What to See in Tainan - Top Sights and Attractions

Historic Dutch fortress-turned-museum. Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, the former name of Taiwan Island in Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of the island. The site had been renamed several times as Orange City, Anping City, and Taiwan City; the current name of the site in Chinese is 安平古堡.

During the seventeenth century, when Europeans from many countries sailed to Asia to develop trade, Formosa became one of East Asia's most important transit sites, and Fort Zeelandia an international business center. As trade at the time depended on "military force to control the markets", the value of Formosa to the Dutch was mainly in its strategic position. "From Formosa the Spanish commerce between Manila and China, and the Portuguese commerce between Macau and Japan could by constant attacks be made so precarious that much of it would be thrown into the hands of the Dutch, while the latter's dealings with China and Japan would be subject to no interruptions."

On behalf of the VOC, ships departing from Formosa could head north to Japan, west to Fujian, or south to Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Iran or Europe.^[3]

Historic former Dutch-colonial fort. Fort Provintia or Providentia, also known as Chihkan Tower, was a Dutch outpost on Formosa at a site now located in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. It was built in 1653 during the Dutch colonization of Taiwan. The Dutch, intending to strengthen their standing, sited the fort at Sakam, about 2 miles due east from modern-day Anping. During the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, the fort was surrendered to Koxinga, but was later destroyed by an earthquake in the 19th century. It was rebuilt as Chihkan Tower afterwards.

The fort's name derives from the Taiwanese aboriginal village recorded by the Dutch as Sakam, which has developed into the modern-day Tainan. After growth in size and trade, the Chinese called it Chhiah-kham, and surrounded it with high brick walls. It eventually became the capital of the whole island under the name of Taiwan-fu.

In addition to the site's architectural and artistic significance, its library of dictionaries and business transactions documents the Siraya language spoken by the native inhabitants of the region during Dutch rule.

The fort is up for redevelopment which will see it turned into a museum. The project is led by Taiwanese architecture studio HOU x LIN, the two partners of which both have a connection to The Netherlands. The project should be finished by 2024 in time for the celebration of the 400 year old relationship of the two countries.^[5]

Place of worship in Tainan, Taiwan. The Temple of the Five Concubines, known also by alternative names including the Temple of the Five Noble Ladies, is a temple in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. It was built in front of the tomb of the five concubines of Zhu Shugui, the Ming Prince of Ningjing, who killed themselves in 1683 to accompany him in death. It is registered as a first-class historic site by the Republic of China government.

In 1683, the Qing Dynasty forces invaded Taiwan and defeated the Kingdom of Tungning, prompting Zhu Shugui to commit suicide. Rather than be left to an uncertain and inglorious fate in the hands of the Qing, the concubines elected to end their own lives as well. The names of the five concubines were Lady Yuan, Lady Wang, Xiugu, Sister Mei and Sister He; their full names are unknown.^[22]

Historical landmark in Tainan, Taiwan. State Temple of the Martial God, also called Tainan Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple or Grand Guandi Temple, is a temple located in Yongfu Rd. West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. This temple was previously the palace of Koxinga and Prince of Ningjing, members of the Ming royal family who retreated to Taiwan in the dying days of the Ming dynasty.

This temple is dedicated to the deity Guan Gong, who is the most widely worshipped deity in Taiwan and Mainland China. The statue of Guan-Gong in this temple was brought to Taiwan from Fujian Province, China by relatives of Prince of Ningjing during the Ming dynasty.

There are also two smaller temples on the site. The temple of Guanyin, a Buddhist fertility goddess whose image can be found in nearly every Taoist temple, and the temple of Yue Lao, where single people pray for luck to find their soul mate. There is also a horse-god temple located across the Yong-Fu Rd. The horse-god takes the form of a soldier who looks after the horses. Because Guan-Gong was always assisted in his work by horses, his followers build this temple to show their respect and appreciation.^[26]

Public university in Taiwan. National Cheng Kung University is a public research university located in Tainan, Taiwan. The university is best known for engineering, computer science, medicine, and planning and design.

As a top university in Taiwan, NCKU has played a vital role in creating the Taiwan Miracle by helping Taiwan to transform from an agriculture-based society to an industrialized economy during the 1960s and 1970s, and further becoming one of the Four Asian Tigers. To this day, NCKU has many successful alumni in various industries in Taiwan. According to LinkedIn data, many of its graduates work in companies including TSMC, MediaTek, UMC, Applied Materials, and more. NCKU has been taking the top spot at the Global Views Monthly (遠見雜誌) Taiwan Graduate Employability Rankings for 6 consecutive years.

In 2005, NCKU was chosen by the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) as one of the seven universities in Taiwan for the Aim for the Top University Project (邁向頂尖大學計畫), which is similar to Top Global University Project in Japan and Universities of Excellence in Germany. Starting from 2006, because of its excellent academic performance and research potential, the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) has offered NCKU NT$1.7 billion annually for five consecutive years, which is the second highest amount received among the universities in the project.

NCKU is a founding member of Taiwan Comprehensive University System, a strategic alliance of four leading research universities in the Southern Taiwan. The university is also a member of AACSB and IEET, and the only member from Taiwan in the Worldwide Universities Network.^[30]