We were picked up from the golf resort by George, his younger sister (a Buddhist nun), Janice (from Taipei, studying The Teachings of Buddha), and a monk from Thailand who taught Buddhism. We picked up George's friend "Uncle Su" and headed for Tainan City (pop 725,000)Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan. The Chinese settled there in 1590 and then the Dutch based themselves there from 1624-1662. We visited the reconstructed Dutch Fort Zeelandia and a German Trading Post from that time. It was also the capital until 1885 when it moved to Taipei.
There was a huge statue of Matsu the sea goddess near the port.
Uncle Su took us to a shop to eat a local food- Anping bean jelly- it was a jelly made from soybean and you could have it with tapioca (pearl), lemon, red or green bean topping. It was delicious. It was so popular that huge tourist buses pulled in and in no time the visitors were fed and on their way.
George and Uncle SuWe visited a vegetarian restaurant in the evening. It had dishes made from soy bean that looked and tasted like meat dishes. It was superb.
We had a great time and a lot of laughs!
We tried these interesting looking vegetables. They grow underground and taste like a nut.
