1926

TAINAN, TAKOW AND ANTING
The city of Tainan (until 1889 known as Taiwan), situated in lat. 23 deg. 6 rain.
N., and long. 129 deg. 5 min. E., is the oldest city in Formosa. For nearly two centuries
it was the capital under the Chinese regime', prior to that it had been held by both
the Dutch and Koxinga, and relics of the former’s occupation still exist. Next to-
Taipeh, it is the principal city, and in it the District Garrison Headquarters, Law
Courts, Hospital, Higher Schools, etc., are located. Since the Japanese occupation
many improvements in the city have been made, and at the present day the main
roads are all wide and well constructed. An extensive scheme of alterations is in hand,
the programme extending over ten years. When this is completed the city will
be second to none in the island in arrangement. The old Chinese walls, some five
miles in circumference, have been demolished in many places and the gates removed
for the passage of the railway and new roads. Waterworks are in course of con¬
struction in the hills some distance from the city. The city is lighted by electricity,
the power being carried by an overhead line from a generating station a few miles
south of Takow. Tainan is distant 218 miles from Taipeh by rail.
Anping is the shipping port for Tainan, situated about three miles west of that
city on the border of a lagoon. Communication is by a trolley line and a creek
navigable for chutehs and small junks. The port itself is an open roadstead, vessels
anchoring outside the bar and a mile or so from the beach. From November to the
end of May the anchorage is a good one, but during the S. W. Monsoon a heavy swell
sets in, rendering it difficult and sometimes impossible for vessels to load or discharge.
Formerly Anping was a small but thriving port, but, since the improvements to Takow
harbour were effected, its importance has materially declined, and it is now almost
deserted, though its proximity to Tainan still necessitates a certain amount of
shipping calling. As regards climate, Anping, during the summer months, can boast of
a comparatively cool temperature owing to sea breezes; Tainan is usually two or three
degrees warmer. From October to the end of April there is little or no rain, and the
cool weather then leaves nothing to be desired
Takow is a port twenty-nine miles to the southward of Tainan. Located on
the edge of what, less than 20 years ago, was a large, shallow lagoon with an
extremely narrow and dangerous entrance, Takow has since been converted into a
fine harbour with four buoys and a quay frontage capable of accommodating six large
vessels (up to 23 feet draught) at one time alongside. At low-water the depth is
24 feet, with 30 feet at the harbour entrance, which is 350 feet wide. 'The harbour
improvements under the first period of construction work are now completed, and
vessels drawing less than 23| feet can readily enter the harbour. The second period
of construction which was to have been entered up >n last year has, for economic rea¬
sons been postponed for the present, but, when undertaken, will include the provision
of a second pier, dredging, widening of ihe harbour entrance, construction of a break¬
water in Seishiwan, and the dredging of the harbour to an average depth of 30 feet.
Under existing conditions, whilst steamers up to about 5,000 tons can be accom¬
modated alongside the quay, vessels of 7-10,000 tons capacity find it difficult to enter
the port if heavily laden, and have to discharge some of their cargo in the outer
harbour to enable them to come inside; if the harbour were dredged to a depth of i
28 feet this would be unnecessary. As Takow is the only harbour in the south catering
for the bulk of the sugar trade and other industries, its future is assured. Large
reclamations have been made along the shore of the lagoon, transforming marsh-land
into a well laid-out, fair-sized town, with room for expansion. (Work has already
commenced on the entrance, by which an increase of some 300 feet in width is
anticipated.)