Anping

Ānpíng (安平) is the oldest and most historic part of Tainan City. It is the site of the original Dutch colonial settlement established on a sandbar extending several miles from the mainland. The district centers on Anping Old Fort, built as Fort Zeelandia in 1624 and the administrative headquarters of the Dutch colony until Koxinga’s conquest in 1662. The Qing dynasty period saw the construction of defensive fortifications including Erkunshen Fort, completed in 1876 and nicknamed the Eternal Golden Castle, as well as the establishment of foreign trading houses such as the German Julius Mannich & Co. and British Tait & Co. following the opening of Anping to international commerce. The district’s maritime character is reflected in remnants of the historic salt industry and the famous Tree House, warehouses of a British merchant house consumed by banyan trees. Much of the surrounding area has silted up or been reclaimed from the sea over the intervening centuries, and nowadays the district is well-developed for tourism and worth visiting to gain a deeper appreciation of the early colonial history of Taiwan.