Yanshui (鹽水), in the north of Tainan, is known all over Taiwan for one wild night: the Beehive Fireworks at the Lantern Festival, when rockets are fired into the crowd. The rest of the year it's a quiet small town that was once a busy trading port called Yuejin (月津), with an 1847 mansion, an old street of shophouses, a waterfront park on the old harbor, and the noodles said to have been born here.
Plan it right
- Get there: train to Xinying, then a city bus to Yanshui. A car or scooter is easier.
- When: the Lantern Festival for the fireworks, the Lunar New Year season for the lantern festival, or any cooler day for a slow walk.
- Pair it with: another day in the north of the city. → Baihe
The Beehive Fireworks (鹽水蜂炮)
Tainan's most famous festival. The story goes back to the late Qing dynasty, when an epidemic was killing people in Yanshui every day. The townspeople prayed to the god Guandi, who promised to parade through town on the night of the Lantern Festival, and his followers set off fireworks behind his palanquin until dawn. The plague ended, and the parade became a yearly custom. People believe that running through the fireworks clears away bad luck for the new year.
The palanquin starts at the Yanshui Wu Temple (鹽水武廟). In 2026 it set out on the evening of March 2, and on March 3 the main rocket wall was lit on the Yanshui Junior High sports field at 21:00, with the parade going on through the district until dawn. By the lunar calendar, 2027 falls on February 19 and 20. The city announces the schedule each year, so confirm it first.
- Safety: the city says anyone entering the firework zone must wear full protective gear. Helmets, thick jackets and gloves are sold in town. The police set up a temporary service center at the Yanshui police station, No. 23, Wumiao Rd.
- Traffic: downtown Yanshui closes to traffic from 15:00 on the main day. Park outside the center and walk about 10 minutes in.
- Late buses: in 2026 the last bus from Yanshui back to Xinying left at 01:00.
It's loud, crowded and not for everyone. If you go into the zone, wear the full gear the city asks for. → Tainan festivals through the year
Yuejin Port and the lantern festival
The old harbor is now Yuejin Port Water Park (月津港親水公園), a waterside park. Every Lunar New Year season it hosts the Yuejin Port Lantern Festival (月津港燈節), with light art over the water and lanterns in the lanes. In 2026 it ran from February 7 to March 8, lit from 17:30 each evening, with more than 40 light installations. The 2027 dates are not announced yet. The organizers post updates on the festival's Facebook pages; the latest news is in the Liberty Times.
The old town
Bajiao Lou (八角樓). A wooden mansion whose name means "octagonal building", built in 1847, when Yuejin Port was a busy trading hub. The Ye family, rich from the sugar trade, brought in craftsmen from China and built it with Fujian fir and imported brick and stone. When Japanese troops arrived in 1895, a Japanese prince used it as his quarters and command post, and a stone marker in the courtyard records it. Part of the house was lost in the Second World War. The Ye family still looks after it, so call ahead.
Qiaonan Old Street (橋南老街). Once Yanshui's main street, where merchants gathered. It faded after the harbor silted up, and today a row of old buildings remains, with the Quanli Blacksmith Shop still at work and the Beidi Temple nearby.
Yongcheng Theater (永成戲院). An old theater that the city lists among Yanshui's sights.
What to eat
The district office says Yanshui is the birthplace of yi noodles (意麵), made from strong flour, water, eggs and salt. Folk stories say the name comes from the "yi" sound people made while rolling the dough. Eat them in soup, or stir-fried with strips of pork. The same noodles turn up all over Tainan under eel and stir-fries. → Eel noodles
Locals also eat pork head meat rice for breakfast: rice cooked in a pot with a pork head, with the meat sliced on the side. Many shops around the old streets still serve it. The district office also names doucian thick soup, made with finely chopped noodles, and pan-fried buns filled with pork, bamboo shoot, red bean or peanut. Hours at small shops change, so check Google Maps before you go.
The Xinying sugar railway
If you come by train, you change at Xinying, and Xinying has a little railway of its own. Taiwan's sugar companies laid narrow-gauge lines, 762 mm wide, to carry cane to their mills, and the small trains were nicknamed wufenche (五分車), "half-cars". In May 1909 the Ensuiko Sugar company (鹽水港製糖), named after Yanshui's old port, became the first to carry passengers, on the line from Xinying to Yanshui. By the end of the Japanese era Taiwan had nearly 3,000 km of sugar railways, and they declined fast from the 1970s.
Taisugar calls the Xinying Sugar Factory (新營糖廠) one of its three main mills and a hub of the old passenger network, with dense tracks and a big collection of carriages and small diesel engines. The old Ensuiko head office on the grounds is a city monument, closed to visitors for now. The factory is now the Xinying Railway Cultural Park (新營鐵道文化園區), and the tourist trains leave from Zhongxing Station (中興車站), No. 42, Zhongxing Rd., Xinying District (新營區中興路42號).
Weekends and public holidays
- Zhongxing to Huoshaodian Station (火燒店站): 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00. About 2.5 km each way and 35 to 40 minutes there and back, over the Jishui River bridge (急水溪橋) from town into farmland.
- Zhongxing to the sugar line's Xinying Station (新營車站): 11:40 and 13:40, coming back from Xinying at 11:50 and 13:50. About 1 km each way and 15 to 20 minutes there and back.
- Fares (adult, return): NT$150 to Huoshaodian on the Shengli railcar (勝利號). Two train types run to Xinying, the Shengli and the Diema (德馬) diesel, and the fare depends on which one you ride: NT$80 on the Shengli or NT$60 on the Diema. Taisugar doesn't say which type runs at which time. Half fare for children 115 to 150 cm tall or aged 7 to 12, and for disability card holders plus one companion. Children 6 and under (preschool age) ride free with a paying adult.
- Tickets: buy them at Zhongxing Station on the day (it's open 08:40 to 17:00); only that day's tickets are sold. Seats are not numbered, a railcar takes about 30 people, and a missed train can't be refunded, so come early.
Weekdays: group bookings only
Monday to Friday there is no public service. Groups of 20 or more can book a train at least 3 days ahead by phone. If you're a smaller party, Taisugar suggests calling to ask whether a group has booked a train you could join, though group plans can change.
Coming by Taiwan Railway? The sugar line's Xinying Station is its own small heritage station, separate from TRA Xinying Station. It once stood right beside the TRA station and moved in 1977 to its present spot by the Xinjin Road level crossing (新進路平交道). Taiwan's Cultural Memory Bank calls this the only tourist sugar train in Taiwan you can change to from a Taiwan Railway train. So on weekends and holidays you can walk from TRA Xinying Station to the sugar line's Xinying Station (糖鐵新營車站) and ride the 11:50 or 13:50 train to Zhongxing, about 1 km away at the park. Taisugar names Zhongxing as the place to buy tickets and doesn't say whether you can buy one or board at the Xinying end, so ask at the park or call 06-6324570 before you count on it.
Plan the visit
- Entry and parking: free; you pay only for the train.
- In the park: the 25-track Sunshine Lawn, the Yuntian footbridge, a landscape park with a bike path, and Taisugar's ice shop (open 08:30 to 17:30).
- Getting there: Taisugar's directions are for drivers: leave the freeway at the Xinying interchange, follow Fuxing Rd. toward town, turn right on Xinjin Rd. Sec. 2, then right on Zhongxing Rd. From TRA Xinying Station, a taxi to Zhongxing Station is the simple way, or on weekends and holidays ride the sugar train in from its Xinying Station (see above).
- Time: allow two to three hours for a ride and a wander. It fits easily before or after Yanshui on the same day.
- Access and closures: there are accessible toilets, and staff will help with the step up into the carriages. The park closes when the city announces a typhoon day off work and school.
- Enquiries: 06-632-4570
Timetable and fares as published by Taisugar on July 24, 2026; check before you go. Taisugar runs a sister sugar-train park at Wushulin, further north. → Houbi and the Wushulin sugar trains
Getting there
By train and bus: take a Taiwan Railway train to Xinying Station (新營車站), then walk to the bus stop across from the station and ride a Brown Line bus (棕幹線, or Brown 1 to 6) to the Yanshui stop. Check times on the city's bus information site.
By car or scooter: leave the freeway at the Xinying interchange, head toward Yanshui and drive west on County Road 172 for about 2.6 km. → Scooters and cars
Good to know
- Bajiao Lou hours: daily 08:00 to 17:00, family run, so call ahead
- Entry: free
- Address: No. 1, Lane 4, Zhongshan Rd., Yanshui District (鹽水區中山路4巷1號)
Sources
The fireworks, safety rules, transport, traffic control and Yanshui sights from Tainan's Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival site; 2027 lunar dates from our festival guide. Bajiao Lou from Travel Tainan, Qiaonan Old Street from Travel Tainan. Food from the Yanshuei District Office. The lantern festival from the Yuejin Port Lantern Festival, NOWnews and UDN. The Xinying sugar railway timetable, fares and park details from Taisugar's Xinying Railway Cultural Park FAQ, its Xinying Sugar Factory page and its Tainan branch opening hours; the sugar line's Xinying Station from Taiwan's Cultural Memory Bank; sugar railway history from the Taipei Times. Checked October 2026.