Tainan,Taiwan, Jan.23, 2026
Chikan Tower, Grand Mazu Temple, Zongzi Rice Dumpling & Danzai noodles
Last night I saw an large cruise ship going out towards the inlet slowly through my room window. I fell into a deep sleep. There was no noise. I did sleep like a baby after a long time. As soon as I had breakfast at the cafe in the hotel, I left my room. I was going to Tainan, ancient city north of Kaoshung. I was on the local train from Taiwan railway’s Kaoshung station around 9 o’clock. The train got Tainan station by 10 o’clock. Collecting information about the location of Chikan Tower at Tourist Information, I started to walk. The city of Tainan is often described as a Kyoto of Taiwan. It has a population of 2 millions. Streets around the station are busy with people, motor bikes and cars. However, there are many temples, shrines, historical buildings. The city has calm atmospheres that make you feel history. Walking down the street towards Mitsukoshi departement store and turning right, it took about twenty minutes from the station to Chikan Tower.
The Dutch built Fort Provintia in 1652. It I bought a ticket at the entrance. I saw many visitors inside. There was a group of Korean tourists. There were elementary school kids obviously in a field activity. I think they come here to study history of Tainan, or Taiwan. The Dutch colonized Tainan for 38 years, from 1624 to 1662. They built two trading posts in Tainan: Fort Zeelandia (Anping Old Fort) and Fort Provintia ( Chikan Tower). Taiwan became a trading place in East Asia to connect China, Japan and other Southeast Asian ports. The Dutch shipped spices, lead, tin, hemp, cotton and kapok from Southeast Asia to China through Tainan. They traded them with raw silk, gold, sugar and porcelain there and shipped them to Japan through Tainan. In return they bought silver and copper in Japan and shipped to Indonesia and even to Europe by way of Tainan. Deer skin and sugar were also exported from Taiwan. Tainan took important role in the trading. The area around was a part of inland sea when the Dutch built those forts.
