Tainan

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Hayashi Department Store (night), Tainan, Taiwan

Tainan Taiwan Fort Zeelandia 01, Tainan, Taiwan

Exterior of Tainan Confucius Temple in November 2017, Tainan, Taiwan

Tainan Taiwan Tainan District Court 01, Tainan, Taiwan

About Tainan

Tainan is where Taiwan's written history begins. The Dutch built a trading fort on the Anping sandbar in the 1620s, Koxinga drove them out in 1662, and for more than two centuries afterwards this was the island's capital. The result is a city with more old temples per street than anywhere else in Taiwan, and a pace that feels noticeably slower than Taipei.

The historic core is compact. Within a short walk you can see the Confucius Temple, the red walls of Chihkan Tower, the Grand Matsu Temple and the restored 1930s Hayashi Department Store, then slip into lantern-lit lanes such as Shennong Street. Out at Anping, the remains of Fort Zeelandia stand near the Tree House, a warehouse swallowed by banyan roots.

Tainan is also Taiwan's food capital, famous for danzai noodles, milkfish congee, beef soup at breakfast and a sweet tooth in everything. Beyond the centre, the Chimei Museum holds a large European art and violin collection, and boats glide through the mangrove tunnel at Sicao.

Best seasonOctober to April, when it is dry and warm rather than hot and humid

Ideal stay2-3 days

ArrivingHigh-speed trains stop at THSR Tainan Station, linked by a short local train to Tainan Station in the city centre

Your Tainan Bucket List: 12 Top Picks

History 2

Anping Old Fort

Built by the Dutch East India Company in the 1620s and 1630s as Fort Zeelandia, this was the seat of Dutch rule in Taiwan until Ko...

Chihkan Tower

The Dutch raised Fort Provintia here in 1653, and its brick foundations still lie beneath the two Chinese-style pavilions added du...

Temples and Shrines 3

Tainan Confucius Temple

Founded in 1665 under the Zheng family, this was Taiwan's first Confucian temple and its first official school, which is why a pla...

Grand Matsu Temple Tainan

This temple to Matsu, goddess of the sea, began life as the residence of the Ming prince Zhu Shugui and was turned into a temple a...

Koxinga Shrine

Dedicated to Zheng Chenggong, better known as Koxinga, the Ming loyalist who expelled the Dutch in 1662 and made Tainan his base,...

Landmarks 2

Hayashi Department Store

Opened in 1932, this was one of the first department stores in southern Taiwan and had the region's first passenger lift. After de...

Anping Tree House

Behind the old Tait and Co. merchant house in Anping, a former salt and goods warehouse has been taken over by banyan trees whose...

Neighborhoods 1

Shennong Street

One of the best-preserved lanes of Qing-era Tainan, Shennong Street grew up beside the old canal docks and is lined with narrow tw...

Museums 2

National Museum of Taiwan Literature

This national museum occupies the former Tainan Prefecture Hall, a grand 1916 building by the Japanese-era architect Moriyama Mats...

Chimei Museum

Set in a white neo-classical building in Tainan Metropolitan Park, the Chimei Museum shows the private collection of industrialist...

Food and Drink 1

Garden Night Market

Held on an open lot in the north of the city on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, this is Tainan's largest night market, wit...

Nature 1

Sicao Green Tunnel

In the Sicao wetlands north of Anping, small boats follow an old waterway where mangrove branches meet overhead to form a green tu...

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