Tainan City

Tainan (Chinese: 台南; Hanyu Pinyin: Táinán, Wade-Giles: T'ai-nan; POJ: Tâi-lâm) is a city located in southern Taiwan and is the fourth largest after Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung.

Tainan was established as the ancient capital of Taiwan in 1661 by Koxinga after he took over the island from Dutch colonial rule. 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's the former capital of Taiwan, Tainan is also called Fu-cheng.

Historically it is regarded as one of the earliest cities of Taiwan, when the Dutch colonists developed a nearby port, An-ping, which has become a touristy spot. Actually, it is one of the cultural capitals in Taiwan, 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. The Lantern Festival og Taiwan in 2005 and 2006 were also held here and appealed more than thousands of people. This place is beginning being valued.

Tainan is known as the city with the most Buddhist and/or Taoist temples on the island of Taiwan. Tainan City (台南市) is administratively a municipality of Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. It is surrounded on north and east by Tainan County and South China Sea to the west and south.

District

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

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.

Education

Higher education

National Cheng Kung University, one of the leading universities in southern Taiwan located in East Dist., Tainan. In 1931, NCKU established as Tainan Technical College, located on the present Cheng-Kung Campus, total area of 183,000 square metres. In 1942, it was renamed in Japanese but its English name remained unchanged.

Chang Jung Christian University,located on 396,Sec.l, Chang Jung Rd, Kway Jen, Tainan, 711, Taiwan, R.O.C..CJU actively pursues excellence and diversity in master and doctoral programs to provide more opportunities for

people who have advanced knowledge and the Christian spirit of fraternity, justice and service for Taiwan.

Southern Taiwan University of Technology,founded in 1969,

STUT located near the northeastern border of Tainan City, within 30-minute driving distance from the Tainan Airport.

Senior high school

Private

Chang Jung High School

Public

Notable Natives

Ang Lee (李安), Oscar-winning movie director
Chien-Ming Wang (王建民), professional baseball player for the MLB's New York Yankees
Wu Hui Ju (吳蕙如), archer and also a member of the team that won the bronze medal for Chinese Taipei in 2004 Summer Olympics in the women's team archery competition
Chin-Feng Chen (陳金鋒), first Taiwanese to play in the MLB

Sister cities

Monterey, CA, USA (1965) Gwangju, South Korea (1968) San Jose, California, USA(1977) Kansas City, Missouri, USA(1987) Pasay City, Philippines (1980) Cavite City, Philippines (1980) Tagaytay City, Philippines (1980) Trece Martires, Philippines (1980) Columbus, Ohio, USA (1980) Kinmen,Taiwan (1981) Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (1981) Port Elizabeth, South Africa (1982) Orlando, Florida, USA (1982) Gold Coast, Australia (1982) Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA (1983) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA(1986) Huntsville, Alabama, USA(1986) Carbondale, Illinois, USA(1991) Leuven, Belgium(1993) Ra'anana,Israel(1999) Zacapa,Guatemala(2003) Elblag,Poland(2004) Ribe,Denmark (2005) Keçiören, Turkey (2005) Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines (2005)

Tainan City also celebrats friendly relationships with other two cities, Penghu County (Taiwan) and Sendai(Japan), although these two cities are not considered official sister cities.

External links

Cities in Taiwan | Tainan City