Xinhua (新化), a district east of central Tainan, makes an easy, unhurried day out. In town, Xinhua Old Street (新化老街) keeps a long row of Japanese-era shophouses with carved Baroque-style facades. A short bus ride away, Hutoupi (虎頭埤) is a quiet lake in the hills and the earliest irrigation reservoir built in Taiwan. A tourist shuttle bus links both to a train station, so you don't need a car.
Plan it right
- Get there: train to Xinshi Station (新市), then Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 168, seven buses each way.
- Entry: the old street is free and always open. Hutoupi is NT$100 for a full ticket.
- Time: half a day for the street and the lake, a full day if you add the forest or a bike ride.
- Heads up: parts of Hutoupi are closed for works until early 2027. Details below.
Xinhua Old Street
In the Japanese era, Xinhua was a political and commercial center at the gateway to Tainan's hill country, a place where merchants traded with Japanese, Han Chinese and Pingpu peoples. The old street still shows it. The shophouses along it include well-kept Western-style buildings and Baroque-style facades with decorative carvings. It's a street, so it's open any time; shops keep their own hours.
Nearby are a few more pieces of old Xinhua:
- The Xinhua Town Office (新化街役場), built in 1934. When it was due to be pulled down for a parking lot, local people moved the whole building with ropes, and the ropes are still on show under glass panels in the floor. Today it is a restaurant, open 11:00 to 21:30 and closed on Mondays.
- Tavokan Cultural Park (大目降文化園區), with Xinhua's old Butokuden martial arts hall (武德殿), Japanese-era dormitories and a small local history house (大目降故事館).
The old street is the kind of place to wander for an hour and see where you end up. For more buildings from the same era in the city itself → Japanese-era Tainan
Hutoupi Scenic Area
Hutoupi was built in the 1840s, named for a hill shaped like a tiger's head, and it is the earliest reservoir built in Taiwan for irrigation, still watering Xinhua's farmland. It is often called Little Sun Moon Lake and the back garden of Tainan. In 1954 it was ranked first of the Eight Views of Nanying, and the local poet Wang Ze-xiu (王則修) wrote a set of poems on its own eight views that visitors still follow today. The sluice gate on the south shore dates from 1905.
Come early or late. The scenic area says dawn and dusk are the times not to miss, when the lake takes on the colors of the sky. There are lakeside paths and forest trails, the Huyue suspension bridge (虎月吊橋), boat rides on the water, and barbecue and camping areas.
- Hours: 06:30 to 19:00, tickets sold until 18:00.
- Entry: NT$100 full ticket; NT$80 for Tainan residents and students; NT$50 for children 6 to 12 and over 65s from outside Tainan; NT$10 for under 6s. Under 3s go free.
- Vehicles: NT$10 for a bicycle, NT$30 for a scooter, NT$50 for a car. Cycling is paused when the paths are wet, and on the steepest slopes you must get off and walk.
- Closures in 2026: some facilities and trails are closed from 10 March to the end of December 2026. The road from the all-ages playground to the activity center is closed to people and vehicles for slope works until about February 2027, and the playground itself is closed for repairs. Check the scenic area's news page before you go.
- Address: 36, Lane 42, Zhongxing Road, Xinhua District (新化區中興路42巷36號).
Xinhua Forest Station
Just east of Hutoupi, the NCHU Xinhua Forest Station (中興大學新化林場) is National Chung Hsing University's experimental forest. It is dense and shady, mostly mahogany, rich in insects and popular with Tainan locals for walks. Travel Tainan calls it the best place in Tainan to see fireflies, which glow at night in April. It is open daily, 06:00 to 17:00. We couldn't find official entry fees, so check before you go. Bus 168 has a stop there (興大林場).
A fruit market on the way
We've been to the big fruit market in Xinhua ourselves, the Xinhua fruit and vegetable market (新化果菜市場), with its rolling green roof that you can walk on. It is mostly wholesale, so check the hours before you go, but it's a great way to see what's in season. Bus 168 stops there too, except when the market is closed. → Tainan's markets
Bus 168: Hupi Old Street line
Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 168 (168虎埤老街線) runs from Xinshi Station through Xinhua to Dakeng Leisure Farm, out along Road 168. The stops that matter most: Xinshi Station, Guotai Building (國泰大樓, for the old street), Xinhua fruit and vegetable market, Hutoupi Scenic Area and Xinhua Forest Station (興大林場). The route page also lists Wang's smoked mutton (王家燻羊肉) along Road 168; check Google Maps for its hours before you go.
- Times: seven buses each way. From Xinshi Station: 08:20, 09:40, 11:30, 13:00, 14:50, 15:30 and 16:20. The old street is 9 minutes in and Hutoupi 16 minutes. The last bus back leaves Hutoupi at 17:19 and the old street at 17:26.
- Fares: by distance. NT$26 for a full fare from Xinshi Station to the old street or to Hutoupi, and NT$53 for the whole line. Pay on board with cash, EasyCard, iPASS or mobile payment.
- Operator: Xingnan Bus (興南客運), 06-263-6637, 08:00 to 22:00.
Other ways in: from Tainan Station, Xingnan's Green trunk line (綠幹線) goes to Xinhua, where you change to Green 13 (綠13) for Hutoupi, though that bus is infrequent. From HSR Tainan Station, a taxi is about 25 km. By car, take National Freeway 8 to the Xinhua exit; Hutoupi is about 4 km on. → Getting around Tainan
By bike
The Xinhua path (新化自行車道) is about 37.4 km and passes Hutoupi and Mujia Mountain (木架山). → Cycling in Tainan
The 2026 reservoir tours
In June 2026 the city tourism bureau and the Taiwan Tourism Administration launched five themed routes and eight ticket packages linking Hutoupi with two other reservoirs, Deyuanpi (德元埤) in Liuying and Hulupi (葫蘆埤) in Guantian. The Xinhua route takes in the fruit market, the old street, the Butokuden and Hutoupi. The tours were sold in limited numbers through three travel agencies, and the packages on the city's 好南入手 platform. We couldn't confirm whether any are still on sale, so treat them as a bonus if you find them.
How we'd run the day
Catch the 08:20 or 09:40 bus from Xinshi. Get off at the old street for a slow walk and a look at the town office, then take the next bus on to Hutoupi for the lake and a forest walk. If you're into it, carry on to the forest station, and catch the bus back in the late afternoon. On another day, Wushantou is the other great reservoir trip. → Wushantou Reservoir and Hatta Yoichi
Want help planning it?
If you'd like help fitting Xinhua into your days, or a driver to pair it with somewhere further out, we're happy to help. → Work with us
Sources
The old street, the town office and the forest station from Travel Tainan (Xinhua Old Street, Xinhua Town Office, Xinhua Forest Station), and Hutoupi's lake activities from Travel Tainan (Hutoupi, Explore Hutoupi). Hutoupi's history, hours, fees, closures and directions from the scenic area's own site (history, fees, hours and notices, road works, getting there). Bus 168 stops, times and fares from the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle (route, timetable and fares). The bike path from the Tainan Transportation Bureau open data. The 2026 reservoir tours from UDN. Checked October 2026.