Astronaut Soichi Noguchi captured from ISS Tainan City, Taiwan.
Tainan is a special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the “prefectural capital” for its over 260-year history as the capital of Taiwan under Dutch rule, the Kingdom of Tungning and later Qing dynasty rule until 1887. Tainan’s complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname “the Phoenix City”. The legacy of Tainan’s long history of establishment has left significant impact on Taiwan, and its former name, Tayouan, has been claimed to be the origin of the name “Taiwan”. It is also one of Taiwan’s cultural capitals, for its rich folk cultures including the famous local street food and traditional cuisine, extensively preserved Taoist rites and other living local traditions covering everything from childbirth to funerals. The city houses the first Confucian school-temple in Taiwan, built in 1665, the remains of the Eastern and Southern gates of the old city, and countless other historical monuments. In recent decades, the city has become a major global hub for the semiconductor industry, driven by the development of the Southern Taiwan Science Park, where advanced manufacturing facilities (notably TSMC’s) produce nearly all of the world’s high-end AI chips.
The local scenery on the ground is as follows.
Reference: Soichi Noguchi’s Tweet
See earthview photo gallery: LiVEARTH