Xinying

Xīnyíng (新營), literally “new barracks”, is a district in northern Tainan on the Chianan Plain. It served as the former capital of Tainan County until the 2010 amalgamation and remains the secondary administrative seat of the city. The district developed as an important transportation and industrial hub during the Japanese colonial era, centered on the Xinying Sugar Factory, established in 1907 by Ensuiko Sugar Refining Co. (鹽水港製糖株式會社), which only closed in 2001. The factory employed thousands of workers and shaped the district’s economic geography, pulling the center of commerce southwest from the railway station. Xinying was home to six theaters in its heyday, all clustered near the sugar factory rather than the train station as was typical in Taiwanese towns.