In July 1622, the Dutch East India Company textile merchant Cornelis Reyersz sailed to Taiwan in search of a suitable location to build a trading post.

Seizing the advantage presented by the infighting, on July 17, 1683, Qing naval commander Shi Lang defeated the Tungning fleet in the Battle of Penghu.

[11] A flood in 1823 brought rich silt from nearby rivers, which formed a widespread new fertile plain across the Taijiang bay area between Tainan and Anping.

A canal system called Go-tiau-kang (五條港; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gō͘-tiâu-káng) was built to keep the port in Tainan functioning but prevented large ships from entering the bay.

In Tainan, Shen made several efforts to modernize the defenses including inviting French engineers to design the Eternal Golden Castle in Erkunshen.

The following is a description of the city by the Scottish missionary William Campbell upon his first arrival to the island in 1871: As to Taiwan-fu itself, I may say that the brick wall which surrounds it is about fifteen feet in thickness, twenty-five in height, and some five miles in circumference.

Lofty watch-towers are built over the four main gateways, and large spaces within the city are given to the principal temples and yamens—or quarters occupied by the civil and military mandarins.

[23] Like other regions in Taiwan, many people in Tainan suffered for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) during the autocratic era.

While Tainan City struggled through the second half of twentieth century, the county, especially the river south region, benefited from prioritization by national programs.

As a consequence, the Zhongzheng Road district, previously the most popular shopping precinct in Tainan since Japanese rule, went into decline due to the poor quality of the environment.

On March 19, 2004, President Chen Shui-bian was shot while campaigning for reelection in Tainan, a city that has been a major center for the pro-independent movement since the end of Japanese rule.

People also visit temples for many reasons, from simply praying for good luck to celebrating particular Deity's birthday to even communicating with the Netherworld.

When returning home from military drills, soldiers would put lion-face shields on the main gates of their houses and insert their swords crosswise in the lion's mouth.

[27] During the more than 200 years that Tainan spent as the local capital the population developed cosmopolitan tastes due to exposure to food from around the world.

The main objectives of this museum include collection, categorization, preservation, research, exhibition, education and promotion of artifacts related to Taiwan's history and culture for both locals and visitors.

The National Museum of Taiwan Literature researches, catalogs, preserves, and exhibits local literary artifacts as part of its multilingual, multi-ethnic focus.

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.

In Yanshuei District, the most important and prominent fireworks in Lantern Festival are the so-called "beehives", essentially multiple launchers of bottle rockets.

The city center adopted a Baroque design similar to the Paris renovation in mid 19th century, the plan connected major facilities via a system of wide streets and five square-roundabouts.

[41] The financial district was located in Shirokanechō (白金町) and Ōmiyachō (大宮町) between Taishō park and Anping cannel along Ginzadōri (銀座通り),[13] the modern day Zhongzheng Rd.

The green boulevard ring and Zhonghua road system first appeared on the 1937 city redevelopment plan proposed by the Japanese colonial government.

Further to the citywide election, there are urban villages (里 li) and neighborhood (鄰 lin) functioning as primary local autonomy entity.

In common with every other city and county in the Republic of China, with the exception of Nantou, a majority of Tainan residents voted for eventual winner Lee Teng-hui and vice-president Lien Chan.

The city is famous for its milkfish, oyster, rice, mango, sugar cane, pomelo (文旦), pineapple and lotus seed.

[51] The headquarters of the World Vegetable Center, an NPO that aims to improve crop quality in poorer countries, is in Shanhua District.

It was the largest shopping center in the city when it opened Feb 12, 2015 and the precinct will host the new headquarters of Tainan Spinning and a new five-star hotel.

Tainan Station is a major stop on the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) Western Line, with direct connections to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Hsinchu, and Keelung.

[57] Original plan for Tainan MRT [zh] system is muted due to the construction cost and the question of insufficient ridership.

As a regional airport, it currently operates both domestic and international flights to Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Kinmen, Magong and Osaka.

[63] Previously there were also services to Taipei's Songshan Airport (TSA), but these were dropped in light of falling revenues (generally agreed to be a result of the High Speed Rail commencing operation in 2007).