TAINAN FOREIGNER ASSISTANCE CENTER

N E W S L E T T E R

TA

IN

AN

October 2009

Volume 7

- C O N T E N T -1. Tainan Hol land Day

2. Tainan City Abor ig inal Day 2009

Tainan City Government http:// foreigner.tncg.gov.tw

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Tainan Hol land DaySiraya Hand in Hand

October 2009, Volume 7

Hey, everyone! Don’t forget – this year’s Tainan Holland Day events are still ongoing and will last until 25/10 at Fort Provintia and Anping Tree House. You are warmly invited to attend this grand occasion, as it is suitable for family, friends or just for hanging out over the weekend.

Since 2006, the annual Tainan Holland Day events have at-tracted many local residents from Tainan – as well as visitors from all over Taiwan – with its delica-cies, entertainment, music, cycling, rich cultural content and other fun activities. Tainan Holland Day is not only fun but also educational. Through this series of activities, the public is given an opportu-nity to experience the culture and customs of Holland without hav-ing to travel abroad, and at the same time, to gain a good un-

derstanding of Tainan’s history.

The Tainan Holland Day events began with a mass bike tour on 17/10 & 18/10, which left from Fort Provintia and ended at Anping Tree House. Various historic sites such as Beijidian, Fort Anping, and Four Grass Temple were passed

along the route. But if you missed it, don’t be too disappointed, as car-nival fairs will still be held at An-ping Tree House for two consecutive days on 24th and 25th October.

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October 2009, Volume 7

For centuries Holland and Tainan have shared strong historical and cultural ties. Netherlands Trade and Investment Office representa-tive, Menno Goedhart, pointed out that when the Dutch first arrived in Taiwan, they had very close in-teraction with the local aborigines – resulting in some cases even in intermarriage. As a result, de-scendants of these Dutch foreign-ers can still be found in the Pinpu, Siraya, Rukai and Tsou tribes. With this in mind, this year’s Tainan Hol-land Day has specially included the Siraya National Scenic Area Ad-ministration for joint participation in the Tainan Holland Day, Siraya Hand in Hand Aborigine Night at Fort Provintia on 24th October. This will be a fresh and exciting expe-rience for both first-timers and re-turning visitors as one can experi-ence Holland’s culture and customs, while at the same time, enjoy pas-sionate music performances from Taiwan’s unique, local aborigines.This is the third year Tainan Hol-land Day has taken place and with the debut addition of Taiwanese

Aborigines (Siraya), the organiz-ers of this year’s event are deter-mined to make this annual occasion especially impressive. The Siraya Onini band is invited to perform at the venue while another 99 lo-cal musicians will provide a mixture of rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and easy-lis-tening music to complement the traditional Siraya performances. Heineken will also be sold on site! How can you possibly enjoy mu-sic with no beer? Impossible? So do come round and check it out!

There will also be tons of fun and exciting activities at the carnival fair on October 24th and 25th, as the organizers have spared no effort to ensure the success of the event. The site has been carefully planned and the venue will be filled with Dutch at-mosphere with delicacies and tradi-tional entertainment from Holland. Dutch windmills, tulips and Dutch clogs will be there for all to see.

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October 2009, Volume 7

The general public can also borrow tradition-al Dutch costumes, sit in huge wooden clogs or walk the Miffy. And don’t miss the live demonstration by craft master, Martin Dijk-man. He will show visitors how he creates tra-ditional Dutch wooden clogs. His handicraft will be available for sale on the day. There will also be lottery draws at the carnival fair. Prizes include a plane ticket from Tai-pei to Bangkok – sponsored by Royal Dutch Airlines— an MP4 player, a luxury Dutch coffee gift box, Miffy gifts, and a French-top hair care gift set. What’s more, the first 100 admitted guests (24th & 25th October) will receive a pair of Dutch clogs as a gift from the organizers. So, get there early!

Ta inan Ci tyAbor ig inal Day 2009In memory of the victims of the 08/08 typhoon disaster, a traditional evening prayer event will be held at Cha Ha Mu Aboriginal Park in the Anping District (No.472, Anyi Road) and is set to last from 6pm~9pm on 31/10/2009 (Saturday).

This event will consist of several different examples of abo-riginal performing arts. Visitors will be able to experience aboriginal praise-poetry and a thanksgiving blessing ceremo-ny, aboriginal music and dance introducing the 14 tribes, and a prayer musical for the 08/08/2009 flood victims. In addi-tion there will be traditional musical performances from each tribe, creative singing and dancing performances as well as a special story exhibition of ‘aborigines and shells’. Everyone is invited.