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Sunday, July 28, 2019

Taiwan Trip Day 7 - Tainan (台南) | Anping Fort (安平古堡) | Anping Old Street (安平老街) | Anping Tree House (安平树屋)

7 December 2018

Tainan has a rich and long history. Being the first city in Taiwan, it has a lot of historic sites, traditional buildings, old streets and culture. Over several centuries, the ancient city has went through the Dutch occupation, Ming-zheng period, Qing Dynasty rule and the Japanese Colonial period.

Part 4 of Day 7 @ Tainan
1) Anping Old Fort (安平古堡)
2) Anping Old Street (安平老街) 
3) Anping Tree House (安平树屋)

The later part of our day brings us to Anping District and the main attraction is Anping Fort (安平古堡) previously known as Fort Zeelandia. It is the oldest fortress in the country dated back to more than 300 years ago. Back in the 17th century, Dutch military-business alliance troops conquered Anping in 1624 and built Fort Zeelandia as a defense base and trading hub. In 1661-1662, Ming Dynasty,  Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) seized the fort and brought an end to the Dutch colonial period. He renamed the area "Anping" and turn the inner fort into government offices. During Qing Dynasty, the Qing army demolished Fort Zeelandia and built the Eternal Golden Castle which was eventually abandoned. It was during the Japanese occupation that Fort Zeelandia was rebuilt and renamed as Anping Fort.

History Source from https://culture.tainan.gov.tw/english/




Anping Fort is now a historical tourist attraction mainly for tourists.

Entrance tickets to Anping Old Fort at NT50 for Adult, NT25 for students with ID and FREE for children under 6 year old. It is also free entrance for the local residents with a valid ID.

Map of Anping Fort

The bronze statue of Koxinga (郑成功). He was born on 27 August 1624 at Senli Beach in Hirado City of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. It was said that he was born near a rock at the beach called Sennai.


Family photo at the memorial stele within Anping Fort


Deeper reading into the fort structure, there are 3 layers to the structure of Fort Zeelandia. The bottom layer is a subterranean storage facility over 3 meters deep.

There are 2 layers above ground. The total height of the corner walls is over 9 meters.  The site where the fort was built was not really ideal for putting up a fortification. The decision of its location was largely due to the fact that the local aborigines and the Chinese posed no threat to the Dutch then whose primary concern was to protect their trade opportunities.


Surprisingly the children climbed onto the walls on their own and it turns out to be a rather different walk around Anping Fort.

When Japan began to rule Taiwan in 1895, Fort Zeelandia was deserted and in ruins; only the south wall of the outer fort and north wall of the inner fort remained. The brick walls seen today were rebuilt by the Japanese in 1896, a Japanese style residential house was built on the fort for the head of customs, and an employee dormitory was erected at the bottom of the fort.


In 1975, Tainan City Government renovated the environment and added a pointed roof on the observation tower and painted the wall white.

We climbed up to the observation tower where you have a lookout view of the city with the location of the key architecture.



View of Anping Fort
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Of the entire original Fort Zeelandia built by the Dutch, only some remnants of layered bricks remain to be seen. Historical records describe the fort as 838m wide and more than 10.9m high. There were two levels; the upper level had lookouts, passageways and compounds. The lower level had four circular bastions and seawater wells in the north and south to repel fire attacks. Here is an ancient well and the semi-circular inner fort wall.

The remaining walls with worn-out bricks and banyan aerial roots and trunks on it. The wall was built from bricks laid with a mixture of glutinous rice, sugar syrup, and oyster shells.


Anping Fort has so much history and stories to tell. Though many of the areas have been reconstructed, it is still worth a visit.

Anping Old Street (安平老街), runs along Yanping Street (延平街) and hence it is also known as Yanping Old Street. It is located next to Anping Fort and is believed to be the first street developed by the Dutch settlers. Now it has transformed to be a bustling street with many local delicacies and old-style buildings.


There are actually a lot to explore with quaint little shops at the back alleys. Due to shortage of time, we only briefly walked through the old street and grabbed a bite and drink.




Stopped by this old stall selling assorted candied fruit 蜜饯. Despite the small shop face front, there is a crowd within!

Anping Tree House (安平树屋) - It was almost closing time when we arrived! Nevertheless, we paid the entrance tickets to check out the place with the final 30 minutes that is left before closing.

Anping Tree House was originally a warehouse built around the end of 19th Century. Back then, The Tait & Company was one of the biggest merchant and built warehouses to store goods. During the Japanese Colonial Period, this place was home to the Japan Salt Corporation. After World War II, it became offices for Tainan Salt Works. After which, it was left abandoned till 2004 where the local government calls for designers to gentrify the old warehouse for tourism purpose.


As we arrived when the sun is setting, the surroundings do look pretty creepy. Especially with the banyan tree roots spreading itself over the neglected building. The roots are long, winding and continue to trails on the floor that looks like slithering snakes. 


As you walk further on the grounds of the abandon warehouse, the significant attraction is how the banyan growth consume the entire structure. Honestly, at one point, I could barely differentiate which is part of the tree or house.

The house looks mysterious and it is like a maze. The tangled roots crepe out from the windows and doors and has completely taken ownership of the warehouse ruins. However, it is also because of the unique and natural landmark that makes Anping Tree House one of the most instagrammable spot in Tainan!


Our favourite spot to take a very cool photo of Anping Tree House.

Again, due to time constrain, we missed the opportunity to take on the skywalk above the treehouse which gives visitors a bird's eye view of the tree. At the back of Anping Tree House, there is also an ecological pond and Sky Bridge where visitors can explore further.

There are so much to see in Tainan and we probably have been too ambitious to fit all the attractions on our first day. If you are planning your itinerary, it would be nice to dedicate at least half a day to have a cultural and historic tour around Anping township.


ANPING FORT (安平古堡)
Address: No.82, Guosheng Rd., Anping District, Tainan City
Opening Hours: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Admission Fee: NT50 (Adult), NT25 (Student), Free (Children 6yo and below)

ANPING OLD STREET (安平老街)
Address: Yanping St., Anping Dist., Tainan City 708, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

ANPING TREE HOUSE (安平树屋)
Address: No.108, Gubao St., Anping Dist., Tainan City 708, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Opening Hours: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Admission Fee: NT50 (Adult), NT25 (Student), Free (Tainan residents with ID)

Part 5 of Day 7 on our next post.

Check out our 2 Weeks Taiwan Itinerary Family Trip here

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