a big lakeside park.
Hours, prices and buses below come from the museum's own English site, checked October 2026.
What's inside
The museum describes the three curves of its design as China, India and Persia, the three ancient Asian civilizations its galleries bring together. The permanent exhibitions in October 2026 include:
- Tea Culture in East Asia: how tea was boiled, whisked and then steeped over the centuries, and how it travelled to Mongolia, Tibet, Japan and Taiwan.
- Asian textiles: gold-woven cloth and narrative textiles from the museum's collection, shown in low light.
- A Moving History of People and Place in Chiayi: the story of Chiayi, once called Tsulo, told with objects from the collection plus sound and light.
- Rotating treasures: themed shows from the main collection, such as one on groups of gods and immortals in Chinese art.
Special exhibitions change through the year and can be the main event, so look at the museum's current exhibitions page before you go.
The building and the park
The site covers about 70 hectares: 20 for the museum and 50 for the park. Architect Kris Yao based the building on three Chinese ink-painting brushstrokes, thick ink, dry brush and ink wash. The solid mass, Moyun Hall, holds the galleries; the open Feibai Hall holds the lobby, learning spaces, restaurant and shop. You walk in across the Zhimei Bridge, a 142-meter steel arch over the lake with no piers.
The park is free and open 05:00 to 24:00, with a lakeside trail, a lotus pond, gardens and a long red slide. From the south entrance the museum suggests about 10 minutes on foot to the doors, and about 20 minutes from the north entrance.
With kids, or on a wet day
This is a good one for families. Visitors 17 and under get in free, and the Children's Creative Center on the first floor of Feibai Hall is free too, with a family restroom. The information desk lends strollers and wheelchairs at no charge, and there are breastfeeding rooms. Outside, the park has a parent-child play area at Southern Breeze Plaza as well as the slide.
Because the galleries are indoors, it works when Tainan is wet or too hot. → Rainy-day ideas in Tainan → Tainan with kids
Getting there from Tainan
High speed rail: take THSR from Tainan (the Guiren station, not the downtown TRA station) to THSR Chiayi Station, the next station north. Check the THSR timetable for a train that stops at Chiayi.
Bus from THSR Chiayi: from Exit 2, buses 106, 166, 7235 and Yellow 9 go to the museum. Bus 105 stops at NPM Southern Branch (North), about 15 minutes' walk from the entrance. BRT 7212 also runs to the museum.
Free shuttle: the museum's July 2025 timetable shows a free shuttle from the bus platform outside Exit 2 of THSR Chiayi, Tuesday to Sunday. It leaves the station at 45 minutes past the hour from 08:45 to 16:45, plus 17:35 on holidays, and leaves the museum's Museum 1 shuttle stop at half past the hour from 09:30 to 16:30, then 17:20, plus 18:20 on holidays. The museum says changes are posted on its website, so check before you rely on it.
From TRA Chiayi: if you come by regular train, BRT 7212 runs from the back (rear) side of TRA Chiayi Station to the museum.
Pair it with Xingang
If you have a car, or time for a second bus ride, the small town of Xingang (新港), also in Chiayi County, adds a very different afternoon.
Xingang Fengtian Temple (新港奉天宮) is dedicated to Mazu. Since 1988 the famous Dajia Mazu pilgrimage, which sets out each spring from Taichung, has walked south as far as this temple before turning for home. Look for the Tiger Lord (虎爺), who has his own hall in the west wing, through the left-side door as you face the main altar.
Nearby, the Incense Artistic Culture Garden (新港香藝文化園區) began as the Chen brothers' incense business and became a free tourist factory in 2008. It's open 08:00 to 18:00 every day. There's an exhibition area, a demonstration workshop and a shop. Buses 7201 and 7325 run from downtown Chiayi; get off at Caigong Village (菜公村) on Road 159, about 500 meters away. By car, it's at the junction of Road 159 and Chiayi Local Road 68 (嘉68).
Good to know
- Hours: galleries 09:00 to 17:00 Tuesday to Friday, 09:00 to 18:00 on weekends. Park 05:00 to 24:00
- Closed: Mondays
- Entry: NT$150. Free for visitors 17 and under, and for people with disabilities plus one companion. Free for everyone on New Year's Day, the Lantern Festival, International Museum Day (18 May), World Tourism Day (27 September) and National Day (10 October)
- Address: No. 888, Gugong Blvd., Taibao City, Chiayi County
- Getting there: THSR to Chiayi, then a bus or the free shuttle from Exit 2
Half a day is a comfortable pace for the galleries and a walk in the park. The forest railway and the old town of Chiayi are close by if you want to stay up north longer. → Chiayi City on a day trip → More day trips from Tainan
Sources
Hours, prices and free days from the museum's hours and tickets page; buses, BRT and the shuttle timetable from its public transport page; the building, bridge and park from its introduction, park map and facilities pages; galleries from its exhibitions pages. Xingang from the Taipei Times (Fengtian Temple, 2021; Incense Artistic Culture Garden, 2026). Checked October 2026.