It’s as if the outside world conspired to rob Yanshuei (鹽水) of its importance and prosperity.
As waterways filled with silt, access to the ocean which had made it possible for this little town, several kilometers from the sea in the northern part of Tainan, to become a major entrepot was lost. The north-south railway, a key driver of economic development during the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, never arrived. Then, in the 1970s, the sugar industry went into terminal decline.
Like Taiwan’s other old settlements, Yanshuei used to be a walled town. The defensive barrier is long
Kings, knights, monks, peasants - everyone in the Middle Ages ate bread. This page includes medieval bread recipes and interesting facts about this food.
San bei ji literally “three cup chicken,” for the plentiful sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine it contains is one of the best Taiwanese recipes we know.