Tainan ( or ; literally "Taiwan South"), officially
Tainan City, is a
special municipality located in
southern Taiwan, facing the
Taiwan Strait in the west and south. Tainan is the oldest city in
Taiwan and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of history as the capital of Taiwan under
Koxinga and later
Qing dynasty rule. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City".