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Friday, May 1, 2009

Taipei

Taipei ( or _; Táiběi) [1] is the national capital of the Republic of China, otherwise known as Taiwan. It is located in the northern part of the island in a basin between the Yangming Mountains and the Central Mountains. The largest city of Taiwan, it serves as its financial and governmental center.

Downtown districts

  • Daan Datong
  • Songshan
  • Wanhua
  • Xinyi
  • Zhongshan
  • Zhongzheng
Suburban districts - North

Beitou (^) – This district is famous for hot springs and the Yangmingshan National Park.
Neihu (^) – Located in the north-east of the city, Neihu is a hub of IT industry in Taipei, home to many large shopping centers, and a great place for hiking and 'templing'.
Shilin (^) – A traditional area of the city that is known for its excellent museums, including the world famous National Palace Museum. Shilin is also home to one of Taipei's largest nightmarket and the expat enclave of Tianmu.
Suburban districts - South
Nangang (^) – Neighboring Neihu, this district is known for its IT industrial complexes and is also home to one of Taiwan's leading academic institution - Academia Sinica.
Wenshan (^) – This district comprises of the two traditional districts of Muzha and Jingmei. It is located in the south of the city and associated with its many tea plantations and also for being the location of Taipei Zoo.

Surrounding cities
Taipei City is surrounded by Taipei County (h), which is an amalgamation of several cities and towns. The city and county, along with Keelung City (), is basically one metropolitan area, but run by different government authorities. Individual cities are listed on the Taipei County page.

Overview
In 1884, the Qing dynasty governor of Taiwan decided to move the provincial capital to Taipei, and with the construction of government offices and the influx of civil servants, Taipei's days as a sleepy market town were over. As Taipei is located in the north of Taiwan (the closest area to Japan), the city continued to thrive when Taiwan was ceded to Japan in 1895. However, as Japan was in the throes of a 'modernize-come-what-may' period, little regard was paid to Taipei's traditional Chinese-style architecture and many of the old buildings, including the city walls, were demolished. During the Japanese period of colonial rule, several prominent buildings were however constructed, the Presidential Palace and National Taiwan University being among the most famous, but the city's architecture again suffered a major onslaught when the KMT government arrived from mainland China in 1945.
In order to cope with the influx of millions of mainland refugees, temporary housing estates sprang up all around the city. Later, these were replaced by Soviet-era style (or 'no-style') concrete apartment buildings. These buildings characterized Taipei's landscape until very recently.
In the 1980s, Taiwan's economy began to take off. Wages increased and in order to satisfy a wealthy and sophisticated market, Taipei began to change. Wide, tree lined boulevards were laid, high quality apartment blocks constructed and stylish restaurants and cafes established. The city was booming and has never looked back since.
The Taipei of today is a confident city of about 2.5 million inhabitants (about seven million including suburbs), and is characterized by its friendly people and safe streets. While it is not usually high on the list of tourist destinations, it is a fascinating place to visit and live. Furthermore, despite its size, Taipei does not have any rough areas that are considered unsafe, even at night - which in itself is attractive.
The downtown area is culturally divided into East and West. The West side, with its narrow streets and road side vendors, is considered the bastion of old Taipei life, whereas East Taipei, with its classy malls, chic boutiques, and stylish restaurants and cafes, reminiscent of those found in Hong Kong, Paris or New York represents the city's metamorphosis into a modern and international city.

5 comments:

  1. thnx for visiting..

    ur blog...full of facts.. :)

    btw where u from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for stopping by Sweet as a candy!
    Your blog is really, really interesting!
    Smiles,
    Federica.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm just drop by to say "hello"

    Regards,
    http://www.gpmobiles.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. ouh see...
    its cool then..
    :)

    so where u stayin' now?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello,May! Thank you for stoping this blog.
    In addition, come to watch blog.
    Smile :)

    http://k--kon.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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