Tainan, officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "prefectural capital" for its over 260 years of history as the capital of Taiwan under the Dutch rule, the Kingdom of Tungning and later Qing dynasty rule until 1887. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City". Tainan is classified as a "Sufficiency"-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
Clockwise from top: Downtown Tainan, statue of Yoichi Hatta, THSR Tainan Station, danzai noodles, Fort Provintia, beehive firework in Yanshuei
Anping Fort (site of the Fort Zeelandia)
Replica of an East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company/United East Indies Company (VOC).
Statue of Koxinga in Koxinga's Shrine
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia.
It is located at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. The territories controlled by the ROC consist of 168 islands with a combined area of 36,193 square kilometres. The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, has an area of 35,808 square kilometres, with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. The capital, Taipei, forms along with New Taipei City and Keelung the largest metropolitan area. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries.
2,300-year-old jade, unearthed at Beinan Cultural Park
Fort Zeelandia, built in 1634, was the governor's residence in Dutch Formosa.
Tainan Confucian Temple built in 1665 during the Kingdom of Tungning period
Chihkan Tower, originally built as Fort Provintia by the Dutch, was rebuilt under Qing rule.