Tainan

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Tainan City
臺南市
Flag of Tainan City
City Flag		 Seal of Tainan City
City Seal
Abbreviation Southern City
南市
Nickname The Phoenix City[1], The Prefecture City
府城
Capital Anping District
(安平區)
Region Southwestern Taiwan
Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair
(許添財)
Area 175.6456 km²
(Ranked 17 of 25)
Population (Nov, 2007)
  - Population 764,147
(Ranked 11 of 25)
  - Density 4,350.50 /km²
Districts 6
Website English
Trad. Chinese
Symbols
  - Bird Black-billed magpie [1]
  - Flower Royal Poinciana
(Delonix regia)
  - Tree Royal Poinciana
(Delonix regia)
Location of Tainan City
"Tainan" redirects here; for the county of the same name see Tainan County.

Tainan City (traditional Chinese: 臺南; pinyin: Táinán; Wade-Giles: T'ai-nan; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-lâm; literally "Southern Taiwan", often written in Chinese as 台南, which is also the simplified Chinese version) is the fourth largest city in Taiwan after Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung. It is officially administrated as a provincial city of Taiwan Province in the Republic of China.

Tainan was established as the capital of Taiwan in 1661 and remained the capital until 1887 during the Qing Dynasty. In fact, "Tayoan" is the old name of Tainan and became the name of the island later. The city is famous for its abundant historical buildings and relics.

Contents

[edit] History

Downtown Tainan City
Downtown Tainan City

Little is known about Tainan prior to the Dutch rule except that it was a settlement of Han Chinese immigrants in the 14th and 15th centuries and was named Tayoan (大圓, POJ: Tāi-ôan, from Sirayan). The Dutch established a trading post in 1624 at present-day Anping, and used it as a base of operation for a variety of business they conducted in the region. However, in 1661 the outpost was under siege by a fleet of Ming Dynasty remnants led by Koxinga, who established his own kingdom on Taiwan and renamed the city Tungtu (traditional Chinese: 東都; literally "East Capital") after the Dutch capitulated and withdrawn from the island. In 1684, the Qing Dynasty conquered Taiwan and established "Taiwan Fu" (Taiwan Government) as the first official local government in Taiwan. This was later renamed to "Tainan Fu" in 1885 when Taiwan was established as a province. Because it was formerly the capital of Taiwan, Tainan is also called Fu-cheng (traditional Chinese: 府城; literally "Government City"). Tainan also served as the capital of the Republic of Formosa after the Japanese took Taipei bloodlessly.

The gate of Tainan's Confucian Temple
The gate of Tainan's Confucian Temple

Tainan has been historically regarded as one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and its former name, Tayoan, has been claimed to be the source of the name Taiwan. It is also one of Taiwan's cultural capitals, as it houses the First Confucian School/Temple built 1665 on the island, the remains of the Northern and Southern gates of the old city, and countless other historical monuments.

Tainan claims more Buddhist and Taoist temples than any city in Taiwan. Tainan City (台南市) is administratively a municipality of Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. It is surrounded by Tainan County to the north and east and the South China Sea to the west and south. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "City of the Phoenix."[1]

[edit] Government

Tainan City Hall
Tainan City Hall
Tainan District Court
Tainan District Court
Tungfeng Street in the eastern side of city
Tungfeng Street in the eastern side of city
Tainan Chengkung University
Tainan Chengkung University

[edit] Administrative districts

North
South
East

Tainan City currently has 6 districts: Anping, Annan, East, West-Central, South, and North districts.

Annan district was originally the An-Shun township of Tainan County, and was merged into Tainan City in 1946. In 2004, Central District and West District were merged into the new West-Central district.

[edit] Foreign relationships

[edit] Sister cities

The following places are sister cities to Tainan City:

[edit] Friendship cities

Tainan City also celebrates friendly relationships with two other locations, although they are not considered official sister cities.

[edit] Education

Fujhong Street near Confucius Temple
Fujhong Street near Confucius Temple
Bus stop in Tainan
Bus stop in Tainan
  • National Cheng Kung University, one of the leading universities Taiwan, is located in the East District. It is famous for its engineering programs. In 1931, NCKU was established as Tainan Technical College, located on the present Cheng-Kung Campus, with a total area of 183,000 square metres. As the number of colleges expanded, it was upgraded to a provincial university in 1956, then national university in 1971. Today, National Cheng Kung University serves nearly 21,000 students through 9 colleges, 39 departments, and 49 graduate institutes.
  • Tainan Theological College and Seminary (台南神學院) was established in 1867 by Thomas Barclay.
  • Chang Jung Christian University is a private university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. CJU offers masters and doctoral degree programs and aims to promote fraternity, justice, and service for Taiwan. It is located south of the city, in Gueiren.
  • The Tainan University of Technology (台南科技大學) is a private university founded in 1964. The university offers graduate degrees in music, visual art, and applied sciences. The main campus actually sits in Tainan County just outside the official city limits.

[edit] Senior high schools

Public

Private

  • Feng-Ho Senior High School
  • Chang Jung High School
  • Sheng Kung Girls' High School
  • Nan Ying Vocational High School of Business & Technology
  • Salesian Technical School
  • Chang Jung Girls' Senior High School
  • Deguang Catholic Girls' High School
  • Kuang Hua Girls' Senior High School
  • Tainan Liuhsin Senior High School
  • Kuen-Shan Senior High School
  • Ying-Hai High School

[edit] Notable natives

Koxinga Temple
Koxinga Temple

[edit] Sports

Uni-President Lions have been playing their home games at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium since 1999.
Uni-President Lions have been playing their home games at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium since 1999.

Tainan is home to the Uni-President Lions, who play their home games at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium. It is also the birthplace of Chien-Ming Wang, Hong-Chih Kuo, Taigen kaku, En-Yu Lin, and many other prominent Taiwanese baseball players.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

This article contains Chinese text.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.
  1. ^ a b Tainan University of Technology official site

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 22°59′N, 120°11′E