Tainan Astronomical Education Area — Attraction in Tainan

Every Saturday they have an evening planet-gazing session where visitors are invited to use the two powerful telescopes in the observatory. It's a truly amazing experience to see the craters of the moon and the satellites of Jupiter. You have to make a little mental adjustment to truly appreciate what you are looking at because in 2020, popular culture is saturated with CGI images of outer space and everyone can easily access images of the surface of Mars from the rover. Through the telescopes you can only see the moon the size of a quarter and Jupiter the size of a green pea. It's a little underwhelming. That's when you have to remind yourself that it's not CGI - it's the planet reflecting the light of the sun going straight into the telescope and into your eye. It's as "real" as it gets.

Our guide was super helpful and engaging. The entire session was very educational. There's a little side story -- I wrote to the planetarium on the early hours of Friday asking if they still run the Saturday star-gazing session. The director herself called me Friday afternoon because she worried that I'd miss the Saturday session. She explained that the weather would be good and what we would expect to see. She was just super nice. From that brief phone conversation, it is obvious that she cares deeply about engaging the public, and she's thrilled to share her love for...

A very recommended visit for everyone and especially for tourists who are looking for something other than the many temples in the area. The museum is not very large, but a great deal of scientific knowledge or discoveries are presented in a simple, educational way. It's easy to spend minutes in front of each subject, reading or playing with some of the interactive displays. It's also a great place for children, and not to mention the planetarium which is a separate (and great) attraction. Be aware that there is no restaurant. The parking lot isn't very large, and it's common to park on the side...

It’s gone downhill since the last time I was here in June 2022. This time the place seemed disorganized with no clear way to purchase tickets for exhibitions. One of the staff, a young woman at the reception, was just plain unprofessional. She kept muttering, “奇怪, 奇怪,” because I couldn’t understand everything she said; however, I do know enough Chinese to know when someone is being rude. Thankfully, the older woman at the reception desk was much better.

I...