Taipei
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- Alternative meaning: Taipei County
Taipei City (Chinese: 台北市 or 臺北市, pinyin: Táibĕi Shì, Taiwanese: Tâi-pak Chhī; coordinates 25° 02' N, 121° 38' E) is the capital of the Republic of China and the largest city in Taiwan. Home to 2,619,022 people (2005 census data), it is the center of Taiwan's commerce, government, and culture. Major industries include electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, metals, ship-building, and motorcycles.
Taipei City is a special municipality administered directly under the central government. It is not part of but surrounded entirely by Taipei County, which is administered as part of Taiwan Province.
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Subdivisions
Taipei administers twelve districts (區):
| Hanyu Pinyin | Hanzi | Wade-Giles | Tongyong Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sōngshān | 松山區 | Sung-shan | Songshan |
| Xìnyì | 信義區 | Hsin-yi | Sinyi |
| Dàān | 大安區 | Ta-an | Da-an |
| Zhōngshān | 中山區 | Chung-shan | Jhongshan |
| Zhōngzhèng | 中正區 | Chung-cheng | Jhongjheng |
| Dàtóng | 大同區 | Ta-t'ung | Datong |
| Wànhuá | 萬華區 | Wan-hua | Wanhua |
| Wénshān | 文山區 | Wen-shan | Wunshan |
| Nángǎng | 南港區 | Nan-kang | Nangang |
| Nèihú | 內湖區 | Nei-hu | Neihu |
| Shìlín | 士林區 | Shih-lin | Shihlin |
| Běitóu | 北投區 | Pei-t'ou | Beitou |
Geography
Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin in northern Taiwan and is bordered on the south by the Sindian RIver, and the Danshuei on the west. The northern districts of Shihlin and Beitou extend north of the Keelung River and are bordered by Yangmingshan National Park. Because of its location in a valley, the city commonly experiences high temperatures and humidity during the summer months, a problem enhanced by the high population density and the use of air conditioning. The climate is subtropical.
History
Taipei_night_birdseye.jpg
The region known as the Taipei basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the 18th century. Han Chinese began to settle in Taipei Basin in 1709.
In the late 19th century, Taipei gained economic importance due to the trade of tea. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture (台灣府) and became Taipei Prefecture (台北府). A new city was established in the Taipei basin for the new bureaucracy, located between two populous towns, Bangka (艋舺) and Dadaocheng (大稻埕). The new city was known as Chengnei (城內), and government buildings were erected there. Taiwan became a province of China in 1885, but remained a temporary capital of the province before it became the official one in 1894.
As settlement for losing the Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the entire island of Taiwan to Japan in 1895. Taipei was the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule (during which the city was known in Japanese as Taihoku) including the Presidential Building which was the Office of the Taiwan Governor-General. See Taipei Prefecture (Japanese Rule).
In 1949, the Communists forced the Kuomintang government under Chiang Kai-shek to flee mainland China and establish Taipei as the capital of the ROC. Taipei was also the capital of Taiwan Province until the 1960s when that was moved to Jhongsing Village.
From 1875 (during the Qing Dynasty) until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Danshuei County (淡水縣) of Taipei Prefecture (台北府). Taipei was incorporated in 1920 as part of Taipei Prefecture (台北州). It included Bangka, Dadaocheng, and Chengnei among other small settlements. The eastern village Songshan (松山庄) was annexed into Taipei City in 1938. As approved on December 30, 1966 by Executive Yuan, Taipei became a centrally administered municipality on July 1, 1967. In the following year, Taipei City expanded again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu, Nangang, Jingmei, and Muzha. In 1990, 16 districts in Taipei City were consolidated into the current 12 districts.
Politics
The current mayor of Taipei is the Kuomintang's Ma Ying-jeou. The office of mayor of Taipei is seen as a stepping stone to higher office. Both the current and previous Presidents Chen Shui-bian and Lee Teng-hui were mayors of Taipei, and Ma Ying-jeou is widely regarded as the most likely Kuomintang candidate for President in 2008. Until 1994, the mayor of Taipei was an appointed position, but since then it has been elected.
Taipei City has a higher proportion of Mainlanders than average in Taiwan. This and the fact that the city is highly dependent on commerce and finance which would be disrupted in case of conflict with the People's Republic of China means that the city is more favorable to Chinese reunification than other areas of Taiwan. Indeed, it was partly due to the fact that Chen Shui-bian was still able to win the mayorship in 1994 despite his pro-independence tendencies that made him the obvious DPP candidate for President in 2000.
Sister Cities
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Asunción | Atlanta | Banjul | Bissau | Boston | Cleveland | Cotonou | Dakar | Dallas | Gold Coast | Guatemala City | Ho Chi Minh City | Houston | Indianapolis | Jeddah | Johannesburg | La Paz | Lilongwe | Lomé | Los Angeles | Majuro | Managua | Manila | Marshall | Mbabane | Monrovia | Oklahoma City | Panama City | Phoenix | Pretoria | Quezon City | Riga | San Francisco | San José | San Nicolas | San Salvador | Santo Domingo | Seoul | Tegucigalpa | Ulaanbaatar | Ulan Ude | Versailles | Vilnius | Warsaw |
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Festivities in Taipei
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There are many yearly Taiwanese festivals that commonly are held in Taipei including the Lantern Festival and Double Tenth Day. A common location for festivities in Taipei is the square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Recently, some of the major festivals normally held in Taipei (specifically, the Double Tenth Day fireworks) have been moved to others cities in Taiwan.
Education
Taipei has 15 universities:
- Chinese Culture University
- Ming Chuan University
- National Chengchi University
- National Taipei University
- National Taipei University of Technology
- National Taiwan Normal University
- National Taiwan University
- National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
- National Yang Ming University
- Shih Chien University
- Shih Hsin University
- Soochow University
- Taipei Medical University
- Taipei National University of Arts
- Tatung University
In addition, there are nine colleges:
- China Institute of Technology
- Chung Kuo Institute of Technology
- Kuang Wu Institute of Technology
- National Taipei College of Nursing
- National Taipei Teachers College
- National Taipei College of Business
- Taipei Municipal Teachers College
- Taipei Physical Education College
- Takming College
Transportation
11-February-2004-Taipei-Including-TRTS-and-Shilin.jpg
Taipei's public transport system MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) uses both a light rail system based on VAL technology and a conventional metro. Unlike most rail transport in Taiwan which follow the Japanese practice and have trains running on the left, the Taipei public transport system runs its trains on the right. See Taipei Rapid Transit System.
Taipei Main Station is the largest Taiwanese railway station and also functions as the nexus for the MRT system.
Nearby Taoyuan hosts Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, which serves Taipei for international flights. There is also Sungshan Domestic Airport in the heart of the city.
An extensive city bus system runs throughout the city to serve areas not covered by the MRT system. Some buses require payment per passenger at pick-up time, and others at drop-off time. Riders of the city MRT system are able to use their MRT passes on buses for discounted rates, making the bus system effectively an extension of the MRT system. The passes, known as Easy Cards contain credits which are deducted each time a ride is taken. The Easy Card, which is the Taipei's equivalent to Hong Kong's Octopus Card, is extremely convenient since it is read via sensory panels on buses and in MRT stations capable of scanning through wallets or purses, thus eliminating the need for the passenger to remove the card from his or her wallet or purse.
Xu_2004_003_Taipei_MRT.jpg
A quintessential form of transportation in Taipei (and much of Taiwan) is the ubiquitous motor-scooter, somewhat analogous to the motorcycles found in other industrialized nations. However, motor-scooters are not subject to conventional traffic laws, and generally thread between cars and occasionally through oncoming traffic. A loophole in Taipei's motor vehicle laws ensures that in any accident between a motor-scooter and another vehicle, the other vehicle is at fault. For these reasons, scooters are perhaps the most convenient (though environmentally unfriendly) way for locals to navigate through their city.
Attractions
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- Taipei 101 is a new financial center in Taipei. The Guinness Book of Records certified it as the world's tallest building in October 2003.
- The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
- The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
- National Palace Museum
- Longshan Temple
- Shilin Night Market
Pronunciation note
The spelling Taipei derives from the Wade-Giles romanization T'ai-pei, in which "p" is pronounced more like an English "b". Thus "Taipei" should accurately be pronounced like the English words Tie-Bay, rather than Tie-Pay, its common English pronunciation.
Both Hanyu Pinyin, which is used both in the PRC and in Taipei City itself, and Tongyong Pinyin, which is mandated by the central government, reflect this pronunciation, romanizing Taipei as Taibei, a spelling that is closer to the Mandarin pronunciation. However, this romanization is very rarely seen.
See also
- Political divisions of the Republic of China
- List of districts of Taipei by area
- List of districts of Taipei by population
- List of districts of Taipei by population density
External links
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- Taipei City Government Official site (http://www.taipei.gov.tw) | (English) (http://english.taipei.gov.tw/)
- Taipei Tourism Commission (http://www.tc.tcg.gov.tw/) | (English) (http://english.taipei.gov.tw/tc/index.jsp)
- Taipei City Police Department (http://www.tcpd.gov.tw) | (English) (http://www.tcpd.gov.tw/tcpd_english/)
- List of Sister Cities from the official site (http://www.protocol.taipei.gov.tw/sister/esister.htm)
| Administrative divisions of the Republic of China | Missing image ROC_flag_large.png Flag of the Republic of China |
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