Shanhua

Shanhua District is a suburban district of Tainan, Taiwan. Until December 25, 2010, it was an urban township in the dissolved Tainan County, which is now merged with the original Tainan City to form a single special municipality.HistoryShanhua was inhabited by the Taiwanese aboriginal tribe of Siraya, who called it Bakaloan (see also Anding, bordering to the southwest). It was one of the four major towns established by the tribe.In 1625, the Dutch East India Company was driven back by the aborigines while trying to collect bamboo. The Dutch, however, were able to conquer the town in 1635, and started setting up schools and churches in the area, calling the place Tevoran (see modern-day Yujing). They encouraged Han settlers to cultivate the place.In the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Koxinga drove the Europeans out of Taiwan. Under the Kingdom of Tungning, Bakaloan was governed as Sian-hoa Village of Tien-hsing County. According to the Shanhua Urban Plan Total Review Report, the old name for the region is Oanli before it was changed back again to Shanhua under Japanese rule in 1920. In 1940, the village was upgraded to, Tainan Prefecture.