Taichung

Related Topics:
Taichung_City :: Taichung :: Taichung_County

Taichung (; POJ: Tâi-tiong) is a city located in west-central Taiwan with a population of just over one million people, making it the third largest city on the island, after Taipei and Kaohsiung. The city's name is Chinese for "Central Taiwan." Taichung City (台中市) is administratively a municipality of Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. It is surrounded completely by Taichung County. The average temperature of Taichung city is about 23 degree Celsius, and average rainfall is about 1700 mm per year. Taichung City is first founded around year 1705, during the Ching dynasty. It is first developed for military purpose. In the year 1887, Taichung had become the center of Taiwan, most of the politics, economic and cultural activities were held here. Though years later, Taichung had no longer as important as it used to be, but now it is becoming a rising power, which is right behind Taipei.

Districts

Beitun District(北屯區): Geographically, this is the largest district in the city, spreading from the north to the northeastern-most reaches of the city. It includes the comparatively rural area of Dakeng.
Central District(中區): This is the smallest and most densely populated district in the city. It is home to the Taichung Train Station and a large number of traditional businesses. This district is home to the original suncake shop on Tsu-you Road, (自由路) and is where most of Taichung's major businesses used to located.
East District(東區): Literally on the other side of the tracks from the main part of the downtown area.
Nantun District(南屯區): Occupies the southwestern-most portions of the city. There is still considerable farmland in this area, but a High Speed Rail is expected to open in a few months in adjacent Wuri, and the Taichung city government plans to move the city hall into this district. Currently, Nantun is most well-known for high property values and expensive, luxurious cottages, which have in turn attracted many large department stores into the area.
North District(北區): Nestled between Central and Beitun Districts, it is home to the Taichung First Senior High school and YiJhong Street 一中街, one of the best known night markets in the city.
Situn District(西屯區): This district spreads out to the western edge of the city and is home to Feng Chia and TungHai Universities as well as Morrison Christian Academy. It is also the location of many of the new, fashionable department stores in the city and is the area of greatest growth.
South District(南區): Occupying the southernmost part of the city, it is home to JhongSing University and the Taichung Industrial High School.
West District(西區): West District is home to the National Fine Arts Museum as well as the Municipal Cultural Center. A lot of cultural activites were held here. This area is also known for its restaurants, which have attracted many people come with their reputation for exotic cuisine.

Crime

Taichung has the highest crime rate of all the major cities of Taiwan. Kidnapping, sexual assault, prostitution, illegal gambling, organized crime and burglary are of major concerns for local inhabitants. Much of the crime goes unreported by the local police authorities to avoid any cost overruns in the extremely competitive local elections.

Air Pollution

Air pollution in Taichung is one of the most obvious problems for residents. Taichung is the third largest city and like many other Taiwanese cities, notorious for the poor air quality. Taichung is on a coastal plain surrounded by mountains, which trap pollutants. The primary cause of urban air pollution is the large number of vehicles (mostly motorbikes and scooters) used by residents. There are more than 11 million scooters in Taiwan and the per capita distribution in Taichung is much higher becasue of the lack of public transportation available.

Despite the rhetoric by both the elected and appointed Taiwan government the Taiwan EPA has failed in its attempts to solve the motorbike problem. In July 1999, the EPA began issuing monetary awards to residents who report cars and motorbikes that emit unusual amounts of dark exhaust but the program never made it past the pilot program. The agency also made poor use of subsidies intended to encourage the purchase of fuel efficient and low-emission vehicles. Motor vehicles are subject to air pollution control (APC) fees levied by the EPA. These fees also are applied to larger emitters like factories. The government credits the APC system with helping to reduce the number of days when the country's pollution standard index score exceeded 100 from 7% of days in 1994 to 3% of days in 2001. However the cultural norm encouraging creative accounting and the general lack of accountability in Taiwan makes official statistics highly suspect.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is considered a significant threat to the health of Taichung's people as well as to the economy. Agricultural run-off, coastal aquaculture, industrial effluents, and domestic sewage are responsible for the pollution of coastal areas, surface water and ground water in Taichung. Water pollution is most severe in areas with a high concentration of industrial activity such as the Taichung industrial park and surrounding areas. Much of the fault lies with Taiwan's inadequate sewer system, which covers only 10% of the country as well as the inability of both local and regional governing authorities to enforce existing regulations.

The Taiwanese government has been reluctant to address the problem of water pollution for fear of retribution from local businesses. There has been much discussion on the matter but little to no effective measures or action has been taken. The central government has placed numerous rivers under government supervision. It also has established river and stream water quality sampling stations as of 2001. Businesses are officially required to meet a set of standards for effluent discharge, and a water pollution control fee was due to start being collected by the end of 2003 but has yet to been fully implemented.

Higher education

There are 11 colleges and universities located in Taichung city.

National Chung Hsing University (中興大學)
Chung Shan Medical University
Feng Chia University (逢甲大學)
Ling Tung College
Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology
National Taichung Institute of Technology
National Taichung Nursing College
National Taichung University – formerly National Taichung Teacher’s College (國立台中師範學院)
National Taiwan College of Physical Education (國立台灣體育學院)
Tunghai University (東海大學)
China Medical University (中國醫藥大學)

International Schools

There are three schools in Taichung City designed to educate children of expatriate residents of the Taichung area. A foreign passport is required to enter any of these schools.

Morrison Christian Academy
The American School in Taichung (formerly known as Lincoln American School)
Taichung Japanese School (through grade nine)

Transportation

Inner City Driving

Driving in Taichung City is as bad as other less developed Asian cities. During rush hour, driving in the downtown area is as arduous as Taipei or other large Taiwanese cities. The major congestion is on Taichung Harbor Road (台中港路), which can get congested not only during rush hour, but also on weekends or late evenings as many of the most popular shopping centers and movie theaters are on that stretch of road. Traffic conditions are on par with Mexico or Mainland China. Hit and run accidents are very common and offenders are rarely cited. The local police tend to do sobriety test primarily on drivers that fail to flee the scene of the accident.

In the downtown area, there are a number of wide, two-lane roads with a number of narrower one-lane roads more often used for parking or motor scooter traffic. The downtown area is vaugly a grid pattern with Tsu-you Road (自由路)and Sanmin （三民路） running basically southwest to northeast while Jhongjheng Road (中正路) and Linsen Road (林森路) run northwest from the center of the city.

A large number of multi-lane roads then lead out of the downtown area in all directions. Most of them are divided by a barrier in the middle to enhance safety. These roads include Taichung Harbor Road (台中港路), WuChuan West Road (五權西路), Beitun Road (北屯路), Taiyuan Road (太原路), HanXi Road (旱溪路), KuoKuang Road (國光路), WuChuan South Road (五權南路) and WenHsin South Road (文心南路).

There is no Mass Transit System (MRT) in Taichung and the local public bus system is considered the worst on the island. Many bus stops are nothing more than signs with no buses servicing the stops. On average there is one motorcycle per person in Taichung. Stop lights and lane indicators are generally observed on major streets but often are viewed more as suggestions rather than legally enforced traffic rules. Speed limits when posted, are not enforced, making traffic conditions some of the most dangerous on the island. With an ever decreasing number of romanized or English street signs, navigation is difficult. In addition, visible steet signs and building or house numbers that are mandated by the central governing authority are not common, thus finding specific locations or addresses is extremely difficult.

Sidewalks are a rarity in Taichung, available on a few major streets and then only intermittently. Public sidewalks are considered to be the personal property of the nearest building residents as are public parking spaces. As a result sidewalks are primarily used for car and motorcycle parking as well as front room extensions for nearby homes and businesses. Public parking spaces tend to be used to store unwanted refuse or family gardens. Pedestrians are generally forced to share the roads with automobile traffic and a seemingly endless river of motorcycles.

Freeways and Expressways

National Highway No. 1 (國道一號), also known as the Sun Yat-Sen Freeway, passes through the western part of the city and has three interchanges in Taichung City. One is at Jhongching Road (中清路), another at Taichung Harbor Road (中港路) and the southernmost at Wuchuan West Road (五權西路).

Provincial Highway No. 74 (中彰快速道路), also known as the Taichung-Changhua Expressway, runs from northwestern Taichung City through part of Taichung County into the northern part of Changhua City just to the south of Taichung. At some points, it is just a few dozen meters east of the Sun Yat-Sen Freeway. While it doesn't connect directly to that highway, it does have an interchange with National Highway No. 3 (Taiwan) (國道三號) in Taichung County.

Shopping

A favorite local drink translated roughly to Pearl Milk Tea got its start at the famous Jing Ming Street. Jing Ming Street attempts to be an upscale neighborhood and is known for its delicious cuisine and small restaurants. The Tain Jing Clothing Area is also popular as well as the various night markets that offer a variety of wares at reasonable prices and moderate quality. Bargaining or negotiating a price for goods is a common practice at smaller stores and shops. Except for these, Taichung has some high fashion stuff going on as well. The most famous one would be the LV store on ChungGaun Road, and some other department store, including ChungYo Department Store. The service industry is Taichung's largest employer but the service industry overall, remain substandard as Taiwan continues to have serious management failings outside of the manufacturing sector.

Famous features

Taichung is most famous for its suncakes (taiyang bing), its three major national museums, and the monumental number of KTV lounges. Taichung's Chun Shui Tang teahouse (春水堂) is where bubble tea was invented, by a teahouse owner, Chen Chung-Hsin. Taichung First Senior High School (TCFSH, 台中一中) was the first Chinese high school established by the descendants of early Chinese immigrants to Taiwan; most other highly respected modern high schools at the time were established by the Japanese colonial authorities.

Taichung has three national museums, which makes it unique among Taiwanese cities. The largest of the three is the National Natural Science Museum; it first opened in 1993, having been under construction for more than a half of century. The National Natural Science Museum is divided into 6 different parts, including the Botanical Gardens, the Omni Max Theater, "Chinese Techno", Life Sciences and the Science Center for the Global Environment. One of the most popular places for students in Taichung is 一中街, (Yi Zhong Jie). This is a popular "hang out" for most teenagers around the Taichung area. There are many small clothing and food stores in the area. Prices tend to be lower and it is frequented by students from the major Universities in and around Taichung.

Taichung is renowned for its adult entertainment, earning the city the unofficial title of Little Las Vegas. Illegal gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking are widespread and ignored by the local authorities. In the spring of 2006 a group of non-local police investigating an islandwide vote buying racket in Taichung City accidentally stumbled upon a small apartment filled with cash and bearer bonds drawn on the Bank Of Taiwan estimated to be worth over 250,000,000 US$, making Taichung City one of the biggest money laudering centers in East Asia.

Of the hundreds of brothels (KTV) and gambling houses lining Taichung's streets, the enormous six story Golden Puma KTV and Brothel Mega Complex located at the main street intersection of Taichung Harbor Road (台中港路) and Wen Shin Road (文心路) is world-renowned for its seedy thrills and erotic sex shows.