Tainan Travel: Donghe Bee Culture Tourism Factory

Donghe Bee Culture Tourism Factory (東和蜂文化觀光工廠)

Donghe Bee Culture Tourism Factory is a honey-themed tourism factory located in Dongshan District, Tainan. It offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about the production process of honey and bee-related knowledge. There are also hands-on activities such as DIY bee magnets and bee doll pens. Additionally, the park has a coffee shop that serves honey drinks, Dongshan coffee, and Belgian muffins.

When we visited the factory, there was absolutely nobody around. We entered, explored the exhibition, walked around, and left after a few minutes. It was the quietest place we have ever been to in Taiwan. It's rare to not even see a single person when visiting a place.

Dongshan is famous for its honey made from Longan flowers, and you can also see Longan trees growing in the Tourism Factory area.

Donghe Bee Cultural Tourism Factory is divided into three main areas: the cultural exhibition hall, the coffee shop, and the commodity sales area.

The cultural exhibition hall introduces the story of the Donghe Bee Industry, showcasing diverse products such as honey, agricultural products, biotechnology, and food processing. The hard work of the He brothers has been passed down to the third generation, and their dedication has earned them a reputation for producing authentic Dongshan honey.

The Bee Concept Area provides insights into the characteristics of bees beyond their hard-working and positive image. Visitors can learn about how bees communicate and the different members of a bee colony. This zone offers a comprehensive understanding of bees.

In the Honey Knowledge Area, visitors can learn about the nutritional value of honey, a natural health product, and how to differentiate between real and fake honey.

The Honey Production Process section highlights the seven procedures required to produce high-quality honey, from harvesting to the finished product. The process involves rigorous processing and careful testing.

The Honey Harvesting Scenario Experience Zone displays beekeepers' tools and offers situational demonstrations, allowing visitors to gain a better understanding of the honey harvesting process and procedures.

Address:

733台南市東山區1-18號東和蜂文化觀光工廠

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Tainan Travel: Japanese Era Police Station in Dongshan

While looking at Google Maps, I wanted to find some interesting places to visit in Dongshan. My goal is to discover places of interest in every district of Tainan if possible. Taiwan still has many remnants from the Japanese era, and I even found one building in Dongshan. There were very few pictures of it, mostly showing it in a very broken state. I thought it was such a pity until I saw the next picture of the same building, but fully renovated! I felt happy and really wanted to see it. However, coming all the way here just for that would be a waste of time. We also went to Dongyuan Old Street, which was very empty and not really worth visiting. Additionally, I accidentally chose a motorbike road instead of a car road... If you plan to visit these places, don't make the same mistake as me. The road was really narrow, and driving on it was uneasy. Luckily, there were no cars coming from the opposite direction. There was also no place to make a U-turn, so we followed the tiny countryside road for about 4 km.

Dongshan Police Station (東山牛肉崎警察官吏派出所)

Dongshan Police Station was built in the 1930s. It was one of the police stations affiliated with the Baihe Branch of the Police Division, Xinying County, Tainan Prefecture during the Japanese occupation. After the Second World War, the police station became the office building of the Tainan County Police Station. After the construction of the new office building was completed in 1986, it remained unused for a long time and was eventually abolished. The adjacent Donghe Elementary School (now Jibei) Campus was also abolished in 2002. On August 18, 2009, the Police Station was designated as a historic building. In 2016, a hot spring was drilled behind the Shuiyun Police Station, but due to the small amount of water, there was no development value. The Municipal Cultural Bureau spent 18 million yuan to restore it starting from March 2019, and the restoration was completed on October 7. However, when we visited in the middle of April 2022, it was still unused.

Dongyuan old street (東原老街)

Dongyuan Old Street in Dongshan was once a bustling scene due to the establishment of the Japanese-style Brown Sugar Club (the former Dapu Sugar Factory). After the sugar factory became history, the crowds also faded away. The Dongyuan community, known as the former Dapu, still retains some buildings and traces of its past glory days. The place was really empty, and I only saw a couple of older people passing by. It seems that people barely live there, or perhaps it was just empty because we went there on a weekday. I'm not sure at all.

On the way back, we stopped by Liujia Night Market. I enjoy visiting different night markets, but the food everywhere is quite similar. It was also my first time trying duck blood pudding (鴨血). In the past, poultry was only offered as sacrifices during festivals. In order to extract nutrition from the ducks, farmers saved the blood, steamed it with rice, and served it with sauce. However, due to the rising price of ducks and the inability of chicken blood to coagulate into pudding, pig blood replaced duck blood, resulting in the creation of pig blood curd. I also couldn't miss the chance to eat stinky tofu. I know many people dislike it, especially due to its pungent smell, but I personally love it and eat it quite often.

Address:

1. Donshan Police Station: 台南市東山區東山牛肉崎警察官吏派出所
2. Dongyuan Old Street: 733台南市東山區東原老街
3.Liujia Night Market: 734台南市六甲區復興街114號六甲夜市

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