Zhonghe District

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Zhonghe
中和區
District
Zhonghe District
Zhonghe District, with Taipei 101 in the background
Zhonghe District, with Taipei 101 in the background
Location of Zhonghe in New Taipei City
Location of Zhonghe in New Taipei City
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Country  Republic of China
Region Northern Taiwan
Special municipality New Taipei City (新北市)
Area
 • Total 20.294 km2 (7.836 sq mi)
Population (December 2014)[1]
 • Total 415,226
Time zone CST (UTC+8)
Postal code 235
Website http://www.zhonghe.ntpc.gov.tw
Zhonghe District
Chinese 中和區

Zhonghe District (Chinese: 中和區; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghé Qū; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhonghé Cyu, Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiong-hô Khu), historically spelled Chung-Ho and Jhonghe, is an inner city district in New Taipei in northern Taiwan (Republic of China). Zhonghe is a burgeoning satellite city of Taipei.

Geography and climate

Zhonghe lies just south-west of Taipei City and shares borders with Banqiao, Xindian, Tucheng and Yonghe Districts of New Taipei City, as well as Taipei City. The average annual temperature is 21.7 °C (71.1 °F) and the precipitation averages 2,111 millimetres (83.1 in) per year. Most of Zhonghe lies a few tens of meters above sea level and is heavily urbanized, with forested hillier country in the southeast. A mountainous ridge forms most of the eastern border with Xindian, which includes the highest point in Zhonghe, the 302-meter Fenglusai (Chinese: 風爐塞山; pinyin: Fēnglúsài Shān).[2]

History

The present-day area of Zhonghe District was originally settled by aboriginal tribes. During conflict between the colonial forces of the Dutch and the Spanish, the area is recorded by the Dutch as Chiron, from the name of one of the tribes living there.[3] This name is preserved in one of the constituent villages of the city, called Xiulang Li (秀朗里), and the bridge which connects Zhonghe to Xindian.

The area was subsequently settled by Han migrants from Fujian but remained relatively unimportant until the end of the Second World War. In 1946 the population of the area of present-day Zhonghe and Yonghe was 30,000 and it was classified as a rural township (鄉 xiāng).[4]

Due to rapid population growth Yonghe was separated from Zhonghe in 1958. Subsequently, on January 1, 1979, Zhonghe was upgraded to county-controlled city status after reaching a population of 170,000.[4] On 25 December 2010, due to the changing from Taipei County to New Taipei City, Zhonghe City was changed to Zhonghe District.

Administrative divisions

Zhonghe is divided into 93 lǐ (里; villages), which are further subdivided into lín (鄰; neighbourhoods), of which there are 2,972 in total. Some administration is shared with neighbouring Yonghe District; due to both this and their proximity, they are sometimes collectively known as Shuanghe (雙和; literally Twin "He", because both cities feature the character 和 (hé) in their names). This is also reflected in the names of various institutions such as Shuang Ho Hospital[5] in Zhonghe and Shuanghe Libai Church[6] in Yonghe.

Transportation

Rail

Zhonghe is served by the Zhonghe Line of the Taipei Metro, three stations of which are located in the city: Yongan Market, Jingan and the terminal station, Nanshijiao. Scheduled to begin operation in December 2015, the Circular Line will add a further five metro stations in Zhonghe, and transform Jingan Station into an interchange station between the Circular and Zhonghe lines. Further into the future, the Wanda Line and the North-South section of the Yellow Line will eventually bring the number of MRT stations in Zhonghe to fifteen. The closest regular rail and high-speed services are from Banqiao Station in neighbouring Banqiao District.

Road

Zhonghe has an interchange on one of Taiwan's two main north-south road arteries; the National Highway 3. Also providing road links is Provincial Highway 64, an elevated expressway that cuts through the middle of the district, with several on and off-ramps in Zhonghe itself. There are two bridges over the Xindian River; Xiulang Bridge, which connects Zhonghe with Xindian, and Huazhong Bridge, reaching Taipei's Wanhua District.

Education

Zhonghe is home to the National Taiwan Library, which is located in the grounds of the 8-23 Memorial Park. It has one of the best collections in Taiwan of factual books about Taiwan in English.

There are nine elementary schools, four junior high schools, one senior high school, and three private high schools in Zhonghe. The Hwa Hsia University of Technology is also located in the city.

Economy

The offices of a number of technology companies are located in the district, including the Asia-Pacific head office of Viewsonic,[7] a Texas Instruments research facility,[8] the head offices of Cooler Master,[9] and Micro-Star International.[10]

Cultural and religious sites

  • Hongludi Temple
  • Yuantong Temple
  • Xingnan Night Market
  • Fangliao Night Market

Burma Street

Huaxin Street (華新街), near Nanshijiao MRT Station, is home to a large proportion of Taiwan's small Burmese immigrant population. Zhonghe District is home to 40,000 Burmese Chinese (2008), making up 10% of Zhonghe's population, and constituting one of the largest communities of Burmese Chinese outside of Burma.[11] Consequently, there are numerous stores and restaurants in this area selling Burmese produce and there are also cultural events on occasion.[12]

  • Archway in the 8-23 Park

  • Statue of Tudi Gong at Hongludi Temple

  • Trees in the 8-23 Park

  • National Taiwan Library

  • Jingxin Elementary School

  • Xingnan Night Market Entrance

  • Jingping Road

  • Nanshijiao Station.JPG

    Nanshijiao Station, southern terminus of the MRT's Zhonghe Line

  • Yuantong Temple (Buddhist)

  • High-rise office buildings

Famous natives

International relations

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Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Taiwan (Republic of China)

Twin towns — sister cities

Zhonghe, Taiwan is twinned with:

References

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  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  13. ↑ Los Gatos Weekly-Times | Monte Sereno Sister City

External links

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