OLD BONES, NEW BEAT
It was my first time in Tainan, and I quickly discovered that this city has a charm all its own. A potted history: The Dutch East India Company arrived in 1624, built Fort Zeelandia in Anping, and controlled parts of the island. In 1662, Ming loyalist Koxinga drove them out. Tainan – its name often understood as “south” (“nan” meaning south in Mandarin) – served as Taiwan’s capital under the Qing dynasty until 1887, when the provincial capital moved to Taipei. That layered history is not tucked away in museums – it lives in the streets, in the alleyways, and in the buildings that have learned to adapt.
With four centuries of history behind it, Tainan has an eclectic urban fabric – historic temples, Japanese-era architecture (Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945), and shophouses nestled along winding alleyways. Old buildings are plentiful, and many are dilapidated or dated. Yet just as many have been thoughtfully adapted for modern use.
