Taiwanrocks!

Taiwanese: Tâi-lâm pronounced Tie-lam Official Website:http://www.tncg.gov.tw/

Tainan LIVE: http://twcam.www.gov.tw/webcam/english/history/main.jsp  OR 720 view of Tainan tourist attractions: http://ezlife.tncg.gov.tw/gisweb/vr_web/

A Very good website of Tainan http://www.itainan.org/ 

Tainan: The Cultural Capital of Taiwan

 
The Circus of Tainan Station in Tainan

Tainan Station 

Places to Visit 

Most Places to Visit are Historical...

The Eternal Golden Fortress 億載金城 http://anping.tncg.gov.tw/tour/tua_01.jsp?ID=2&Lang=E

Anping Fort 安平古堡 http://anping.tncg.gov.tw/tour/tua_01.jsp?ID=1&Lang=E

Fort Provintia and Chikan Towers (赤崁樓) http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002033&id=471&jid=76

Confucius Temple http://www.itainan.org/directory/confucius-temple

Anping Tree House http://anping.tncg.gov.tw/tour/tub_01.jsp?ID=16&Lang=E This is not a playground Tree House, but rather a very, very old Dutch house that has been enveloped into a tree

Tainan Fisherman's Wharf http://anping.tncg.gov.tw/tour/tub_01.jsp?ID=23&Lang=E

Cheng-Kung University Museum http://www.itainan.org/directory/national-cheng-kung-university-museum Before he went to University of Texas Austin (Go Texas!), my dad went to Cheng Kung University

Go here http://www.itainan.org/guide/tainan-city-tourist-attractions

Visit this awesome site: http://ezlife.tncg.gov.tw/gisweb/vr_web/  for 720 views of Tainan Attractions

Introduction from http://www.tncg.gov.tw/tour.asp?sub1=01&sub2=03〈=E 

[Business]

Tainan City is the center of southern Taiwan where business grows prosperously in the Midwest District. The TNCG spares no pain to promote the business development of the city. We have detailed records of all businesses within the city, including their business items, capital and organization, in order to protect the benefits of both the owners and local citizens.
The major merchandize of the city includes textiles, food, metal, plastic and machinery products. Following the social progress and the hard work of citizens, the capital and sales amount of these businesses have been growing steadily, making the city more prosperous.

[Industry]

For the industrial construction in the city, in addition to promoting state industries, the TNCG offers guidance to private industries to help them develop and expand. On the one hand, we can promote the prosperity of the city; on the other hand, we can increase tax incomes to enrich the budget for city administration and to seek benefits for citizens. In 1960 the TNCG founded the Tainan Industrial Development & Investment Promotion Committee in cooperation with professionals to make perspective planning for industrial policies, industrial management, factory safety and investment environment. The development and prosperity of Anping Industrial Park is a successful example of the committee. Moreover, the future of the Sinci Industrial Park currently under planning is foreseeable.

[Fisheries]

Most parts of the city contain salty alluvia. These areas are mainly distributed in Annan and South districts. As the soil in these districts contains high salt contents, it is not suitable for agriculture. Therefore, people focus on fishing and have built many fish farms in these districts. We have over 4,000 ha of fish farms in the city, and the fish culture industry is highly developed. Our marine products are famous far and near, and the milkfish from Tainan City is famous nationwide.

[Agriculture]

We have an agricultural area of about 3899.47ha. Irrigation with waters from the Jianan Dazhun has helped wash away the salt content in the soil. Improvements of soil and farming techniques have allowed us to grow paddies, sugarcanes, vegetables and cereals in the city. Recently, we have reinforced training for local farmers to use new technology and knowledge in farming. We also introduced for the first time the revolutionary tunnel plastic rack technique for growing import muskmelons in order to promote agricultural upgrade and delicate agriculture. The quality of our muskmelons are famous nationwide, and muskmelons have become the major income source of local farmers.

As the origin of history , Tainan City is the oldest city in Taiwan. In 1661 when Jheng Chenggong (a.k.a. Koxinga) recovered Taiwan from the hands of the Dutch, he began his reign in Taiwan from Tainan City . His troops and followers cultivated wasteland s and made great efforts to transform Taiwan into a strong state. Immigrants from the mainland came in swarms, merchant ships gathered here, and all sorts of shops in the city mushroomed . Tainan finally became the urban center of Taiwan . It was a pity that Jheng Chenggong died at an early age. After his son Jheng Jing came into power , Jing built the Confucius Temple and founded schools to continue his father's efforts in building Taiwan into a strong state.

When the Cing Government defeated the Jhengs in 1684, they established the Taiwan Prefecture in Tainan. It was the capital city of Taiwan then. When the Cing Government promoted Taiwan from a prefecture into a province in 1885, they also changed the name from Taiwan Prefecture into the Tainan Prefecture , and the name of Tainan has been used to represent the place since then. Up until the end of the 19th century, Tainan was still the political, economic and cultural center of Taiwan . Therefore, with such rich background, we can see many historical monuments in Tainan City . It also explains why the city is known as the ancient cultural capital of Taiwan .

During the Japanese Colonization, the Japanese planted Royal Poinciana (commonly known as flame trees) on both sides of Jhong s han Road (former Da j heng Ding) and Fu c ian Road. These green boulevard s would turn in to a sea of flames in July when the flowers of the flame trees are in full bloom, thus creating a southern exoticism.

The flame tree , also know as the phoenix tree in Taiwan, is the most common among street tree species in the city; therefore, Tainan is also known as the Phoenix City . 

Dutch Colonization (1624-1662)

When the Dutch occupied Tainan , they built Old Fort Zeelandia (Anping Fort) and opened up Provintia street ( Mincyuan Road ), it was the first well-planned street in European style and it became the center of Tainan City . The Dutch also built the Old Fort Provintia ( Chihkan Tower )

The Ming/Jheng Cheng-gong(Koxinga) period (1662-1683)

Jheng Cheng-gong(Koxinga) recovered Old Fort Provintia, and revamps it under the Eastern Imperial Court Tien-fu Administration; recovered Old Fort Zeelandia, and changed its name to Anping. 
Koxinga's firstborn son, Jheng Jing, succeeded after his death and appointed Chen Yunghwa as the advisor. Under his keen leadership and development, the first Confucius Temple in Taiwan was built, schools were launched, and a cultural pioneering movement was set in motion. He was also at the forefront of irrigation and agriculture administration, and took to an aboriginal assimilation policy, with a host of constructive administrative policies that helped direct Taiwan on course to becoming a sanctum for the Han people.

Cing Occupation (1683-1895)

After defeating the troops of the Jhengs, the Cing Government changed Chengtian Prefecture into Taiwan Prefecture , built Sihcao and Anping Minor Artillery Forts in Tainan . British merchants established the Old Tait & Co. and Boyd & Co. Merchant Houses. Eternal Golden Castle was completed. Chihkan Tower was constructed in Cing style. Taiwan Prefecture was changed into Tainan Prefecture . When massive amounts of sand and clay washed into the Taijiang during typhoon seasons, the once beautiful views with glistening light reflected by the waves of Taijiang brook became alluvial soil. Numerous restoration works had been attempted but were in vain.

Japanese Colonization (1895-1945)

Japanese troops conquered Tainan . After the Railway Station was completed, the foreign merchant houses withdrew from Anping. Construction of the district court was started. Tainan City Hall was established. Tainan was promoted into Tainan City . The new Tainan canal opened up. The reconstruction of Tainan Railway Station was completed. In addition to ideological control, the Japanese had made a lot of effort to change Tainan City . The ancient capital of Tainan finally had the making of a modern city.

1945 until now

Tainan became a provincial city. It was divided into seven districts; they changed Japanese “ding” to “street”. The renovation of the Confucius Temple started, and the Confucius Temple Cultural Park Planning was under way. The essence of the culture accumulated during the last three hundred years and it has made Tainan an irreplaceable cultural capital. Taking its historical and cultural advantages, Tainan is on its way to regaining its historical prominence and glory.