Tainan

Tainan, Taiwan

Low-angle view of Chihkan Tower in Tainan during sunset, with ancient brickwork catching the warm evening light.

Taiwan's oldest urban area, Tainan rewards slow walks past Dutch forts, Qing-era temples and night-market food that justifies a long evening.

The place

Tainan sits on the western coast of southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait, and its wider municipality holds about 1.8 million people. The land is low and flat, barely above sea level, so the city has spread across old shorelines and former channels rather than climbing hills. Tainan is generally regarded as the island's oldest urban area, and its streets carry layers from a Dutch trading base, the Koxinga kingdom, Qing officials, Japanese administrators and modern Taiwan. Its nickname, the Phoenix City, nods to how often it has come back from upheaval and reinvented itself.

What that history looks like on the ground is a mix of brick and concrete. Old forts and walled gates stand a short walk from wide modern avenues. Taoist and Buddhist temples sit between shophouses, and a number of churches date from later missionary activity. Many of the temples count among the oldest on the island, which gives the older districts a lived-in feel rather than a museum one.

Tainan is a city to walk slowly and eat well in. Its food has its own character, from noodles sold at roadside stalls to braised meats, and daily life carries on late into the evening. The main cost is the weather. Summers are hot and humid, and midday is best spent indoors or in the shade. Winters are mild and dry, which makes them the most comfortable season for long days on foot. The city is spread out enough that a bicycle, a scooter or a taxi helps for distances between the old centre and the coast.

Its story

Tainan's recorded story starts well before the Dutch arrived. Archaeological digs in Zuojhen District suggest people have lived in the wider region for tens of thousands of years, and by the sixteenth century the Siraya people dominated the area. The Sakam people, one Siraya sub-group, lived on the land that is now the city.

By the late sixteenth century, Chinese merchants and fishers had set up bases along the coast, and Japanese traders had their own settlements nearby. Salt and food were traded for deer hides and dried venison, and the Siraya absorbed words, ritual habits and patterns of movement from the newcomers. The Chinese name for a nearby sandbar, Taioan, later became the name of the district now called Anping.

The Dutch East India Company arrived in the early seventeenth century and built a trading and ruling base, Fort Zeelandia, at Anping. In 1662 the military leader Koxinga took the fort and made the city the capital of his Tungning Kingdom, which lasted until 1683. Under Qing rule Tainan remained the administrative centre of Taiwan Prefecture until 1887, when the provincial capital moved first to Taichung and later to Taipei.

Japan took control in 1895 after the island was ceded. For a few months that year Tainan served as the base of the short-lived Formosan republic before Japanese forces took the city, and under Japanese administration it became the seat of Tainan Prefecture. Later decades brought new factories, new roads and the slow restoration of old buildings that gives the city its layered look today.

What to see

Culture

Tainan calls itself one of Taiwan's cultural capitals, and the claim rests on its concentration of historic monuments and a lifestyle that still revolves around local religion. The city is dotted with Taoist and Buddhist temples as well as churches, and many of them are among the oldest on the island. Local culture also has its own cooking and customs, shaped by centuries of trade and migration along the coast.

Folk belief shapes much of everyday life. Families take young children to the Weaving Maid Goddess, a deity who looks after children and is asked for their wellbeing. The city has also kept an unusual rite of passage: a large ritual celebration for sixteen-year-olds, held around the goddess's birthday in summer, marks the move towards adulthood. Traditionally adulthood was reckoned at twenty, so the event is as much about community as about the individual.

Temples are working places of worship rather than sets for photographs. Expect incense, offerings and locals who come in for a few minutes of prayer at any hour. Keep your voice down inside temples, ask before photographing anyone at prayer, and dress modestly at religious sites.

What to wear

Tainan has no costume that survives as everyday dress, so the traditional clothing of the area is best understood through the settlers who came from the southern Chinese coast. Their working clothes were loose cotton jackets and trousers, often dyed in indigo or left in plain brown, while silk and embroidered cloth were kept for weddings and festivals. Temple ceremonies still bring out elaborate robes, banners and ritual headwear for the people who carry statues and perform rites.

Today people in Tainan dress much as they do elsewhere in Taiwan. Office workers wear shirts and smart trousers, students wear uniforms on campus, and most people ride scooters in light cotton, sports shirts and sandals. Older residents are more likely to wear loose, practical clothes in the markets and temples. Dress is relaxed across the city, but religious spaces call for more care.

For a visitor, the climate decides most choices. Pack light, breathable cotton or linen for the warm months and a light layer for the mild, dry winter evenings. Covering shoulders and knees is a sensible habit at temples, and a scarf or light shirt is handy for churches. The old streets have uneven paving and the forts involve plenty of walking, so choose closed shoes with good grip, and bring sun protection and a hat for midday.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. November to March, when the weather is mild and dry and walking the old streets is most comfortable. April is also pleasant. June to September is hot, humid and wet, which makes midday sightseeing hard going.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Kaohsiung International Airport is the nearest international airport, and a train, bus or taxi covers the last leg into Tainan. Most visitors arrive by high-speed rail. Tainan HSR Station sits well outside the centre, so take the free shuttle buses or the local train from Shalun into the city.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources