Visit the Governor-General’s Office for Free: Colored Salt Sunset Office

In Anping, Tainan, there’s a free attraction called the Sunset Office, which reportedly displays 365 colors of birthday salt. Themed around salt, the Sunset Office has drawn visitors to find their lucky birthday color. On this day, the Ke family happened to be in Tainan and took the opportunity to visit the Sunset Office to see their birthday salt and taste special colored salt-roasted treats.
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The Sunset Office was originally the Tainan Branch of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office Monopoly Bureau. With nearly 90 years of history, it is a municipal heritage site in Tainan. After two years of renovation, it has become today’s Sunset Office and is currently free to enter.
Before entering the building, there’s an old tree in the front courtyard covered with prayer bamboo slips. Under the tree sits a “fortune-bringing raccoon dog,” which looks bear-like, always wears a straw hat, and has a smiling face and big eyes—symbols of good luck and fortune in Japan. The Sunset Office, themed around “salt,” has a not-so-large main interior space. Inside, rows of colorful birthday salts are displayed in small bowls surrounding the space on all four sides, totaling 366 different colors. Each date’s birthday salt represents different traits and meanings, also known as a ‘birth color.’
Everyone at the Sunset Office happily searched for their own lucky color. Although Dad Ke said some colors look almost identical, driven by Coco’s curiosity, Mom Ke still helped the family find their birthday colors. Dad Ke also remarked that the birthday traits don’t really resemble them, but just like zodiac signs and blood types, there’s always some interpretation—it’s all in good fun, so no need to take it too seriously.

The Sunset Office offers various related souvenirs inside, such as birthday colored salt pendants, notebooks…etc., making the ordinary salt quite special.
At the time, many people were queuing up to buy colored salt-roasted treats. Resembling buns, these colorful salt-roasted items are very eye-catching, and each set of six comes with a small hammer. Coco clamored for one, and finally, Dad Ke agreed to let the child buy a single salt-roasted treat for 30 NT dollars.
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Excitedly holding a claim ticket, Coco went to the dining area at the back of the park to pick up her salt-roasted treat. They lend out a small hammer, which you return along with the tray after use. If you don’t buy a full set, you can’t choose your color. (That day, Coco luckily got her favorite green one, and she was super happy!)

The adorable salt-roasted treat is actually a boiled egg coated with colored salt and baked at a low temperature wrapped in edible sea salt. First, you crack open the salt using the hammer, peel off the shell, and then eat the slightly sea-salty, chewy egg. You can dip it in the freshly cracked salt bits to enhance the flavor. Just as the webpage describes, while experiencing the salt-roasted treat, you can also enjoy the stress-relieving fun of cracking the egg—both kids and adults love playing with it. The fun lies here: smashing the egg open with a hammer makes it more about the experience than the taste.

The food-loving Lele picked up a small piece of salt and was about to pop it into his mouth when Dad Ke quickly swapped it with a biscuit. While Coco was tasting the super salty boiled egg, Lele was happily enjoying his exclusive afternoon snack time. Coco said while eating, “So salty, so salty!! Even saltier than salted eggs!” But hey, it’s all about the fun.

Coco said she had seen people draw pictures with sand on TV and wanted to try drawing with salt. Later, Coco drew a cute little footprint, which the mischievous Lele touched, almost ruining the artwork. Coco pouted angrily, clearly tempted to give Lele a smack.
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The Sunset Office’s sales area, besides salt-roasted treats, also offers drinks and desserts—matcha snacks, salt-themed meal sets, salt coffee…etc. Indoors, there are also performances where you can take a short rest, play with the salt-roasted treats, and enjoy some snacks. The Sunset Office isn’t very large—you can tour the whole place in about 15 minutes, making it a great free side-trip attraction.