Tainan: the Heart of Taiwan

寶島的重鎮：台南Discover Taiwan's culture and history in the island's oldest city一探台灣最古老城市的文化和歷史 by Winnie Shih.

Locals say that to visit Tainan is to feel the heart of Taiwan. As the island's oldest city, you can relive the past as you walk through Dutch-built forts and other historic structures built centuries ago. Get a taste of the famous local cuisine, and don't be surprised if vendors tell you that their recipes are over a hundred years old. "Everything is old here, except us," says a local shop owner. " I love the warm hearts of the people here. That never changes."

Historical roots
Begin your tour at the Anping (安平) Tree House. Built in the 19the century as a warehouse for British trading company Tait & Co., the building was abandoned in 1935. Since then, a giant banyan tree(菩提樹) has made its home there. Upon entering the Tree House, you'll find yourself in a wild jungle. Roots of all sizes creep along the ceilings, leaving you in awe of their immense reach. Next to the Tree House stands the Tait & Co. Merchant House, which includes life-sized wax displays of the city's beginnings and colonial influences.
Learn how Tainan began as a sleepy fishing village and evolved into a major port.

Wetlands of wonder
Twenty minutes from the city center is Taijiang(台江)National Park. This park includes river estuaries, mangrove forests and swamps that are home to 200 species of birds including egrets and herons. Look for the endangered black-faced spoonbill, the park's rarest visitor. With beaks in the delightful shape of a spoon, this bird scoops up some food, tosses it in the air and catches it in its mouth.

Exploring forts.
After you return to the city, stroll through the man forts that once stood guard over Old Taiwan. Anping Old Fort was once the Dutch military and commercial base in Taiwan. The cannons remind one of its former military prowess. Even more interesting are the fortress walls- constructed from crushed oyster shells mixed with sugar water and sticky rice.

The best-preserved fort is Chihkan Tower (赤坎樓). Surrounded by a courtyard that resembles an outdoor museum, the building features nine stone turtles caring steles on their backs with poems by Emperor Qianlong (乾隆帝）ofthe Qing Dynasty. Complete your tour by catching the sunset over the Luerhmen River. Time slows down when you gaze upon fishermen returning to port, bamboo rafts and floating oyster racks. Take this picture-perfect scene with you, and you'll always remember the warmth you felt in the heart of Taiwan.

More Information:
Tainan natives take great pride in their traditional foods. From seafood to desserts. It would take a long time to sample every delicacy! If you ever visit Tainan, be sure to try the shrimp rolls: right after you dip a crispy shrimp roll into a little wasabi, you'll immediately be asking for second. The rolls are filled with a fresh shrimp paste, then breaded and fried.

Grammar Tips
Twenty minutes from the city center is Taijiang National Park.
Taijiang National Park is twenty minutes away from the city center.
"twenty minutes from the city center"
"measurement + is + subject" -very common use on the travel articles.
My friend's hometown is three hours up the river.
Three hours up the river is my friend's hometown.
There's another gas station five miles down the road.
Five miles down the road is another gas station.

Vocabulary Tips
vendor-小販，攤販，銷售商。vend-銷售，加or-指“人”，person who selling things.
*Once the tourists got off their buses, vendors mobbed them with souvenirs.蜂擁而上。。紀念品。
*Tim is good at dealing with auto-parts vendors. 打交道
immense- 無邊無際的，廣大的。very very large, massive, giant.
*Online shopping sites have an immense and profitable market.廣大的且有利可圖的市場
*the author described the immense wilderness of Siberia in his novel.西伯利亞無邊無際的曠野
evolved-evolve 俄卷,翻滾. 引申的意思是"發展,進化,演進"
*The once local company has evolved into a global enterprise over the last 15 years.
*Management styles and methods are always evolving. 總是在演進中。
relive- experience again the pass.
warehouse-keep or store things before they are sold.
creeping-slow moving. 爬行
endangered-瀕臨滅種。 en-使如何danger-危險
*Endangered pandas are carefully cared for and observed by experts.
*You can see many endangered species at the zoo.
prowess-不可數名詞，傑出的才能，本領，也指“英勇”great skill or ability, here mean" military power"
*The monument is a symbol of the prowess of past war heroes.
*He always boasts about his prowess in his profession. 自誇他自己有多麽傑出
catch-抓，趕上。。
*Nina didn't catch the last bus, so she took a taxi home.
*We raced to the platform and caught the train just in time.
stroll through- slowly walk.
cannon(n)-大炮
wetland-the area always wet but it's not ocean or river. 溼地
estuaries-the area specifically where meet the ocean. the water level changed by tide.

Chat Room
port/harbor-海港both are service stop for ships, the different is their size.
port-the area for loading goods and passengers. size is bigger than harbor. major port.海港。
harbor (harbour英式拼音)-size smaller than port. 海港， 指海港的水域方面，停放一般船隻。
port city-the city is near the harbor.位于港口的城市
New York city is a port city.
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the black-faced spoonbill-黑面鷺鷥
spoonbill - spoon- 湯匙bill-鳥的嘴，尤指細長而扁平的嘴。
"baseball cap" we call "bill" 帽舌。
beak=bill-鳥的嘴
a clean bill of health-健康證明書。