Tainan (臺南)

Tainan literally means South Taiwan. The name Formosa has been used since the fifteenth century. It was used by westerners who traveled there. In Portuguese, Formosa  means “beautiful island”. In 1644, a Ming Dynasty general, Zheng Cheng-gong, attacked the Dutch people who had occupied the area and were living in Tainan. He defeated them soundly and drove all of them out of the island. There is still a temple to celebrate the event. Our second stop on our rail trip was at Tainan. We visited Ed’s in-laws there. Dr. Shih was then the research director of the Taiwan Sugar Research Institute. Our children also got a chance to ride some horses, which were provided at the temple built  to remember Zheng Cheng-gong.