In the past couple of weeks, with the weather and my general mood improving significantly, I had a chance to tour a bit outside central Tainan. A few weeks ago I was fortunate to meet John of The-Real-Taiwan and his lovely family and together we had a stroll down Golden Beach to check out the typhoon affects and a week later went for a drive around the Moon Mountain area (at least – that’s what I call it :$).
Golden Beach
The fabulous Golden Coast is located to the south of the city. It has a flat and extensive beach of about 2 to 3km long. The blue sky, clear water and golden beach have attracted many people playing and listening to the waves there. As the beach is extensive, we are planning a compound recreational center that combines swimming, bird watching, fishing, camping and accommodation functions in the area. Besides the historical and cultural resources in the urban area, the outdoor and recreational resources of the Golden Coast can provide another option to tourists. Therefore, Tainan City will be a complete tourist city containing both indoor and outdoor resources.
(from the Tainan City Government site)
Moon Mountain
The green topography, also called Paierh (cement) soil topography, of Tsaoshan Moon World comprises sandstones and shale. Because of the Tsaoshan River and Kanglin River continuously erode away the surface of this kind of soft and loosen geology, Tsaoshan mountain area is craggy and cliffy , and the sierra is barren as well.
(from the Tainan County Government site)
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This weekend I finally got to visit Anping and see the famous remains of the Dutch fort everyone’s been telling me about.
Anping weekend market
Anping (Chinese: 安平; Pinyin: Ānpíng; Wade-Giles: An-p’ing; POJ: An-pêng) is a district of Tainan City. The history of Anping dates back to the 17th century, when Dutch East India Company occupied Tayuan/Tayoan (the origin of the modern name Taiwan). In the period of the Japanese occupation, the history of trade between China and Japan unfolded at Anping.
Anping was a small island separated from mainland Taiwan until the 19th century. Because of the ocean current, the small ocean between Anping island and Taiwan was silted up on account of lots of sand brought by the ocean current. Afterwards, the small ocean between Anping island and Taiwan gradually disappeared. And then, Anping was getting closer to mainland Taiwan and became a part of Tainan.
(from Wikipedia)
Anping Dutch Fort (Fort Zeelandia)
Fort Zeelandia (Chinese: 熱蘭遮城; Pinyin: rèlánzhē chéng) was a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie […] The Dutch chose a sandy peninsula off the coast of Tainan as the site of the fortress since this would allow the fortress direct access to the sea and with it, supplies and reinforcements from Batavia in event of a siege.
(from Wikipedia)
Anping beach
The market looks good…
I think the official name is Grass Mountain Moon World. We went back the next day and made it up to the top. Thanks for the kind words.