Taipei

Taipei (Chinese台北市/台北市, Pinyin Taibei Shì, W.-G. T'ai -pei shih, PEH oē - jī Tâi -pak chhi ), frequently found in the English spelling as Taipei, is a city of millions on Danshui River in the northern part of Taiwan and the capital of the Republic of China.

Geography and recreation

Taipei is located in a basin at the confluence of the rivers Danshui, Xindian and Jilong ( Keelung ). During the Danshui River and the Xindian River border the city to the west and south, the Jilong River separates the city center from the northern districts of Zhongshan and Neihu. In the north of the basin, the mountains of Yangmingshan National Park with the Qixing Shan rise as the highest elevation ( 1,120 m). There you can experience volcanic activity as well as admire the cherry blossoms, butterflies and grasslands. In the south of the zoo, the Zhinan Temple and the teahouses pull the Maokong mountains to the visitors. Smaller mountains such as the Xiang Shan range to the city center. Central is also the Da'an Park.

History

The area of Taipei originally belonged to the tribal territory of the tribe of Taiwanese aborigines Ketagalan. Between 1626 to 1642 Spain built isolated bases in northern Taiwan, but was driven out by the Dutch. 1662 the Dutch Zheng Chenggong by ( Koxinga ) were defeated, his heirs lost control of Taiwan, however, the end of the 17th century the Qing Dynasty. Only after the colonization of northern Taiwan started by Chinese immigrants.

Step by Step attracted the Chinese to the north. The area on the Danshui River was the most important center in northern Taiwan and the Chinese settlements Mon - Jia (艋舺, měngjiǎ, today Wanhua万华, Wanhua ), Dalongdong, Dadaocheng developed into commercial centers. These three settlements presented with their development, the nucleus of the evolving Taipei dar.

Taipei's development as the city began in 1709, when Chen Lai Zhang, an association of immigrants from Quanzhou, Fujian, got permission for reclamation of the area by the government.

The first settlement was located on the eastern shore of the Danshui trading village with a port called Manga ( Taiwanese reading; Chinese艋舺, měngjiǎ ), today Wanhua, where there is also the built from 1738 Longshan Temple ( Dragon Mountain Temple龙山寺, Longshan sì ) is located.

At the beginning of the 1870s was starting to expand to Taipei city. In 1879, the city gates were completed in the four cardinal directions. Except for the west gate all the others are still preserved. 1885 began construction of the city walls. At the same time the streets were paved with cobblestone and even electrically illuminated part. That same year, Taipei was raised by the then provincial governor Liu Mingchuan to the city. After the defeat of the Empire of China in the Sino- Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was a Japanese colony. The city, japanese very Taihoku was planned at this time by the Japanese three times again and finally the big city. The design of the presidential palace resembles the shape of the character for Japan. One can say that the majority of today's road order Taipei was at that time.

After the defeat of the Japanese in 1945, Taiwan was again a Chinese province. Important political offices were filled by mainlanders. Between them and the Taiwanese, who had just been been Japanese citizens, there were tensions. This 1947 escalated into the incident of 28 February, which took its output in Taipei, spilled over from there to the whole country and lasted until May. In 1949, China's government withdrew the fight against the Communists to Taiwan. This resulted in an influx of capital ( gold and foreign exchange reserves), art treasures ( from the Forbidden City ) and educated mainlanders who belonged to the elite of the Republic of China, and many of which are now settled in or around Taipei. The city was by and by to the political, economic and cultural center of Taiwan, and is now one of the major cities in Asia.

Management

The City Council of Taipei (台北市议会) was founded in 1946. Since 1976 it is a city authority under the direct supervision of the government. The first meeting was held on 25 December 1969.

The members of the Council are elected by direct vote. On December 25, 1998 52 aldermen took their positions for the Ninth Council. There are six electoral districts and a Native American district. The Council consists of 23 KMT ( Kuomintang ), 19 DPP ( Democratic Progressive Party, Democratic Progressive Party ) and nine New Party members, all of which may be re-elected. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Council are elected by separate elections by the General Assembly. Both must receive more than 50 % of the vote each.

The Council has the following areas: civil and financial management, rehabilitation, education, transport, law enforcement, public health, public relations, laws and regulations, and budgeting.

Street and place names, in addition to the Chinese characters, signposted Hanyu Pinyin in Latin characters, and not with the formerly used Wade-Giles or Pinyin Tongyong. This also extends to the MRT. However, common other names such as Taipei are still in use.

Districts

Status: November 2013

Colleges and Universities

Taipei is also a center of educational institutions.

Attractions

Taipei 101 The July 2007 tallest skyscraper in the world is Taipei's landmark. It houses a shopping center, offices and a visitor platform to which one comes with express elevators.
National Chiang Kai- shek Memorial Hall Here the long-time president of the Republic of China is thought. No other place in Taipei symbolizes so much the national mood and the search for identity. Furthermore, the total complex with gardens, ponds, the National Concert Hall and National Theater Hall is a place of recreation.
The National Palace Museum Here you will find treasures from the Forbidden City from over three thousand years of Chinese cultural history.
Sun Yat- sen Memorial Hall The monument of the first President of the Republic of China, which is also revered in the People's Republic of China.
Grand Hotel 1973 finished tool, designed in traditional Chinese palace-style five-star hotel.
Mengjia Longshan Temple The most famous temple in the city.
Shilin Night Market Here food is sold and equally prepared for consumption. In addition, much Amüsierbetrieb. Big rush.
Shida Night Market The Longquan Street is home to the Shida Night Market, which is not only due to its proximity to the main campus of the National Taiwan Normal University, a popular meeting place for the local students.
Shin Kong Life Tower War until 1997 the tallest building in Taiwan and is the seat of the Shin Kong Life Insurance Company. On the lower floors, the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store is located.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei organizes temporary exhibitions.
The Municipal Art Museum Taipei shows mainly the works of Taiwanese artists from the modern period.
Bao- An Temple The most important Daoist Temple Taipei. Built in 1760.
Temple of Confucius Confucius ' teachings play a central role in the Taiwanese society even today. In the immediate vicinity of the Bao -An Temple.
Lin An- Tai - house The oldest existing residential buildings of Taipei. The farm was a wealthy merchant family was built from 1783 to 1823 in Fujian style, but in 1978 removed due to expansion of Dunhua Road and 1986 completely rebuilt at the Binjiang Road of the original part.
Zhinan Temple Daoist temple in the Maokong mountains, in the south of Taipei. Built in 1890. The Immortal Lu Dongbin consecrated. Avoid lovers to the temple to visit together, as they fear his jealousy. According to legend, his love was not returned to He Xiangu.

Traffic

Taipei's public transport system includes a light rail train (LRT ) and a metro, called MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). In contrast to the long-distance train TRA - Taiwan Railway Administration, which was built by the former occupying power Japan drive on the left, with trains to the city on the right track. The reason for this is that the LRT was built by the French company Matra in the 1990s. In the late 1980s, the main railway station in the city center was completely moved underground. The end of 2006 was put into operation high-speed connection Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR ) to Zuoying / Kaohsiung has left-hand traffic.

In the city itself there is the domestic airport Taipei Songshan; about an hour southwest of Taipei near Taoyuan International Airport is Taipei Taiwan Taoyuan Airport previously Taipei Chiang Kai- shek.

There is an extensive and very dense bus through the city, especially in areas that are not served by the LRT and MRT.

In recent years, efforts have increased the infrastructure for cyclists expand.

Twin Cities

Taipei maintains with the following cities partnerships. In brackets the year of establishment.

United States Houston, United States ( 1961)
Togo Lome, Togo (1966 )
Philippines Manila, Philippines (1966 )
Benin Cotonou, Benin (1967 )
Flag of South Korea Seoul, South Korea (1968 )
Philippines Quezon City, Philippines (1968 )
Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (1968 )
United States San Francisco, United States ( 1970)
Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic ( 1970)
Guam Guam, USA (1973 )
Honduras Tegucigalpa, Honduras (1975 )
United States Cleveland, United States ( 1970)
Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ( 1978)
United States Indianapolis, United States ( 1978)
United States Marshall (Texas ), USA ( 1978)
United States Phoenix, United States ( 1979)
United States Los Angeles, United States ( 1979)
United States Atlanta, United States ( 1979)
United States Oklahoma City, United States ( 1981)
South Africa Johannesburg, South Africa ( 1982)
Australia Gold Coast, Australia ( 1982)
Germany Landkreis Starnberg, Germany with Taipei County (1982 )
South Africa Pretoria, South Africa ( 1983)
Costa Rica San José, Costa Rica ( 1984)

Malawi Lilongwe, Malawi ( 1984)
France Versailles, France ( 1986)
Paraguay Asunción, Paraguay (1987 )
Panama Panama City, Panama (1989 )
Nicaragua Managua, Nicaragua (1992 )
El Salvador San Salvador, El Salvador ( 1993)
Poland Warsaw, Poland ( 1995)
Russia Ulan- Ude, Russia ( 1996)
United States Boston, United States ( 1997)
United States Dallas, United States ( 1997)
Senegal Dakar, Senegal (1997)
Gambia Banjul, Gambia (1997)
Guinea- Bissau Bissau, Guinea- Bissau ( 1997)
Swaziland Mbabane, Swaziland (1997)
Mongolia Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia ( 1997)
Mexico San Nicolas, Mexico ( 1997)
Bolivia La Paz, Bolivia (1997)
Guatemala Guatemala City, Guatemala (1998)
Liberia Monrovia, Liberia ( 1998)
Lithuania Vilnius, Lithuania ( 1998)
Marshall Islands Majuro, Marshall Islands (1998)
Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic ( 2001)
Latvia Riga, Latvia ( 2001)

Sons and daughters of the town

Hotsuki Ozaki (1928-1999), writer and literary critic
Brigitte Lin (born 1954 ), actress
Rod Cory Langway ( born 1957 ), American ice hockey player
Alexander Rahr (* 1959), German political scientist
Jerry Yang ( born 1968 ), co-founder and chairman of Internet directory Yahoo!
Christina Chang (born 1971 ), American actress
Takeshi Kaneshiro (* 1973), Taiwanese - Japanese actor
Justin Lin (born 1973 ), American- Taiwanese screenwriter and film director
Faith Yang ( born 1974 ), rock musician and model
Shu Qi (born 1976 ), actress
Joey Wong ( born 1976 ), actress
Steve Chen (born 1978 ), co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of the website YouTube.
Xu Weilun (1978-2007), singer, actress and model
Jay Chou ( born 1979 ), singer and actor
Kaila Yu ( b. 1979 ), Taiwanese - American singer and model
Jolin Tsai ( born 1980 ), pop singer
Peggy Hsu ( born 1981 ), singer and songwriter
Selina Ren ( born 1981 ), singer of the girl band SHE
Jasmine Chen (* 1989), show jumper
Ray Chen (* 1989), Australian- Taiwanese Violinist

Gallery

Taipei viewed from Maokong from

Main entrance to the Chiang Kai- shek Memorial Hall

Taipei 101

Considered government buildings from Ketagalan Boulevard from

Grand Hotel Taipei

Bao -an Temple

Zhinan Temple

A typhoon in Taipei

Ximending at night

Da'an Park

Air table

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