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Baihe Local Overview History

Baihe is one of the seven oldest townships in Tainan City. Located at the southeast corner of the Chianan Plain, leaning against Yuanshan, the area was home to the old Duoluoguo Tribe, a tribe of the Plains Aborigines, before the Dutch came. In the Cheng Cheng Kong Era of the Ming Dynasty, Han Chinese from Quan Zhou settled in the area called Dapaizhu.


This was the first Han Chinese settlement in the area. As the population increased, trade of mountain and agricultural products began to thrive. The "trade points" or "Dianzaikou" began to emerge. Gradually, scattered shops were developed into a business circle and then today's center of administration, economy and education. This was the origin of "Baihe Village", known in the older times as "Dianzaikou''- the store entrance.

In the Daishow Era of the Japanese Colonial Era (1920), "Dianzaikou" was officially renamed "Baihe Village", the Whitewater Village, for the whitewater creek flowing through the area. In the Republic Era, the Village was zoned into the municipality of Tainan City. Today, the Township is zoned into 24 communities and is home to a population of approximately 29,000 in an area of 128.25 km2. Throughout history, the "Fire and Water Spring" has been an amazement to outsiders and an icon of Baihe. Our ancestors worked hard to build homes for generations to come and their spirits are everywhere in the hot springs, reservoirs, lime, natural gas, bamboos, bananas, earthquakes. Today, two major development plans, the Guanziling Revitalization Plan and Lotus Industry Plan, will reshape the old communities of Baihe. In particular, the Baihe Lotus Festival, organized by the Tainan City Cultural Center and the successive district chiefs, has become a national event and a successful model of community development.