East of the city, the land rises into low hills of bamboo and bare grey mudstone. Three districts out here make a good family day by car: Shanshang (山上) has a Japanese-era waterworks turned museum in a garden, Zuozhen (左鎮) has Taiwan's fossil museum and the strange badland viewpoints of Erliao and the Moon World, and Danei (大內) has the city's astronomy center. One thing to plan around: all three museums close on Wednesdays.
Plan it right
- Day: any day but Wednesday. The waterworks, the fossil park and the astronomy center all close that day.
- Getting there: a car or taxi. The two big museums list city buses, but the viewpoints have no bus we could confirm.
- Entry: NT$100 full price at both the waterworks and the fossil park, with discounts. Details below.
- Time: a full day. Pick two or three stops rather than racing through everything.
Shan-Shang Garden and Old Waterworks Museum
The Shan-Shang Garden and Old Waterworks Museum (山上花園水道博物館) is the old Tainan waterworks, and it is a lovely, green place to spend a morning. In 1897 the British engineer W. K. Burton and his student Hamano Yashirō (濱野彌四郎) surveyed the area's water sources. Building started in 1912 and took ten years: from 1922 the waterworks sent clean water to the city by gravity, until newer reservoirs and treatment plants replaced it in 1982. It became a national monument in 2005 and opened as a museum in 2019. Hatta Yoichi (八田與一), who later left to build the Chianan Canal, worked under Hamano on the Tainan waterworks. → Wushantou Reservoir and Hatta Yoichi
Inside the museum area you walk through the old rapid filter room, the filter cylinder building and the pump house, all national monuments, set among gardens and old trees. The Siraya National Scenic Area points out the rooftop filtration room, rare in Taiwan, and 14 filter cylinders made in England. It suggests two to three hours here, and says to bring insect repellent or wear long sleeves, as there are a lot of insects.
About a kilometer away is the free purification pool area. Bats live in the pools, so the pools themselves are closed to the public to protect them, but you can walk around the outdoor buildings.
- Hours: 09:30 to 17:30, every day except Wednesday. Tickets stop and last entry is at 16:30.
- Entry: museum area NT$100 full price (visitors from outside Tainan and from abroad); NT$50 half price for students, Taiwanese nationals over 65 and Tainan residents; NT$70 each for groups of 20 or more. Free for Shanshang residents, children under 6 not yet at primary school, and people with a disability card plus one companion. Bring original ID for any discount. The purification pool area is free.
- Food: the museum sells light meals, drinks and souvenirs, run by the restaurant in the old Xinhua Town Office. → Xinhua Old Street and Hutoupi
- Address: 16 Shanshang Village, Shanshang District (山上區山上里山上16號). Phone 06-578-1900.
- Getting there: there is parking (NT$30 an hour for cars). By bus, the museum says to take the Green trunk line (綠幹線) from Tainan Station to Xinhua, then change to Green 2-1, Green 10 or Green 11; or take the train to Shanhua Station and change to Green 2-1 or Green 11.
Zuozhen Fossil Park
Tainan Zuozhen Fossil Park (臺南左鎮化石園區) is the one to bring children to. Cailiao (菜寮), on the Cailiao River (菜寮溪), is known as the home of Taiwan's fossils, and the park has five halls. The star is the full skeleton of an ancient rhinoceros, Hayasaka's rhinoceros (早坂中國犀), with fossils of crocodiles, deer, tigers, bears and Taiwan's primates around it. The Story Hall tells of Zuozhen Man (左鎮人), the Siraya people of the river valley and Chen Chun-mu (陳春木), the local collector known as Grandpa Fossil. In the Exploration Hall you can watch how fossils are cleaned and restored and see the elephants that once lived in Taiwan, and the Life Evolution Hall runs from the first life on Earth through the dinosaurs.
- Hours: 09:00 to 17:00, closed Wednesdays. Last tickets 16:00, last entry 16:30.
- Entry: NT$100 full price; NT$70 for students with a student card and groups of 20 or more; NT$50 for over 65s and children 6 to 11. Free for Zuozhen residents, children under 6, and people with a disability card plus one companion. Bring ID for any discount.
- Food: no eating or drinking in the halls and no outside food (water is fine). The park shop sells drinks and light meals.
- Address: 61-23 Ronghe Village, Zuozhen District (左鎮區榮和里61-23號). Phone 06-573-1174.
- Getting there: by car, heading south on National Freeway 3, exit at Shanhua and drive through Shanshang to Zuozhen; there is a car park at the park and another at the Zuozhen station (左鎮驛站). The park says not to park along Highway 20. By bus, the Green trunk line from Tainan Station runs along Highway 20 through Xinhua to the Zuozhen Fossil Park stop.
The badlands: Erliao and the Moon World
Around Zuozhen the hills are bare grey mudstone and chalky soil, cut by streams into steep ridges and gullies, where little grows except thorny bamboo. It's an odd, beautiful landscape and nothing like the city. Both of these viewpoints are in Zuozhen District, and Travel Tainan lists them as open around the clock.
- Erliao (二寮) is famous for sunrise over the bamboo and the badlands, often with mist in the valleys. Travel Tainan says the best mornings come the day after summer rain, that photographers arrive well before dawn, and that the result is unpredictable: some days bring clear rays of light, others only a soft glow in the mist. Go for the view and count anything more as a bonus.
- Caoshan Moon World (草山月世界) is the badland itself, a ridge of pale, eroded hills. Its highest point is Hill 308 (308高地), which looks down over the Moon World. The thorny bamboo turns yellow in winter and red in spring, and March and April are the best months to see the color.
Neither listing gives trails, toilets or a bus, so plan on a car or taxi and treat these as roadside viewpoints. Mudstone turns soft when wet, so stay off the bare slopes, especially after rain. Next door in Longqi District (龍崎), the badland at Niupu (牛埔) has the Niupu Mudstone Soil and Water Conservation Park (牛埔泥岩水土保持教學園區), built in 1999 by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau with six learning stations about this difficult ground. We couldn't find official hours for it.
Nanying Astronomical Education Area, Danei
The Nanying Astronomical Education Area (南瀛天文館) in Danei has an observatory, an exhibition hall and a star theater with 3D and 2D shows. On Saturday evenings the observatory opens for night viewing, a good reason to stay out late at the end of the day.
- Hours: 09:00 to 17:00, Thursday to Tuesday; tickets for the exhibition hall and star theater until 16:30. Night viewing at the observatory on Saturdays, 19:00 to 21:00. Closed Wednesdays and Lunar New Year's Eve; open on national holidays.
- Entry: exhibition hall NT$80, 3D star theater NT$150, 2D star theater NT$120 at full price, with lower prices for students, children and Tainan residents. Under 6s go free. The observatory and the outdoor areas are free.
- Show times: the star theater runs set sessions. Check the program page or call before you go.
- Address: 34-2 Quxi Village, Danei District (大內區曲溪里34-2號). Phone 06-576-1076.
How we'd run the day
Choose your stops by what your group likes: fossils and the waterworks for younger children, the badlands for photographers, the astronomy center for a Saturday night. Start early, since the hills are hot and shade is patchy by midday, and carry water and sun protection. The fossil park's own directions from the Shanhua exit run through Shanshang, so the waterworks and the fossils pair naturally. If someone in your group wants the sunrise at Erliao, do that first and reach the fossil park when it opens at 09:00.
For more on driving or hiring a scooter in Tainan → Scooters and cars. For other ideas with children → Tainan with kids. All of the city's museums in one place → Museums in Tainan
In season: the Zuozhen Lantern Festival
Zuozhen has held a lantern festival since 2024. In 2026, its third year, the theme was bamboo and it ran from 31 January to 8 March around Zhecheng Park (蔗埕公園), the old street and the fossil park. Dates for 2027 weren't out when we checked. → Festivals and events
Want help planning it?
If you'd like a driver for the hill country, or help fitting it into your days, we're happy to help. → Work with us
Sources
The waterworks' history, hours, fees, food and transport from the museum's own site (about, hours and fees, food, getting there), and the filters, visit length and insect advice from the Siraya National Scenic Area. The fossil park's hours, fees, halls, food rules and directions from its own site (home, fees, Fossil Hall, Story Hall, Exploration Hall, FAQ, getting there). Erliao, Caoshan Moon World and Hill 308 from Travel Tainan (Erliao, Caoshan Moon World, Hill 308). Niupu from the Longqi District Office and mudstone from the Ministry of Agriculture. The astronomy center from its own site (hours, fees, programs). The 2026 lantern festival from Taiwan News. Checked October 2026.