Directory_and_Chronicle_1926 — Page 574

TAINAN, TAKOW AND ANPING

The city of Tainan (until 1889 known as Taiwan), situated in lat. 23 deg. 6 min. 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 régime; 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 upon 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 the 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 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.)