Zhonghe District

Zhonghe District 中和區
—  District  —
Zhonghe District, with Taipei 101 in the background
Location of Zhonghe in New Taipei City
Zhonghe District Location of Zhonghe in Taiwan
Coordinates: 24°59′50″N 121°30′15″E / 24.99722°N 121.50417°E / 24.99722; 121.50417Coordinates: 24°59′50″N 121°30′15″E / 24.99722°N 121.50417°E / 24.99722; 121.50417
Country	Republic of China
Region	Northern Taiwan
Special municipality	New Taipei City (新北市)
Government
– Mayor	Chiu Chui-yi 邱垂益 (KMT)
Area
– Total	20.294 km2 (7.8 sq mi)
Population (March 2010)
– Total	414,849
Time zone	CST (UTC+8)
Postal code	235
Website	http://www.zhonghe.tpc.gov.tw

Zhonghe District
Chinese	中和區
Transcriptions Hakka - Romanization Zung1-fo2 Sii5 Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghé Qū - Tongyong Pinyin Jhonghé Cyu - Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jongher Chiu - MPS2 Jūnghé Chiu - Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄏㄜˊ ㄑㄩ Min - Hokkien POJ Tiong-hô Khu Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping zong1 wo4 si5

Zhonghe District (Chinese: 中和區; pinyin: Zhōnghé Qū, Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiong-hô Khu), historically spelled Chung-Ho, is a 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.

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.^[1] This name is preserved in on 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).^[2]

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.^[2]

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).

Transportation

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. In addition, Xiulang Bridge passes through Zhonghe and has an interchange there, as does the National Highway No.3.

Two major bridges connect Zhonghe with other areas:

• Huazhong Bridge (華中橋) - Wanhua District, Taipei
• Xiulang Bridge (秀朗橋) - Xindian District, New Taipei
• Provincipal Highway No.4 (台64線快速道路) - Banqiao District, New Taipei

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 Institute of Technology is also located in the city.

Yuantong Temple (Buddhist)

Economy

The highrise office buildings of Zhonghe District

The offices of a number of technology companies are located in the district, including the Asia-Pacific head office of Viewsonic,^[3] a Texas Instruments research facility,^[4] the head offices of Cooler Master,^[5] and Micro-Star International.^[6]

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.^[7] Consequently there are numerous stores and restaurants in this area selling Burmese produce and there are also cultural events on occasion.^[8]

• 

  Archway in the 8-23 Park

• 

  Statue of Tudi Gong in the Hongludi Temple

• 

  Trees in the 8-23 Park

• 

  National Taiwan Library

• 

  Jingxin Elementary School

• 

  Xingnan Night Market Entrance

• 

  Jingping Road

• 

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

Famous natives

• Lin Ching-i - Chinese Taipei women's volleyball player

International relations

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

Twin towns — sister cities

Zhonghe, Taiwan is twinned with:

• Los Gatos, California, United States^[9]

References

1. ^ 諸羅縣志 (Zhu-Luo County Annals). 
2. ^ ^{a b} "History". Zhonghe City Government. Archived from the original on 2008-03-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20080313054333/http://www.junghe.tpc.gov.tw/History.aspx. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
3. ^ "Locations". Viewsonic. http://www.viewsonic.com/contactus/locations.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-27. 
4. ^ "TI Worldwide Sales & Support Offices". Texas Instruments. http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/gencontent.tsp?contentId=29893. Retrieved 2008-07-27. 
5. ^ "Contact Us". Cooler Master. Archived from the original on 2008-05-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20080526013532/http://www.coolermaster.com/contactus/contactus.php?language=en&id=5#tw. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
6. ^ "About Us". Micro-Star International. http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=html&name=aboutus. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
7. ^ Lu, Hsin-chun Tasaw (2008). "Festivalizing Thingyan, Negotiating Ethnicity: Burmese Chinese Migrants in Taiwan". Journal of Burma Studies 12: 30. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_burma_studies/v012/12.lu.html. 
8. ^ "Tapping the Grapevine". American Chamber of Commerce. http://www.amcham.com.tw/publication_topics_view.php?volume=38&vol_num=1&topics_id=1016. Retrieved 2008-07-16. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ Los Gatos Weekly-Times | Monte Sereno Sister City

External links

• Government website (Chinese)
• Government website (English)
• View of Zhonghe District