Rongya Snacks on Nanyuan Street, Tainan: A 2006 Dumpling and Wonton Soup Poem
A little lighter in heart,
but still I search for the shop.
This snack place is called Rongya,
on a street named Nanyuan.
Past Kaiyuan Road and Linsen Road,
by the alley near Xiaonan's ribs.
Go straight till you see the pharmacy,
Huacheng Drugstore, then turn left.
Dumplings are just two yuan each,
tasty and cheap, a good deal.
But the real star is the wonton soup,
ten yuan a bowl, sweet and deep.
Drink while there's wine today;
Searching for good food under the sky.
Eat, drink, and laugh at the world,
forgetting worries, a thousand and more.
Frequently asked
Is Rongya Snacks on Nanyuan Street in Tainan still open?
We can't confirm it. The poem records a visit in August 2006, and we found no current listing or review for Rongya Snacks (榮亞小吃) when we checked in October 2026. Search a current map app for the name before you go, and treat the NT$2 dumplings and NT$10 wonton soup as 2006 prices.
What does "今朝有酒今朝醉" mean, and where is it from?
It means "while there is wine today, get drunk today", a carpe-diem line. It comes from "Self-Consolation" (自遣) by the late-Tang poet Luo Yin (833–909), whose next line is "明日愁來明日愁": when worry comes tomorrow, worry tomorrow (background: Wikipedia, Luo Yin; Wikisource, 甲乙集 vol. 2). This page's English used to render it "Drink today, for tomorrow we die", which wrongly mixed in the biblical phrase; it now follows Luo Yin's meaning.
How do you get to Rongya Snacks according to the poem?
The poem's 2006 directions: go past Kaiyuan Road and Linsen Road, find the alley next to Xiaonan Ribs (小南排骨), walk straight until you see Huacheng Pharmacy (華成藥局), then turn left onto Nanyuan Street. These are landmarks from 2006 and may have changed.
What should I order there?
The poem's pick is the wonton soup, NT$10 a bowl in 2006 and described as fragrant and sweet. The dumplings were NT$2 each and called good value. That is the whole menu the poem mentions.
Food in Verse — Taiwan's Bib Gourmand & Street Eats as Songs