Historic Anping

Tainan is historic because it was the first place to be settled by Han Chinese from the mainland, eventually overtaking the native Austronesian population.  It is also historic because nearby Anping was where Duth set up their base and fortification.

It seems significant enough for me to check out Anping.  While it was only about 5km away, the bus took a contorted route to serve as m uch of the city as possible.

Hopping off, the historic fort was nearby.  The modern tower stood out but less obvious were the original Dutch brick walls left over from Fort Zeelandia.  The Japanese added their modern building which appears to be on a small elevated spot.

There was a small museum which explained the Dutch presence, the importance of the port as a transport hub between Indonesia, China and Japan.  It also told the story of slavery, in which slaves from the Banda Islands (in present day Indonesia) were  brought here.  They were referred to by locals as “o-kui-ah” meaning black devils.  Oh, people were so racist in the past!

From there, I wandered across the main road to the Former Tait & Co Merchant House.  The museum gave an insight into the lives of the Dutch and Chinese living here in those days.  But most people come to wander around the Tree House which consists of several banyan trees which have overtaken the ruins of some houses.

After a rest back in my room, I walked to Decathlon to check out if they had a pair of shorts.  My current pair has a button that’s nearly falling off. They didn’t have anything I already had or wanted.  And their prices were 50-100% more than in Singapore or Bangkok!  I checked out Uniqlo closer to my part of town and they were a little pricier than in Malaysia or Singapore but with promos running, it was a smidgen cheaper so I ended up buying a token pear of undies.