Taipei (台北) is the largest
city in Taiwan
and has
served as the de facto capital (provisional capital) of the
Republic of China
(commonly
known as "Taiwan") since the Chinese
Civil War in 1949. It is situated on the Danshui River
, almost at
the northern tip of the island, about 25 km southwest of
Keelung
, its port on
the Pacific Ocean. Another coastal city, Danshui
, is
about 20 km northwest at the river's mouth on the Taiwan Strait
.
Taipei lies in the relatively narrow, bowl-shaped valley of the
Danshui and two of its main tributaries, the
Keelung River (基隆河) and
Xindian River (新店溪). Taipei is also the
political, economic, and cultural centre of the country.
Taipei
City, Taipei County, and Keelung City together form the Taipei metropolitan area
but are administered under different local
government bodies. "Taipei" sometimes refers to the whole
metropolitan area, while "Taipei City" refers to the city
proper.
Taipei is part of a major industrial area.
Railways,
high speed rail, and bus lines
connect Taipei with all parts of the island.
The city is served by
Songshan Airport
(for domestic and cross-strait flights) and
Taiwan Taoyuan
International Airport
(for
international flights and some cross-strait flights).
Taipei was founded in the early 18th century and became an
important center for overseas trade in the 19th century.
The
Japanese acquired Taiwan
in 1895
after the First Sino-Japanese
War and made Taipei the island's capital. The Republic of China
took over
the island in 1945 after Japan's defeat in World War II.
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek declared Taipei the
provisional capital of the Republic of
China
in December 1949 after the Kuomintang (KMT) was defeated by the Communists during the Chinese Civil War. The KMT
retreated to Taiwan and the jurisdiction of the Republic of China
was limited to Taiwan while the Communist Party founded the
People's Republic of China in
mainland
China.
Romanization
The spelling "Taipei" derives from the
Wade-Giles romanization
T'ai-pei, which
is in English.
In
Mandarin Chinese, however, the
pronunciation is slightly different ( ). Under the official
Hanyu Pinyin romanization scheme, as
well as the previously used
Tongyong
Pinyin system, the city's name is romanized as
Táiběi.
In recent years, Taipei City and other government authorities have
made efforts to convert signage and other official spellings to
conform with Hanyu Pinyin and, previously, also Tongyong Pinyin.
However, due to the prevalence and international recognition of the
"Taipei" spelling, the City government, as well as other government
authorities, have retained the original spelling of "Taipei" as an
exception.
Culture
Tourism
Memorial Halls and Museums
The
National Chiang
Kai-shek Memorial Hall
is a famous
monument that was erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of
China. The monument, surrounded by a park and a
large square incorporating the National Concert Hall
and National
Theater
, stands within sight of the Republic of China's
Presidential Building
in Taipei's Zhongzheng District.
The
National Sun Yat-sen Memorial
Hall
is a memorial to one of the most recognizable
founding fathers of the Republic of
China
, Sun Yat-sen, and was
completed on May 16, 1972. From the opening of the hall, majority of
the exhibits displayed were revolutionary events of the national
founding fathers at the end of the Qing
Dynasty
.
However, recently its function moved toward a multi-purpose
social,
educational and
cultural
center for the Taiwanese public.

The National Palace Museum
The
National Palace Museum
is an art gallery and
museum built around a permanent collection
centered on ancient Chinese
artifacts. It should not be confused with the Palace Museum
in Beijing (which it is named after); both institutions
trace their origins to the same institution. The collections
were divided in the 1940s as a result of the
Chinese Civil War. The National Palace
Museum in Taipei now boasts a truly international collection while
housing one of the world's largest assemblies of artifacts from
ancient China.
The
Taipei Fine Arts Museum
was established in December 24, 1983.
Located in a building that used to house the city government, is
also the first
modern art museum. The
artworks in the museum are mostly done by
Taiwanese artists. There are more than
3,000 artworks in the museum. Most of them are done after 1940 by
Taiwanese artist, and are organized into 13 groups. In 2001, Museum
of Contemporary Art Taipei (台北當代藝術館;MOCA Taipei) was established in
the Taipei City government old building.
The
National Taiwan Museum is the
oldest museum in Taiwan
. It
was established as the Taiwan Governor Museum by the colonial
government of Japan on October 24, 1908 to commemorate the
inauguration of the North-South Railway during the
Japanese rule in Taiwan. The
museum had a collection of over 10,000 items in its initial stages.
In 1915, the new building of the museum in Taipei New Park was
inaugurated and became one of the major public buildings during
Japanese rule. Since
1999, it has been renamed to the "National Taiwan Museum".
Taipei 101
Taipei 101
is a
101-floor landmark skyscraper that claimed the title of world's tallest building when it
opened in 2004. Designed by
C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed
by
KTRT Joint Venture, Taipei 101
recently lost the title of the
tallest completed skyscraper in the
world, measuring 449 m (1,474 ft) from ground to roof.
(The
tallest skyscraper is the 160 level and 2,638 feet tall Burj Dubai
in Dubai
, UAE
). Taipei 101 also set new records for
ascending elevator speed which has also recently been beaten out by
Burj Dubai. The landmark has won numerous international awards for
its innovations. Its Indoor and Outdoor Observatories draw visitors
from all over the world and its New Year's Eve fireworks display is
a regular feature of international broadcasts. A large mall is
located at the base of the tower.
Visual and Performing Arts
The
National Palace Museum
is a leading art gallery
and cultural landmark. The museum
hosts a number of international exhibits as well as hosting its own
historically unique collection (see discussion above).
The
Taipei Fine Arts Museum
was established in 1983 as Taiwan's first museum of
modern art. The collection
features over 3,000 works, mainly by
Taiwanese artists since the 1940s. The
collection is organized into 13 groups. In 2000, there were
exhibitions of digital technology arts in the museum.
The
Museum of
Contemporary Art Taipei (台北當代藝術館;MOCA Taipei) opened in 2001.
Its building originally housed offices for the Taipei City
government.
The
National Theater and Concert
Hall
stand at Taipei's Liberty Square and host a
non-stop series of events by performers from Taiwan and every
region of the world. Other leading concert venues include the
historic Zhongshan Hall at Ximen and the Sun Yat-sen
Memorial Hall
near Taipei 101
.
A new cultural landmark, the
Taipei Performing Arts Center,
is slated to open in 2013.
The venue will stand near the Shilin Night Market
across from the Jiantan MRT station. The
Performing Arts Center will house three theatres for events with
multi-week runs. The architectural design will be determined in
2009 as the result of an international competition. Construction is
expected to take place from 2010 to 2013. The same design process
is also in place for a new
Taipei Center for Popular
Music and
Taipei City
Museum.
Recreation
Taipei
has many night market, the
most famous of which is the Shilin Night
Market
in the Shilin
District of the city. The surrounding streets by Shilin
Night Market are extremely crowded during the evening, usually
opening around 4 PM and operating well past midnight. Most night
markets feature individual stalls selling a mixture of food,
clothing, and consumer goods.
Ximending has been a famous area for
shopping and entertainment since the 1930s. Historic structures
include a concert hall and a historic cinema. Modern structures
house karaoke businesses, art film cinemas, wide-release movie
cinemas, electronic stores, and a wide variety of restaurants and
fashion clothing stores. The pedestrian area is especially popular
with teens.
The
Xinyi District
is popular
with tourists and locals alike for its many entertainment and
shopping venues, as well as being the home of the Taipei 101
building, a
prime tourist attraction famous for being one of the world's
tallest buildings. Malls in the area include the sprawling Shin
Kong Mitsukoshi complex, Taipei 101
mall,
Eslite Bookstore's flagship store
(which includes a boutique mall), The Living Mall, New York New
York shopping mall, and the Vieshow
Cinema (formerly known as Warner Village).
The
thriving shopping area around Taipei Main
Station
includes the Taipei Underground Market and the
original Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department
store at Shin Kong Life Tower
. Other popular shopping destinations include
the Zhongshan Metro Mall,
Dihua Street, the Guang Hua Digital Plaza
, and the Core Pacific
City
. The
Miramar Entertainment Park is
famous for its large ferris wheel and
IMAX
theater.
Taipei maintains an extensive system of parks, green spaces, and
nature preserves.
Parks and forestry areas of note in and
around the city include Yangmingshan National Park,
Taipei Zoo
and Da-an Forest Park.
Yangmingshan (only 10 km north of the
central city), famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits is the home of
famous writer Lin Yutang, the summer
residence of Chiang Kai-shek,
residences of foreign diplomats, the Chinese Culture University
, the meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of
the Republic of China, and the Kuomintang Party Archives. The Taipei Zoo
was founded
in 1914 and covers an area of 165 hectares for animal
sanctuary.
Bitan
is known for
boating and water sports. Danshui
is a popular
sea-side resort town. Ocean beaches are accessible in
several directions from Taipei.
Temples

Inside Longshan Temple
Taipei is rich in beautiful, ornate temples housing Buddhist,
Taoist, and Chinese folk religion deities. The
Longshan Temple, located in the
Wanhua District, demonstrates an example of
architecture with southern Chinese influences commonly seen in
older buildings in Taiwan.
Xinsheng South Road is known as the road to heaven because of its
high concentration of temples as well as shrines (literally called
「Pure Truth Temple」 in Chinese). Several blocks away from Xinsheng
South Road is the beautiful, pristine Daoist Temples.
Besides large temples, small outdoor shrines to local deities are
very common, and can be spotted on road sides, parks, and
neighborhoods. Many homes and businesses may also set up small
shrines of candles, figurines, and offerings. Some restaurants, for
example, may set up a small shrine to the Kitchen god for success
in a restaurant business.
Festivals and Events
Many
yearly festivals are held in Taipei, including the Taipei Lantern Festival when thousands of sky
lanterns are released in Pingxi,
Taipei
. Common locations for festival celebrations
include Memorial
Square
, Taipei 101
, and the
Zhongshan Hall in Ximending. On
Double Ten Day, celebrations are held in
front of the
Presidential
Building.
Other annual festivals include
Tomb-Sweeping Day, the
Dragon Boat Festival, the
Ghost Festival, and the
Mid-Autumn Festival. In recent years
some festivals traditionally held in Taipei, such as the Double Ten
Day fireworks and concerts, have increasingly been hosted by other
cities in Taiwan.
Taipei in Film
- Te-sheng Wei's Cape No. 7 (drama/comedy)
- Yun Fu's Take Me From Behind (music
video)
- Jack Yu's Lollipop Love (music video)
- Edward Yang's Yi Yi: A One and a Two
(drama)
- Edward Yang's Mahjong (drama)
- Edward Yang's A Brighter Summer Day
(drama)
- Lee Kang-sheng's Help Me Eros (drama)
- Tsai Ming-liang's Vive L'Amour (drama)
- Tsai Ming-liang's What Time Is It There?
(drama)
- Tsai Ming-liang's Goodbye, Dragon Inn (drama)
- Tsai Ming-liang's Rebels of the Neon God
(drama)
- Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times (drama)
- Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman (drama)
- John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (action)
- Kirk Wong's Crime Story (action)
- Chen Yin-jung's Formula 17 (gay/comedy)
- Zero Chou's Spider Lilies (lesbian/drama)
- Sylvia Chang's 20 30 40 (romance)
- Hsiao-ming Hsu's Love of May (romance)
- Yee Chin-yen's Blue Gate Crossing (romance)
- Jay Chou's Secret (romance)
- Chen Kuo-Fu's Double Vision (horror/suspense)
- Chao-Bin Su's Silk (horror/suspense)
- Ye-ming Wang's Tea Fight (drama/comedy)
- Mamoru Oshii's StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer
Cops (science fiction/drama)
- Wong Kar-Wai's
Happy Together
(Hong-Kong
studio,
filmed on three cities : Buenos
Aires
, Hong Kong
,
Taipei)
- Andrew Lau 's
Young and Dangerous 2
(Hong-Kong
studio,
filmed on location in Taipei)
- Turn
Left, Turn Right (Hong-Kong
studio,
filmed on location in Taipei)
- One Missed
Call 2 (Japanese studio, filmed in Taipei and Jinguashi
)
- About Love (Japanese studio,
filmed on three cities in Asia: Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai)
- Takashi Miike's Rainy Dog (Japanese studio, filmed on
location in Taipei) (drama)
- Takahisa Zeze's Moon Child (Japanese studio,
filmed in Taipei, as the futuristic city of Mallepa) (drama)
Geography
Taipei
City is located in the Taipei Basin in
northern Taiwan
.
It is
bordered by the Xindian River on the
south, and the Danshui River
on the
west. The generally low-lying terrain of the
central areas on the western side of the municipality slopes upward
to the south and east and especially to the north, where it reaches
at Cising Mountain
(七星山),
which the highest (extinct) volcano in
Taiwan in Yangmingshan
National Park. The northern districts of
Shilin and
Beitou extend north
of the
Keelung River and are bordered
by
Yangmingshan National
Park. The Taipei city limits cover an area ranked sixteenth of
twenty-five among
all counties and
cities in Taiwan.
Two
peaks, Cising Mountain
and
Mt. Datun, rise to the northeast of the city. Cising
Mountain is located on the Datun Volcano Group and the tallest
mountain at the rim of the Taipei Basin, with its main peak at .
Mt. Datun's main peak is . These former volcanoes make up the
western section of Yangmingshan National Park, extending from Mt.
Datun northward to Mt. Caigongkeng (菜公坑山). Located on a broad
saddle between two mountains, the area also contains the marshy
Datun Pond.
To the southeast of the city lie the Songshan Hills and the
Qingshui Ravine, which form a barrier of lush woods.
Climate
Taipei has a
humid subtropical
climate. The average annual temperature is , with a summer
average of and a winter average of . Summers are humid and
accompanied by occasional rainstorms and typhoons, while winters
are short and mild.
Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by
the
Pacific typhoon season, which
occurs between June and October.
Air quality
Motor vehicle engine exhaust, particularly from motor scooters, is
a source of
air pollution in Taipei.
The levels of fine
particulate matter,
including
PAHs, are
consistently more serious in the mornings as there is less air
movement; sunlight helps clear up some pollutants, which tend to be
trapped close to the ground.
Administrative divisions
Taipei City is divided up into 12
districts (區
qu).
|
District |
|
|
Population |
Land area |
Postcode |
|
 |
Hanyu Pinyin |
漢字 |
Wade-Giles |
as of 2009 |
km² |
|
| ■
Zhongzheng-qu |
中正區 |
Chung-cheng |
159,464 |
7.6071 |
100 |
| ■
Datong-qu |
大同區 |
Ta-t'ung |
124,466 |
5.6815 |
103 |
| ■
Zhongshan-qu |
中山區 |
Chung-shan |
218,551 |
13.6821 |
104 |
| ■
Songshan-qu |
松山區 |
Sung-shan |
209,903 |
9.2878 |
105 |
| ■
Da'an-qu |
大安區 |
Ta-an |
313,371 |
11.3614 |
106 |
| ■
Wanhua-qu |
萬華區 |
Wan-hua |
190,050 |
8.8522 |
108 |
■ Xinyi-qu |
信義區 |
Hsin-yi |
227,232 |
11.2077 |
110 |
| ■
Shilin-qu |
士林區 |
Shih-lin |
285,459 |
62.3682 |
111 |
| ■
Beitou-qu |
北投區 |
Pei-t'ou |
249,319 |
56.8216 |
112 |
■ Neihu-qu |
內湖區 |
Nei-hu |
267,120 |
31.5787 |
114 |
■ Nangang-qu |
南港區 |
Nan-kang |
113,462 |
21.8424 |
115 |
| ■
Wenshan-qu |
文山區 |
Wen-shan |
261,523 |
31.5090 |
116 |
City planning
The city is characterized by straight roads and public buildings of
grand Western architectural styles. The city is built on a square
grid configuration, however these blocks are huge by international
standards (500m sides). However there is little uniformed planning
within these blocks; therefore lanes (perpendicular to streets) and
alleys (parallel to street) spill out from the main throughways.
These minor roads are not always perpendicular and sometimes cut
through the block diagonally.
Although development began in the western districts of the city
from trade, the eastern districts of the city have become the
downtown. Many of the western districts, already in decline, have
become targets of new
urban renewal
projects.
History

Diagram of Old Taipei revealing the
original city wall and gates.
Important buildings are highlighted.
The region known as the Taipei basin was home to
Ketagalan tribes before the eighteenth century.
Han Chinese mainly from Fujian
province of China began to settle in the
Taipei Basin in 1709.
In the
late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han Chinese
settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated overseas
trade port, Tamsui
, were
located, gained economic importance due to the booming overseas
trade, especially that of tea
exportation. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was
separated from Taiwan Prefecture (臺灣府) and incorporated into the
new Taipei Prefecture as a new administrative entity of the Chinese
government (Qing Dynasty
).
Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of
Bangkah and
Twatutia, the new prefectural capital was known
as
Chengnei (城內), "the inner city", and
government buildings were erected there. From 1875 (during the Qing
Dynasty) until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was
part of Danshui County of Taipei Prefecture and the prefectural
capital. In 1886, when Taiwan was proclaimed a
province of China, Taipei city was made
the provincial capital. Taipei remained a temporary provincial
capital before it officially became the capital of Taiwan in 1894.
All that remains from the old Qing Dynasty city is the north gate.
The west gate and city walls were demolished by the Japanese while
the south gate, little south gate and east gate were extensively
modified by the
Kuomintang (KMT) and have
lost much of their original character.
As
settlement for losing the First
Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the island of Taiwan to the
Empire of Japan
in 1895 as
part of the Treaty of
Shimonoseki. After the Japanese take-over, Taipei,
called
Taihoku
in Japanese, was retained as the capital and emerged as the
political center of the Japanese Colonial Government. During that
time the city acquired the characteristics of an administrative
center, including many new public buildings and housing for
civil servants.
Much of the
architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule, including the
Presidential
Building
which was
the Office of the Taiwan Governor-General.
During Japanese rule, Taihoku was incorporated in 1920 as part of
Taihoku Prefecture (台北縣). It included
Bangka,
Dadaocheng, and
Chengnei among other small settlements. The eastern
village
Matsuyama (松山區)
was annexed into Taihoku City in 1938. Upon the Japanese defeat in
the
Pacific War and its consequent
surrender in August 1945, the
Kuomintang
(Chinese Nationalist Party) assumed control of Taiwan.
Subsequently, a temporary Office of the Taiwan Province
Administrative Governor was established in Taipei City.
On
December 7, 1949, the KMT government under Chiang Kai-shek, after being forced to flee
mainland China by the Communists at the Chinese Civil War, declared Taipei as the
provisional capital of the Republic of
China
, with the official capital at Nanjing
(then
romanised as Nanking).
Taipei
expanded greatly in the decades after 1949, and as approved on
December 30, 1966 by the Executive
Yuan
,
Taipei was declared a special centrally administered municipality on
July 1, 1967 and given the administrative status of a
province. In the following year, Taipei City expanded
again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu
, Nangang
, Jingmei, and Muzha. At that time, the city's total area
increased fourfold through absorbing several outlying towns and
villages and the population increased to 1.56 million people.
The city's population, which had reached one million in the early
1960s, also expanded rapidly after 1967, exceeding two million by
the mid-1970s.
Although growth within the city itself
gradually slowed thereafter — its population had become relatively
stable by the mid-1990s — Taipei remained one of the world's most
densely populated urban areas, and the population continued to
increase in the region surrounding the city, notably along the
corridor between Taipei and Keelung
. In
1990, 16 districts in Taipei City were consolidated into the
current 12 districts.
Economy
As the capital of the Republic of China, Taipei has been at the
center of rapid economic development in the country and has now
become one of the global cities in the production of high
technology and its components. This is part of the so called
Taiwan Miracle which has seen
dramatic growth in the city following
foreign direct investment in the
1960s. Taiwan is now a
creditor economy,
holding one of the world's largest
foreign exchange
reserves of over US$321 billion in 2009.
Despite the
Asian financial
crisis, the economy continues to expand at about 5% per year,
with virtually full employment and low inflation. , the nominal GDP
of the core city of Taipei has accrued to an amount of nearly
US$160 billion, while the metro region of Taipei has a GDP
(nominal) of around US$260 billion, a record that would rank it
13th among
world cities by
GDP. The GDP per capita of Taipei is US$48,400, and the second
highest in Asia behind Tokyo, which has a GDP per capita of
US$65,453. If outskirts, neighboring cities, and townships are
taken into account, the GDP per capita would fall to
US$25,000.
Taipei and its environs have long been the foremost industrial area
of Taiwan, consisting of industries of the
secondary and
tertiary sectors. Most of the
country's important factories producing textiles and apparel are
located there; other industries include the manufacture of
electronic products and components, electrical machinery and
equipment, printed materials, precision equipment, and foods and
beverages. Such companies include
Shihlin Electric,
CipherLab and
Insyde
Software.
Shipbuilding, including yachts and other
pleasure craft, is done in the port of Keelung
northeast of
the city. Services, including those related to commerce,
transportation, and banking, have become increasingly important.
Tourism is a small but significant component of the local
economy.
China Airlines is headquartered in
Taipei.
Government
Taipei
City is administered as a direct-controlled
municipality directly under the Executive
Yuan
,
while Taipei County and Keelung City are administered as part of
Taiwan Province. The
mayor of Taipei City had been an appointed
position since Taipei's conversion to a centrally-administered
municipality in 1967 until the first public election was held in
1994. The position has a four-year term and is elected by direct
popular vote. The first elected mayor was
Chen Shui-bian of the
Democratic Progressive Party.
Ma Ying-Jeou took office in 1998 for
two terms, before handing it over to
Hau
Lung-bin who won the 2006 mayoral election on December 9, 2006.
Both Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-Jeou went on to become
President of Republic of
China.
Based on the outcomes of previous elections in the past decade, the
vote of the overall constituency of Taipei City shows a slight
inclination towards the pro-KMT camp (the
Pan-Blue Coalition); however, the pro-DPP
camp (the
Pan-Green Coalition)
also has considerable support.
Ketagalan Boulevard, where the Republic
of China's Presidential Office
Building
and other
government structures are situated, is often the site of mass
gatherings such as inauguration and national holiday parades,
receptions for visiting dignitaries, political demonstrations, and
public festivals.
Transportation
Taipei Main Station
serves as the comprehensive hub for bus
transportation, the MRT systems, Taiwan Railway, and Taiwan High
Speed Rail.
All
scheduled international flights are served by Taiwan Taoyuan International
Airport
in nearby
Taoyuan County.
Songshan Airport
at the heart of the city serves mostly domestic
flights, with the exception of some cross-strait and charter
flights.
Taipei's public transport system, the
Taipei Metro (commonly referred
to as the MRT), incorporates a
metro
and
light rail system based on advanced
VAL and
Bombardier technology. In addition
to the rapid transit system itself, the Taipei Metro also includes
several public facilities such as the
Maokong Gondola, underground shopping malls,
parks, and public squares. Modifications to existing
railway lines to integrate
them into the Metro system are underway, as well as a rapid transit
line to connect the city with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Customer satisfaction with the Taipei Metro, at over 94% in 2008,
ranks it as possibly the best public transport system
worldwide.
The
Taiwan High Speed Rail
system opened in 2007.
The bullet trains connect Taipei with the
west coast cities of Banciao
, Taoyuan
, Hsinchu
, Taichung
, Chiayi
, Tainan
and
Zuoying
(Kaohsiung
) at speeds
that cut travel times by 60% or more from what they normally are on
a bus or conventional train. The
Taiwan Railway Administration
also runs passenger and freight services throughout the entire
island.
An extensive
city bus system serves
metropolitan areas not covered by the metro, with exclusive bus
lanes to facilitate transportation. Riders of the city MRT system
are able to use their MRT passes for payment on buses. The pass,
known as
EasyCard, contain credits that are
deducted each time a ride is taken. The EasyCard is read via
proximity sensory panels on buses
and in MRT stations, and it does not need to be removed from one's
wallet or purse.
Motor-scooter are ubiquitous in
Taipei (and much of Taiwan). Motor-scooters often weave between
cars and occasionally through oncoming traffic. While there is
little respect for traffic laws there are increasing numbers of
police roadblocks checking riders for alcohol consumption and other
offenses.
Education
20 universities have campuses located in Taipei:
National Chiao Tung University
(
NCTU) is Taiwan's oldest university.
Originally
established in Shanghai in 1896, the University was moved to Taiwan
by former Chiao Tung
University
faculty and alumni in 1958. It is a public university with campuses in both
Taipei and Hsinchu
.
The
National Taiwan University
was established in 1928 during the period of
Japanese colonial rule. NTU has produced many political and
social leaders in Taiwan. Both
pan-blue and
pan-green movements in Taiwan are rooted
on the NTU campus. The university has six campuses in the greater
Taipei region (including
Taipei
County) and two additional campuses in
Nantou County. The University governs farms,
forests, and hospitals for educational and research purposes. The
main campus is in Taipei's Da-An district, where most department
buildings and all the administrative buildings are located.
The
College of Law and the College of Medicine are located near the
Presidential Building
. The National Taiwan University
Hospital
is a leading international center of medical
research.
National Taiwan Normal
University
(NTNU or Shida) likewise traces its
origins to the Japanese colonial period. Originally a
teacher training institution, NTNU has developed into a
comprehensive international university with demanding entrance
requirements. The university boasts especially strong programs in
the humanities and international education. Worldwide it is perhaps
best known as home of the
Mandarin Training Center, a program
that offers Mandarin language training each year to over a thousand
students from dozens of countries throughout the world. The main
campus in Taipei's Gutting district is known for its historic
architecture and giving its name to the Shida Night Market, one of
the most popular of the many night markets in Taipei.
Chinese as a Foreign Language
Sports
Due to Taiwan being under American and Japanese influence over the
years, the sports of
baseball in particular
and
basketball have become popular in the
city. Taipei, like the rest of the country, has featured most
prominently in baseball and has often been the venue for the
Asian Baseball
Championship since the 1960s.
Major sporting events
Below is a list of recent sporting events:
The
Taipei Arena
is located
in the city home to baseball with a capacity of some 15,000.
It is
located at the site of the former Taipei Municipal Baseball
Stadium
(built in 1958, opened 1959, demolished
2000). It was designed by Archasia, an architectural firm
established in Taipei. The arena was opened on December 1, 2005. It
is currently operated by the Eastern Media Group (東森集團), which won
the bid to operate the arena for 9 years.
The main arena has an adjustable floor space: its minimum floor
space is 60 m x 30 m, and can be extended to 80 m x 40 m.
The Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League (CTIHL) plays out of the
auxiliary arena, which is a 60 m x 30 m ice skating rink.
Since opening in 2005, the arena has held more art and cultural
activities (such as live concerts) than sporting events, which it
was originally designed and built for.
Taipei
has the only football-specific stadium in Taiwan, Zhongshan Soccer Stadium
, which hosts the national football
team. It hosts qualifiers for the
FIFA World and
AFC regional cups, and finals
of school football tournaments. As there is no professional
football league in Taiwan, no other sporting events are held
there.
Media
As the capital, Taipei City is the headquarters for many television
and radio stations in Taiwan and the centre of some of the
country's largest newspapers.
Television
Television stations centred in Taipei include the
CTS Education and Culture,
CTS Recreation,
CTV MyLife,
CTV News Channel,
China Television,
Chinese Television System,
Chung T'ien Television,
Dimo TV,
Eastern Television,
Era Television,
FTV
News,
Follow Me TV,
Formosa TV,
Gala
Television,
Public
Television Service,
SET Metro,
SET News,
SET
Taiwan,
Sanlih E-Television,
Shuang Xing,
TTV
Family,
TTV Finance,
TTV World,
TVBS,
TVBS-G,
TVBS-NEWS,
Taiwan Broadcasting System,
Videoland Television
Network and
Taiwan
Television.
Newspapers
Newspapers include
Apple Daily,
Central Daily News,
The China Post,
China
Times,
Kinmen Daily News,
Liberty Times,
Mandarin Daily News,
Matsu Daily,
Min Sheng
Bao,
Sharp Daily,
Taipei Times,
Taiwan
Daily,
Taiwan News,
Taiwan Timesand
United Daily News.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Taipei is
twinned with:
- Houston,
Texas
,
USA (1961)
- Lomé
, Togo
(1966)
- Quezon
City
, Philippines
(1968)
- Manila
, Philippines
(1966)
- Cotonou
, Benin
(1967)
- Seoul
, South Korea
(1968)
- Santo
Domingo
,
Dominican Republic (1970)
- Ho Chi Minh
City
,
Vietnam
(1968)
- San Francisco,
California
, USA (1970)
- Guam
, USA
(1973)
- Jeddah
, Saudi Arabia
(1978)
- Cleveland,
Ohio
,
USA (1970)
- Cincinnati,
Ohio
,
USA
- Indianapolis,
Indiana
, USA (1978)
- Marshall,
Texas
,
USA (1978)
- Atlanta,
Georgia
,
USA (1979)
- Phoenix,
Arizona
,
USA (1979)
|
- Los Angeles,
California
, USA (1979)
- Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma
, USA (1981)
- Johannesburg
, South Africa (1982)
- Gold Coast, Australia
(1982)
- Pretoria
, South Africa (1983)
- Tegucigalpa
, Honduras
(1975)
- San José, Costa
Rica
(1984)
- Lilongwe
, Malawi
(1984)
- Versailles, France (1986)
- Asunción
,
Paraguay
(1987)
- Panama
City
,
Panama
(1989)
- Managua
, Nicaragua
(1992)
- San
Salvador
,
El Salvador
(1993)
- Prague
, Czech
Republic (1994)
- Warsaw
, Poland
(1995)
- Ulan-Ude
, Russia
(1996)
- Boston
, USA (1997)
|
- Dallas,
Texas
,
USA (1997)
- Dakar
, Senegal
(1997)
- Banjul
, Gambia
(1997)
- Bissau
, Guinea-Bissau
(1997)
- Mbabane
, Swaziland
(1997)
- Ulan
Bator
, Mongolia
(1997)
- Monterrey
, Mexico
(1997)
- La Paz,
Bolivia
(1997)
- Guatemala
City
,
Guatemala
(1998)
- Monrovia
, Liberia
(1998)
- Vilnius
, Lithuania
(1998)
- Majuro
, Marshall Islands
(1998)
- Perth
, Australia (1999)
- Hyderabad,
India
(2000)
- Riga
, Latvia
(2001)
- Ouagadougou
, Burkina Faso
(2002)
- Paola,
Italy
(prospective)
|
Partner city
Friendship cities
Gallery
File:Taipei night view from Xiangshan.jpg|Taipei
CityFile:BMAnniversary_ROC_Taipei_101.jpg|Taipei
CityFile:CKS_Memorial_Hall.jpg|National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial
HallFile:EntranceChiangKaiShek.JPG|Entrance of National Chiang
Kai-shek Memorial HallFile:101.tall.altonthompson.jpg|Taipei
101File:101.love-indiana.altonthompson.jpg|Love in
TaipeiFile:DSCF0365.jpg|Taipei 101 from National Sun Yat-sen
Memorial Hall StationFile:ghotel.jpg|Grand
HotelFile:GrandHotelTaipei_v1.jpg|Grand Hotel
TaipeiFile:DaZhiBridge2_byJaojao.JPG|Dazhi
BridgeFile:dansui.jpg|Dadaocheng Wharf, TaipeiFile:baoan2.jpg|Baoan
TempleFile:指南宮凌霄寶殿.jpg|Zhinan
TempleFile:101.typhoon.altonthompson.jpg|A typhoon makes landfall
in TaipeiFile:ChiangKai-shek_MemorialHall_PeripheralParks.jpg|Pond
by National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial
HallFile:-thumb-250px-Ximending_at_night.jpg|Ximending at
Night
See also
Notes
- Taipei invites architects | Taipei Times,
2008.07.25
- " Investor Relations." China Airlines.
Retrieved on May 20, 2009.
- All Subways Should be Like Taipei's Marvel of Mass
Transit, Wired News
- Sister city list (.DOC)
- Ouagadougou and Taipei establish sister cities
link
External links