A Saturday With Brandon and His Dad
On Saturday before last, I was invited to spend the day with Brandon, his Dad and an associate. The plan, I thought, was to visit their home. I certainly was surprised when the Professor shared that we, instead, were headed for Tainan to visit the old Fort Zeelandia, which was built by the Dutch during their 300 years occupation of Taiwan before Koxinga drove the Dutch out after 1662. During the Japanese occupation, it was rebuilt and named Anping Old Fort. Today, the root of an old banyan tree on the wall of the outer fort’s brick remains a witness to the fort’s long history.
We were able to climb to the top of an observation tower to gain a perspective as to what could be seen from the old fort. Tainan’s location on the Strait of Taiwan proved to be an invaluable port those many years ago. Thus the long history of struggle to control Taiwan by the Dutch, Chinese and Japan.
