SM A LL-TOW N CH A R M / YA NSHUI
an
YANSHUI
in Ta
A Little Town That Charms
TE X T STE V E N CROOK
Octagon Pavilion
PHOTOS V I S ION
A rural district in the far north of Tainan City, the town of Yanshui is mainly known for the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival. For the local faithful this is an important religious ritual; for the young and daring, however, it is more of a crazy thrill. Except for this event, Yanshui is quiet and peaceful for most of the year, which is good news if you come to explore the town’s old streets and alleys.
F
or a good chunk of Taiwan’s modern history, i.e. since Han Chinese started migrating across the Taiwan Strait in numbers in the early 1600s, Yanshui ranked as one of the island’s four most important settlements. Before the 20th century, trade between one part of Taiwan and another depended on boats. Unfortunately for Yanshui’s merchants, throughout the 19th century accumulating sediment pushed the Taiwan Strait ever further away, at the same time blocking the channels cargo vessels had to navigate to reach the port. The town ceased to be an entrepot of importance, and in the early 20th century was overtaken by other places on the main north-south railroad, completed in 1908. Because the town has never sprawled, it’s possible to walk from the northernmost attraction, the Wu Temple, through the old downtown to Yuejingang Riverside Park in less than 20 minutes. But it’s unlikely you’ll want to move so quickly during a visit. Yanshui’s backstreets reward those willing to explore every nook and cranny. 48
TR AVEL IN TAIWAN
The Wu Temple, founded in the late 17th century, is dedicated to Guan Gong, a leading light in Taiwan’s folk pantheon. Said to have been a general who lived and died in China more than 1,800 years ago he’s now worshiped by businesspeople and police officers, among others. Almost every depiction of Guan Gong shows him with a crimson complexion and a halberd-like weapon in his hand. The larger-than-life statue of the god that stands in the grounds of the Wu Temple follows these conventions, and it’ll likely catch your eye before you notice the Yanshui Cultural Museum, a rather humdrum building located between the statue and the temple. Much of the museum is devoted to the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival, which celebrates the godly intervention that defeated a cholera outbreak in the town in the 1880s. As the epidemic worsened, townsfolk urged Guan Gong to intercede. They carried effigies of the deity through the streets, burned joss paper, and hurled
