Sio House

In the days when salt was controlled by the Japanese government, the century-old house located near Anping Old Street served as an office for storage, selling, and inspection of salt. Since the salt was no longer exclusively sold by the government, the house was abandoned. In 2010, the house listed as a historical site in Tainan was renovated and open to the public as a place combining sightseeing and cultural history. Its Chinese name Xiyou Chuzhangsuo is derived from Japanese. "Xiyou" is pronounced like "sio," which means salt in Japanese, and "Chuzhangsuo" represents a temporary office used on business travel. Yet it’s not the historical stories that make Sio House a popular attraction. It is the management team who promotes it in clever ways. Taking salt as the starting point, they exhibit some sculpture made of salt in the Japanese house. They also develop a variety of colorful salt representing the 365 days in a year with a short blessing tagged on it. You can find the one dedicated to your birthday on the self and buy it as a souvenir.