Written/Compiled and Reported by the MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Department

To promote Tainan’s traditional cuisine and cultural and creative tourism industries, the Tainan City Government Tourism Bureau will host the 12-day “2014 Food Fun Tainan” gourmet feast event from now until June 24 at the 6th floor of A11, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi New World, Taipei. To showcase the diverse tourism value of Tainan’s historic capital, in addition to inviting food vendors this year, the event has also gathered popular online snack and cultural product merchants. The aim is to allow visitors from northern Taiwan to experience new highlights of Tainan’s tourism charm while enjoying its delicious food.

The Tainan Gourmet Culture Exhibition, which has been held for eight consecutive years, has always been beloved by consumers. The annual popularity has led many local businesses to actively compete for exhibition spots. This year, thanks to strong recommendations from related industry associations, northern Taiwanese visitors can enjoy well-known traditional delicacies such as braised pork rice, oyster omelet, eel noodles, and shrimp ball soup. In addition, popular online queue-worthy snacks such as golden kimchi, pineapple cakes, and smoked sugar cured snacks will also introduce new flavors to satisfy everyone’s cravings.

Different from previous years, this year’s organizers have integrated cultural and creative industries and tourism factory operators to inject new vitality into traveling in Tainan. Thus, on the opening press conference on the 13th (yesterday), the traditional Tainan performing arts group—Oriental Art Troupe—performed local folk dances. Additionally, last year’s Golden Melody Award winner for Best Mandarin Male Singer, Xie Ming-yi, performed with his distinctive Tainan accent, singing about his impression of his mother’s hometown, Anping, creating a uniquely Tainan atmosphere throughout the venue.

This 12-day gourmet exhibition features 37 participating vendors and has specially invited daily limited-edition popular items from Tainan to join the event. These include 100 limited-edition pieces from Lien De Tang Bakery’s century-old fried pastry shop and 70-year-old Yong Sheng Canvas Shop, 20 limited servings of Ah Mei Restaurant’s clay pot duck daily, and 30 daily limited-layered pies from Deep Blue Café. On specific dates, limited-edition traditional Tainan ice treats will be available, including Shuang Quan Black Tea, Yi Feng A Chuan Winter Melon Tea, Shun Tian Ice Pops, Fang Yuan Ice Pops, Sun Brand Ice City, and You Jian Ice Shop’s mango ice. During the food exhibition, customers spending over NT$1,000 can exchange for one set of the “Tainan Gourmet Trend Paper Travel Game.” Well-known Tainan shops are transformed into Monopoly-style game elements for your enjoyment—limited quantities available, while supplies last.

To enrich the event, the Tourism Bureau has specially arranged DIY Tainan culture experiences on weekends, including scarecrow pen-making from the Wu Mi Le community, sword lion painting that evokes old memories of Anping Old Street, and beautiful handcrafted mobile phone charms made from salt crystal. This year’s on-site design also fully presents the beauty of Tainan. In addition to creating the vibe of an old street and traditional shops to highlight Tainan’s ancient capital culinary characteristics, even the art-filled renovated old houses from Haian Road have been transplanted to the venue as installations. Visitors can not only eat in Tainan but also “travel” in Tainan, experiencing a uniquely diverse gourmet exhibition.

The 12-day 2014 “Food Fun Tainan” Gourmet Feast event will offer numerous giveaways to consumers. Customers who spend a single amount of NT$1,000 or more and present their receipts can exchange for one “lottery ticket.” On the last day of the exhibition, they may have the chance to win a tablet, foldable bicycle, or lucky gift bags. This annual Tainan gourmet exhibition lets you eat delicious food, get great gifts, and explore Tainan—an opportunity not to be missed. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun.

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