An excellent little museum dedicated to cochin (jiāo zhǐ táo) a low-fired, brightly coloured glaze style of ceramic traditionally used for temple decoration. You've probably seen cheap work in this style in tourist shops around the island but much of the work here is outstanding. Look for the set of figurines performing what look like different opera gestures: you'd swear they had muscles and bone under their robes, so realistic is the motion captured by the artist.

Cochin artists have been working in the Chiayi area since the Qing dynasty and have won praise from as far afield as Japan and France. Yeh Wang (1826–91) is widely regarded as a founder of the cochin tradition in Taiwan and one of its top practitioners. Pictures of his work are featured on a large poster (look for the fat and skinny guys), but to see the real thing you need to visit the Yeh Wang Museum in Tainan County.

The museum is in the basement of the Chiayi Cultural Centre (嘉義市文化中心; Jiāyìshì WénHuà Zhōngxīn), across from the Beimen train station.