Tainan Confucian Temple

This is Taiwan's oldest and most revered Confucian shrine. It was first built in 1666, but was rebuilt many times. The gorgeous architecture and colorful facades make for an atmospheric stroll on a quiet morning. One of the city's highlights.

Just across the street from Confucius Temple, the Confucius Temple Shopping District features many hip and themed cafes, souvenir shops, trendy eateries, etc. On weekend, this place is filled with youngsters shopping, and hanging out in cafes. There are a few really nice eateries and they are always full, so do come early if you want to have lunch after visiting the temple. There is a very good bookshop carrying mostly Chinese books, but they do have quite a comprehensive English books section. A lot of Tainan famous snacks can be found here.

The Confucious Temple is located in a serene and peaceful park, right in the heart of Tainan. It's nice to stroll around and marvel at its beautiful architecture. When I went there the last time, there was a nice old man giving away Chinese calligraphy he had written himself for free. He then proceeded to tell us the history of the temple. If you go inside the paid temple, check out the lions on the stairs and railings, they all have different facial expressions.

We are Buddhist so we like to visit Confucious Temple. Confucious is a great teacher who born three thousand years ago. People now prayed him and hoped that our son will became as intelligent as Confucious.

This temple is one of the better temples that I've visited in Asia. It was originally built in ~1680 and has been reconstructed a couple of times. Still, it has a nice old feeling, and it is a nice mix of a working temple, a museum with many religious and anthropological artifacts, and a quiet park. Right downtown near the city museum.