Chihkan Tower and the Guohua Street Area

Chihkan Tower (赤崁樓) is the anchor of the oldest corner of the old town, and the streets around it pack in more history per minute of walking than anywhere else in Tainan. Three national monuments sit within a couple of minutes of each other: the tower, the Official God of War Temple (祀典武廟) and the Grand Mazu Temple (大天后宮). Around them, narrow Xinmei Street (新美街) hides a run of small, old temples, and a few blocks west along Minzu Road the stalls of Guohua Street (國華街) and Yongle Market take over. Give it a morning on foot.

The fast version

• What: a 17th-century fort site, two of the city's great temples, and a lane of small neighborhood temples.
• Where: the north side of West Central, around Minzu Road Section 2 and Yongfu Road.
• When: morning for the temples. Chihkan Tower stays open until 21:30, so it also works in the cooler evening.
• Cost: Chihkan Tower is NT$70. The temples are free.

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Chihkan Tower

The Dutch built Fort Provintia here in 1653, across the old Taijiang lagoon from Fort Zeelandia in Anping. Very little of their fort is left: the city's tourism site points to the west gate and a stretch of wall at the northeast corner. What you see on top are later Chinese buildings, the Haishen Temple and the Wenchang Pavilion, from a rebuilding in 1886. In the garden, look for the row of nine stone turtles carrying Qing-dynasty stelae, moved here in 1960 from the old Great South Gate, and a statue of Koxinga accepting the Dutch surrender. As of October 2026 the Haishen Temple and the turtle stelae are under restoration, so parts of the site may be closed off.

• Hours: 08:30 to 21:30 daily; tickets on sale until 21:00
• Entry: NT$70; NT$35 for students; free under 6 and for Tainan residents with ID. For 2026 the city sold a Historic Sites pass (NT$150 for any two of the four city-run sites), but sales ended on 31 August 2026.
• Address: No. 212, Sec. 2, Minzu Rd, West Central District

→ Chihkan Tower guide

The Yongfu Road temples

A two-minute walk apart on Yongfu Road, these are two of the most important working temples in Tainan. The Official God of War Temple is dedicated to Guan Gong and has the long red wall that is one of the best-known sights in the city. Next door, the Grand Mazu Temple was the mansion of the Ming prince Ningjing until 1683, when it became a temple to Mazu, the sea goddess.

• Official God of War Temple: 05:30 to 21:00 daily, free. No. 229, Sec. 2, Yongfu Rd
• Grand Mazu Temple: 06:00 to 21:00 daily, free

→ Tainan temples and temple etiquette

Xinmei Street and the small temples

In the 17th century, Xinmei Street was roughly where the coastline ran. Today it is a narrow lane of old shops and neighborhood temples, and the most rewarding part of the area to wander slowly.

• Kaiji Wumiao (開基武廟): a smaller Guan Gong temple, once the bell tower of the Ming prince's residence. Its bell dates from 1858. 07:00 to 21:00 daily. No. 116, Xinmei St
• Kaiji Lingyou Temple (開基靈祐宮): built in 1671 for Xuantian Shangdi, and easy to spot by its black columns and red beams. 08:00 to 20:00 daily
• The Wanfu screen wall (萬福庵照牆): a traditional spirit wall, meant to block evil spirits, with a plaque from 1842. 07:00 to 19:30 daily

A little further north, just over the line in North District, the Founding Mazu Temple (開基天后宮) dates from 1662 and is described by the city as Taiwan's earliest privately built Mazu temple. Locals call it the small Mazu Temple. Ice cream sellers often set up outside. Open 06:00 to 21:00 daily.

Eating around Chihkan

Two Michelin Bib Gourmand counters sit on Minzu Road a few doors from the tower: Fu Tai Table 3rd Gen (福泰飯桌第三代) at No. 219, Sec. 2, a rice-and-dishes table that started as a street stall (10:00 to 13:30 and 16:30 to 18:30, closed Sunday and Monday), and Lo Cheng Migao (落成米糕) at No. 241, Sec. 2, for sticky rice with pork (10:30 to 18:30, closed Wednesday).

Keep walking west along Minzu Road and the street numbers tick into Section 3, where Yongle Market sits on the corner of Guohua Street. This is the densest run of classic Tainan food in the city, and it gets its own page. In the evening, A-Jiang Eel Noodles is at No. 89, Sec. 3, Minzu Rd (17:00 to midnight, closed Monday).

→ Guohua Street, Yongle Market and Zhengxing guide · Food crawl

A walking order

1. Be at Chihkan Tower when it opens at 08:30, while it is quiet.
2. Walk to Yongfu Road for the Official God of War Temple, then the Grand Mazu Temple next door.
3. Drift through Xinmei Street for Kaiji Wumiao, Kaiji Lingyou Temple and the Wanfu screen wall.
4. If you have time, go north to the Founding Mazu Temple.
5. Late morning, head west along Minzu Road to Yongle Market and Guohua Street to eat.
6. Come back another evening: the tower is open until 21:30, and the heat has gone.

The Confucius Temple is the natural other half of the day, a walk to the south. → Confucius Temple area · Temple route · West Central old town

Sources

History, hours and locations of the sights from Travel Tainan: Chihkan Culture Park, the Travel Tainan Chikan Route and Travel Tainan: Founding Mazu Temple. Chihkan Tower tickets and temple hours as on our attraction and temple pages. Restaurant addresses and hours from the MICHELIN Guide Tainan. Checked October 2026.