I've been in Tainan for meetings these past couple of days, and my American and Thai friends, people I have met regularly at meetings over the past few years, are here too. They were planning to hit a night market afterward, which is always fun, but I really wanted them to taste the food people in Tainan actually eat day to day. So I drew them a little map in English and Thai: take Bus 77 from the Shangri-La to Yongle Market, eat your way down Guohua Street to Ximen Road, and finish with a bowl of beef soup. Here is that route, with every shop's details checked again. The five stops are only minutes apart on foot, so come hungry, go early and bring cash, and you can spend a happy afternoon eating like a local.
Getting there: Bus 77 from Shangri-La to Yongle Market
Board Tainan City Bus 77 toward Anping Fisherman's Wharf at the "Shangri-La Hotel" stop. Passing Minzu Road and Chihkan Tower, "Yongle Market" is the 5th stop. According to the Tainan city bus information system, Route 77 is a single-section fare of NT$18. Honestly, I find Tainan's city buses really convenient these days, with plenty of routes and frequent service, so getting around town is easy. According to the city bus timetable, Route 77 runs 29 trips a day toward Anping, roughly every 30 minutes during the day, and Chihkan Tower is the stop right before Yongle Market, so a detour is easy (EasyCard and iPASS both work). Guohua Street is a short walk from the stop.
These two days were also my first time inside the new underground Tainan Station, which switched over on October 17. From the station, it's a short walk to the Shangri-La Hotel stop, where you can catch Bus 77 toward Anping.
The Tainan railway undergrounding project covers 8.23 km. Main construction began in 2017, with the aim of removing 23 level crossings, underpasses and overpasses and stitching the city's east and west sides back together after decades of being split by the tracks, with a roughly 30-meter-wide green corridor planned on the freed-up land. Trains started running underground at 6 a.m. on October 17. The old Tainan Station building, completed in 1936, is a National Monument and stays where it is; travelers will still pass through it to reach the new station.
Next comes the work of stitching the surface back together. According to the Railway Bureau, the old tracks, level crossings, overpasses and underpasses will be removed in stages, with the level crossings gone by the end of September 2027 and everything finished by the end of 2028; the city also started opening up Kaiyuan Road as a new east-west street on October 18. I already look forward to coming back and seeing green space where the tracks used to divide the city.
A detour worth making: Chihkan Tower
Bus 77 passes Chihkan Tower, and if you have time I'd really recommend hopping off for a wander. The Dutch built it in 1653 as Fort Provintia, their administrative and trading center. The Dutch buildings collapsed in an 1862 earthquake, and in the Qing era the Sea God Temple, Wenchang Pavilion and Penghu Academy rose on the old foundations, giving it today's red tiles and upturned eaves. It's now a National Monument, and you can still spot Dutch-era brick walls among the pavilions. It's a lovely stroll before the eating starts.
According to the Tainan City Cultural Affairs Bureau, it opens daily at 08:30 with tickets sold until 21:00. Full tickets are NT$70, and foreign students pay NT$35. The address is 212 Minzu Road Sec. 2.
Stop 1: Jinde Spring Roll (Kintoku)
A little history: in Tainan, "spring roll" usually means the unfried runbing. Eating them at Qingming is commonly linked to the old Cold Food Festival, when cooking fires were banned and people ate cold food, and Tainan versions often add lima beans and noodles.
At No. 19, Sec. 3, Minzu Road, on the corner of Guohua Street, Jinde sells just one thing: freshly wrapped spring rolls filled with cabbage, tofu, shredded egg, shrimp and braised pork, with a choice of how much peanut sugar you want. A blogger's October 2026 visit lists NT$60 per roll, hours 07:30–16:30, and closed on Tuesdays.
One important note: according to Commercial Times and TVBS reports on October 27, 2026, Jinde will not renew its lease and expects to stay open only until the end of December 2026.
Stop 2: Yiweipin Wan Gui and Fish Soup
A little history: wan gui is an everyday snack of steamed long-grain rice batter. Yiweipin shares its roots with Fu Sheng Hao across the street, founded in 1947, and was started when the family split. As for milkfish, researchers think its farming and name may have reached Taiwan through cross-sea exchange as early as the Dutch period.
The "Yiweipin Rice Pudding" on the map is Yiweipin (一味品碗粿魚羹) inside Yongle Market at No. 177, Sec. 3, Guohua Street. It sells only wan gui, a steamed savory rice pudding with braised pork and small shrimp, and milkfish fish-paste soup. The MICHELIN Guide website lists it with hours of 05:00–17:00, closed Tuesdays. In the afternoon, the rice pudding may already be sold out.
Stop 3: Fusheng Eel Noodles
A little history: Tainan's fried eel is usually traced to brothers Liao Bing-nan and Liao Huo-tu at the Japanese-era Sakariba market (around today's Kangle Market), who learned from Fuzhou cooks. Fusheng itself is described in the media as a stall more than 50 years old.
Fusheng Xiaoshi (福昇小食) at No. 161, Sec. 3, Guohua Street is a long-running stall with no big sign, just a cloth banner. Its signature is wok-fired eel with yi mein noodles; SuperTaste reports NT$130 for the dry stir-fried version and NT$110 for the soup version, with most dishes between NT$110 and NT$180. Online listings give hours of 11:30–20:00. There are only about five tables, so expect a short queue; it moves fast.
Stop 4: Xiu'an Tofu Pudding
A little history: according to the Tainan Creative Center's shop listing, Xiu'an opened in 1999. Its carrying-pole douhua dates from 2004, learned from Hung Hung-po, a veteran tofu-pudding maker of fifty years, and is still made the old way.
For something sweet, head to Xiu'an Biandan Douhua (修安扁擔豆花) at No. 157, Sec. 3, Guohua Street. Handmade tofu pudding with brown-sugar syrup, topped with four-color jelly or custard pudding, is the favorite. Tofu pudding starts around NT$40, with toppings NT$10 each. It is open daily 08:30–21:30, cash only, with seating under the market arcade, a nice spot to cool down.
Stop 5: Ah Cai Beef Soup, Ximen x Bao'an
Finally, walk south to No. 1, Sec. 2, Ximen Road near Bao'an Road for Ah Cai Beef Soup (阿財牛肉湯), Ximen x Bao'an branch, an outpost of the Anping original. Besides fresh beef soup, it serves beef rice and stir-fries. Hours are 12:00–22:00, closed Wednesdays, so it works well as dinner.
A little history: Tainan's blanched beef soup is generally said to come from Shanhua. Its cattle market goes back about 200 years, and with a meat market nearby, fresh, never-frozen beef slaughtered before dawn reaches city shops each morning. That's why beef soup became a Tainan breakfast.
Before you go
Closing days are the main trap: Jinde and Yiweipin close on Tuesdays and Ah Cai on Wednesdays, so Monday or Thursday through Sunday is best for hitting all five. Stalls sometimes close unexpectedly or sell out early, so check their Facebook pages before heading out. Hours and prices reflect information available in October 2026.
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