Taipei

The spellings Taipei and Tʻai-pei derive from the Wade–Giles romanization Tʻai²-pei³ which means the North of Taiwan in Chinese. The name could be also romanized as Táiběi according to Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin. The city has also been known as Tai-pak (derived from Taiwanese Hokkien) and Taipeh. During the Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945, Taipei was known as Taihoku, which is the pronunciation of the Chinese characters (Kanji: ) for Taipei in Japanese. ==History==

Prior to the significant influx of Han Chinese colonists, the region of Taipei Basin was mainly inhabited by the Ketagalan, a Plains Indigenous people. The number of Han colonists gradually increased in the early 18th century under Qing dynasty rule after the government began permitting development in the area. In 1875, the northern part of the island was incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture. It was formerly established as Taipeh-fu and was the temporary capital of the island in 1887 when it was declared a province (Fukien-Taiwan Province). Taipeh was formally made the provincial capital in 1894. The romanized transcription of Taipeh was changed to Taihoku in 1895 when the Empire of Japan annexed Taiwan, based on the Japanese reading of the two characters. The writing in Chinese characters remained unaltered. Under Japanese rule, the city was administered under Taihoku Prefecture. Taiwan's Japanese rulers embarked on an extensive program of advanced urban planning that featured extensive railroad links. A number of Taipei landmarks and cultural institutions date from this period. Han Chinese colonists from Dabu County, Yongding County, Anxi and Tong'an of Southern Fujian began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709. In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han Chinese settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated overseas trade ports, Tamsui, were located, gained economic importance due to the booming overseas trade, especially that of tea export. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture and incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture as a new administrative entity of the Qing dynasty. Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of Bangka, Dalongdong, and Twatutia, the new prefectural capital was known as Chengnei (), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County of Taipeh Prefecture and the prefectural capital. In 1886, as work commenced to govern the island as a province, Taipeh was designated as the provincial capital. When Japan acquired the island in 1895 as part of the peace agreement for the First Sino-Japanese War, they retained Taipeh as the capital. Nowadays, all that remains from the historical period is the north gate. The west gate and city walls were demolished by the Japanese while the south gate, little south gate, and east gate were extensively modified by the Kuomintang and have lost much of their original character. Empire of Japan , 1944) government building in the 1910s (now the Control Yuan building) As settlement for losing the First Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the island of Taiwan to the Empire of Japan in 1895 as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. After the Japanese takeover, Taipei, romanized into English as Taihoku following the Japanese language pronunciation, was retained as the capital. It subsequently emerged as the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government. Taipei expanded greatly in the decades after 1949, and as approved on 30 December 1966, by the Executive Yuan, Taipei was declared a special municipality on 1 July 1967. Mass democracy rallies that year in the plaza around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall led to an island-wide transition to multi-party democracy, where legislators are chosen via regularly scheduled popular elections, during the presidency of Lee Teng-Hui. ==Geography==

in 2014 Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin in northern Taiwan. It is bordered by the Xindian River on the south and the Tamsui River on the west. The generally low-lying terrain of the central areas on the western side of the municipality slopes upward to the south and east and especially to the north, ranking sixteenth of twenty-five among all counties and cities in Taiwan. Two peaks, Qixing Mountain and Mt. Datun, rise to the northeast of the city. Qixing Mountain is located on the Tatun Volcanic Group; its -high main peak renders it the tallest mountain at the rim of the Taipei Basin; -high Mt. Datun is a close runner up. These former volcanoes make up the western section of Yangmingshan National Park, extending from Mt. Datun northward to Mt. Caigongkeng (). Located on a broad saddle between two mountains, the area also contains the marshy Datun Pond. To the southeast of the city lie the Songshan Hills and the Qingshui Ravine, which form a barrier of lush woods. Summers are long-lasting, very hot and humid, and accompanied by occasional heavy rainstorms and typhoons; while winters are short, generally warm and generally very foggy due to the northeasterly winds from the vast Siberian High being intensified by the pooling of this cooler air in the Taipei Basin. As in the rest of Northern Taiwan, daytime temperatures of Taipei can often peak above during a warm winter day, while they can dip below that same level during afternoon showers and thunderstorms in the summer. Occasional cold fronts during the winter months can drop the daily temperature by , though temperatures rarely drop below . Extreme temperatures ranged from on 13 February 1901 to on 24 July 2020, while snow has never been recorded in the city besides on mountains located within the city limit such as Yangmingshan. Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by the Pacific typhoon season, which occurs between June and October. Air quality In comparison to other Asian cities, Taipei has "excellent" capabilities for managing air quality in the city. Its rainy climate, location near the coast, and strong environmental regulations have prevented air pollution from becoming a substantial health issue, at least compared to cities in southeast Asia and industrial China. However, smog is extremely common and there is poor visibility throughout the city after rainless days. Motor vehicle engine exhaust, particularly from motor scooters, is a source of air pollution in Taipei. There are higher levels of fine particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the mornings because of less air movement; sunlight reduces some pollution. ==Cityscape==

While Taipei City is home to 2,524,393 people (2022), the greater metropolitan area has a population of 7,047,559 people. Due to Taipei's geography and location in the Taipei Basin as well as differing times of settlement and differing degrees of economic development of its districts, Taipei's population is not evenly distributed. The districts of Daan, Songshan, and Datong are the most densely populated. These districts, along with adjacent communities such as Yonghe and Zhonghe, contain some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world. Residents who had obtained a college education or higher accounted for 43.48% of the population, and the literacy rate stood at 99.18%. ==Economy==

Building at Xinyi Special District Technology Park As Taiwan's business, financial, and technology hub, Taipei has been at the center of rapid economic development in the country and has now become one of the global cities in technology and electronics. This development is part of the so-called Taiwan Economic Miracle which has seen dramatic growth in the city following foreign direct investment in the 1960s. Taiwan is now a creditor economy, holding one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves of over US$403 billion as of December 2012. Despite the Asian financial crisis, the economy continues to expand at about 5% per year, with virtually full employment and low inflation. The city's GDP stand at US$327 billion in 2014. , the nominal GDP per capita in Taipei city is 5th highest in East Asia, behind Tokyo, Singapore, Osaka, and Hong Kong, but ahead of Seoul, as well as London and Paris, according to The Economist. GDP per capita based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in Taipei in 2015 was US$44,173, behind that of Singapore (US$90,151 in 2016 from the IMF) and Hong Kong (US$58,322 in 2016 from the IMF; also based on PPP). The Financial Times ranked Taipei highly in economic potential (2nd, behind Tokyo) and business friendliness (4th) in 2015. The city is home to 30 billionaires, the 16th most in the world, ahead of many global cities such as Los Angeles and Sydney. Business Insider also ranks Taipei the 5th most high-tech city globally, the highest in Asia, in 2017. While the IESE Cities in Motion Index 2017 ranks Taipei as the smartest technology city globally. Taipei's main development fields include the information and communications technology (hardware and software), biotechnology, general merchandizing (wholesale/retail), financial services, and MICE industries. Most of the country's major firms are based there including Acer Computers, Asus, CTBC Bank, Fubon Financial Holding, Tatung Company, D-Link, and others. 5 Global Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Taipei. The city also attracts many multi-national corporations, international financial institutions, foreign consulates, and business organizations to set up base there. Thus, Taipei has nearly 3,500 registered foreign businesses and attracts over 50% of the total foreign investment in Taiwan. Foreign companies with offices or regional headquarters in Taipei include Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, HSBC, Citibank, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, JP Morgan, PwC, and many others. Most financial and foreign firms like to reside in the central business district of Taipei, the Xinyi Special District: Citi, JP Morgan, DBS Bank, Cathay Life Insurance, Shin Kong Commercial Bank, and Hua Nan Bank have all established skyscrapers in the area. Meanwhile, technology and electronics companies are often co-located in the Neihu Technology Park or the Nankang Software Park. The startup and innovation scene in Taipei is also very vibrant. In 2018 alone, Microsoft announced plans to invest US$34 million to create an artificial intelligence R&D center in Taipei, while Google announced it will hire 300 people and train 5,000 more in artificial intelligence for machines. Taipei is Google's biggest engineering site in Asia. IBM also announced in 2018 that it will develop a cloud research lab and expand its R&D center in Taipei with eyes on artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and cloud computing. According to the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Development Index, Taipei's entrepreneurial spirit ranks 6th worldwide and 1st in Asia. Taipei has more than 400 startups and numerous incubation centers, accelerators, venture capitals, and angel investors. The city's startup ecosystem is valued at US$580 million by Startup Genome in 2018. Tourism is a small but significant component of the local economy with international visitors totaling almost 3 million in 2008. Taipei has many top tourist attractions and contributes a significant amount to the US$6.8 billion tourism industry in Taiwan. ==Culture==

Tourism Tourism is a major part of Taipei's economy. In 2013, over 6.3 million overseas visitors visited Taipei, making the city the 15th most visited globally. The influx of visitors contributed US$10.8 billion to the city's economy in 2013, the 9th highest in the world and the most of any city in the Chinese-speaking world. Commemorative sites and museums illuminated at night The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a monument, landmark and tourist attraction that was erected in memory of General Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China. The structure stands at the east end of Memorial Hall Square, site of the National Concert Hall and National Theater and their adjacent parks as well as the memorial. The landmarks of Liberty Square stand within sight of Taiwan's Presidential Office Building in Taipei's Zhongzheng District. The National Taiwan Museum sits nearby in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park and has worn its present name since 1999. The museum is Taiwan's oldest, founded on 24 October 1908 by Taiwan's Japanese colonial government (1895–1945) as the Taiwan Governor's Museum. It was launched with a collection of 10,000 items to celebrate the opening of the island's North–South Railway. In 1915 a new museum building opened its doors in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park. This structure and the adjacent governor's office (now Presidential Office Building), served as the two most recognizable public buildings in Taiwan during its period of Japanese rule. The National Palace Museum in Taipei now boasts a truly international collection while housing one of the world's largest collections of artifacts from ancient China. , also known as "old city hall" In 2001 a new museum opened as Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei. The museum is housed in a building that formerly housed Taipei City government offices. Taipei 101 Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper that claimed the title of world's tallest building when it opened in 2004, a title it held for six years before the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was completed. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, Taipei 101 measures from ground to top, making it the first skyscraper in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height. Built to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors, its design incorporates many engineering innovations and has won numerous international awards. Today, the Taipei 101 remains one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and holds LEED's certification as the world's largest "green" building. Its shopping mall and its indoor and outdoor observatories draws visitors from all over the world. Taipei 101's New Year's Eve fireworks display is a regular feature of international broadcasts. Performing arts The National Theater and Concert Hall stands at Taipei's Liberty Square and host events by foreign and domestic performers. Other leading concert venues include Zhongshan Hall at Ximending and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101. A new venue, the Taipei Performing Arts Center opened in 2022. The venue is near the Shilin Night Market and houses three theaters for events with multi-week runs. The architectural design, by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, was determined in 2009 in an international competition. The same design process is also in place for a new Taipei Center for Popular Music and Taipei City Museum. Shopping and recreation Taipei is known for its many night markets, which include the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin District. The surrounding streets by Shilin Night Market are extremely crowded during the evening, usually opening late afternoon and operating well past midnight. Most night markets feature individual stalls selling a mixture of food, clothing, and consumer goods. at night Ximending has been an area for shopping and entertainment since the 1930s. Historic structures include a concert hall, a historic cinema, and the Red House Theater. Modern structures house karaoke businesses, art film cinemas, wide-release movie cinemas, electronic stores, and a wide variety of restaurants and fashion clothing stores. The pedestrian area is especially popular with teens and has been called the "Harajuku" of Taipei. The newly developed Xinyi District is popular with tourists and locals alike for its many entertainment and shopping venues, as well as being the home of Taipei 101, a prime tourist attraction. Malls in the area include the sprawling Shin Kong Mitsukoshi complex, Breeze Center, Bellavita, Taipei 101 mall, Eslite Bookstore's flagship store (which includes a boutique mall), The Living Mall, ATT shopping mall, and the Vieshow Cinemas (formerly known as Warner Village). The Xinyi district also serves as the center of Taipei's active nightlife, with several popular lounge bars and nightclubs concentrated in a relatively small area around the Neo19, ATT 4 FUN and Taipei 101 buildings. The thriving shopping area around Taipei Main Station includes the Taipei Underground Market and the original Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store at Shin Kong Life Tower. Other popular shopping destinations include the Zhongshan Metro Mall, Dihua Street and the Guang Hua Digital Plaza. The Miramar Entertainment Park is known for its large Ferris wheel and IMAX theater. Taipei maintains an extensive system of parks, green spaces, and nature preserves. Parks and forestry areas of note in and around the city include Yangmingshan National Park, Taipei Zoo and Da-an Forest Park. Located north of the city center, Yangmingshan National Park is visited for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, and sulfur deposits. It is the home of writer Lin Yutang, the summer residence of Chiang Kai-shek, residences of foreign diplomats, the Chinese Culture University, the meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of the Republic of China, and the Kuomintang Party Archives. The Taipei Zoo was founded in 1914 and covers an area of 165 hectares for animal sanctuary. Bitan is known for boating and water sports. Tamsui is a popular sea-side resort town. Ocean beaches are accessible in several directions from Taipei. Temples is one of the oldest temples in the city. Taipei has a variety of temples dedicating to Deities from Chinese folk religion, Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. The Bangka Lungshan Temple (), built in 1738 and located in the Wanhua District, demonstrates an example of architecture with southern Chinese influences commonly seen on older buildings in Taiwan. Qingshui Temple () built in 1787 and Qingshan Temple () together with Lungshan Temple are the three most prominent landmark temples in Bangka or Wanhua District. Other temples include Baoan Temple () located in historic Dalongdong, a national historical site, and Xia Hai City God Temple (), located in the old Dadaocheng community, constructed with architecture similar to temples in southern Fujian. The Taipei Confucius Temple () traces its history back to 1879 during the Qing dynasty and also incorporates southern Fujian-style architecture. Ciyou Temple () in Songshan District, Guandu Temple () in Beitou District, Hsing Tian Kong () in Zhongshan District and Zhinan Temple () in Wenshan District are also popular temples for locals and tourists. Xinsheng South Road is known as the "Road to Heaven" due to its high concentration of temples, churches, and other houses of worship. The Shandao Temple () built in 1929 and located in Zhongzheng District, is the largest Buddhist temple in Taipei. Fo Guang Shan has a modern temple known as Fo Guang Shan Taipei Vihara () in Xinyi District, while Dharma Drum Mountain owns the Degui Academy (), an education center in Zhongzheng District and the Nung Chan Monastery () in Beitou District. Linji Huguo Chan Temple () in Zhongshan District was commenced in 1900 and completed in 1911, it is one of the very few Japanese style Buddhist Temples that was well-preserved in Taiwan. Besides large temples, small outdoor shrines to local deities are very common and are commonly found next to roads as well as in parks and neighborhoods. Many homes and businesses may also set up small shrines of candles, figurines, and offerings. Some restaurants, for example, may set up a small shrine to the Kitchen God for success in a restaurant business. Festivals and events Many yearly festivals are held in Taipei. In recent years some festivals, such as the Double Ten Day fireworks and concerts, are increasingly hosted on a rotating basis by a number of cities around Taiwan. When New Year's Eve arrives on the solar calendar, thousands of people converge on Taipei's Xinyi District for parades, outdoor concerts by popular artists, street shows, round-the clock nightlife. The high point is the countdown to midnight, when Taipei 101 assumes the role of the world's largest fireworks platform. The Taipei Lantern Festival concludes the Lunar New Year holiday. The timing of the city's lantern exhibit coincides with the national festival in Pingxi, when thousands of fire lanterns are released into the sky. The city's lantern exhibit rotates among different downtown locales from year to year, including Liberty Square, Taipei 101, and Zhongshan Hall in Ximending. On Double Ten Day, patriotic celebrations are held in front of the Presidential Office Building. Other annual festivals include Ancestors Day (Tomb-Sweeping Day), the Dragon Boat Festival, the Zhong Yuan Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival). This event was followed by the Taipei International Flora Exposition, a garden festival hosted from November 2010 to April 2011. The Floral Expo was the first of its kind to take place in Taiwan and only the seventh hosted in Asia; the expo admitted 110,000 visitors on 27 February 2011. ==Government==

Taipei City is a special municipality which is directly under the Executive Yuan (Central Government). The mayor of Taipei City was an appointed position since Taipei's conversion to a centrally administered municipality in 1967 until the first public election was held in 1994. The position has a four-year term and is elected by direct popular vote. The first elected mayor was Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party. Ma Ying-jeou took office in 1998 for two terms, before handing it over to Hau Lung-pin who won the 2006 mayoral election on 9 December 2006. Both Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-Jeou went on to become President of the Republic of China. The incumbent mayor, Chiang Wan-an of Kuomintang, took office on 25 December 2022. Based on the outcomes of previous elections in the past decade, the vote of the overall constituency of Taipei City shows a slight inclination towards the pro-KMT camp (the Pan-Blue Coalition); however, the pro-DPP camp (the Pan-Green Coalition) also has considerable support. Ketagalan Boulevard, where the Presidential Office Building and other government structures are situated, is often the site of mass gatherings such as inauguration and national holiday parades, receptions for visiting dignitaries, political demonstrations, and public festivals. Garbage recycling Taipei City strongly promotes garbage recycling, with such success that other countries have sent teams to study the recycling system. After the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) established a program in 1998 combining the efforts of communities, a financial resource named the Recycling Fund was made available to recycling companies and waste collectors. The EPA also introduced garbage recycling trucks, in effort to raise community recycling awareness, that broadcast classical music (specifically Beethoven's "Für Elise" and Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska's "A Maiden's Prayer") to announce its arrival to the community. Manufacturers, vendors and importers of recyclable waste pay fees to the Fund, which uses the money to set firm prices for recyclables and subsidize local recycling efforts. Between 1998 and 2008, the recycling rate increased from 6 percent to 32 percent. This improvement enabled the government of Taipei to demonstrate its recycling system to the world at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. Administrative divisions Taipei City is divided up into 12 administrative districts (). Each district is further divided up into urban villages (), which are further sub-divided up into neighborhoods (). Xinyi District is the seat of the municipality where the Taipei City Government headquarters is located. City planning The city is characterized by straight roads and public buildings of grand Western architectural styles. The city is built on a square grid configuration; however, these blocks are huge by international standards with sides. The area in between these blocks is infilled with lanes and alleys, which provide access to quieter residential or mixed-use development. Other than a citywide speed limit, there is little uniform planning within this "hidden" area; therefore, lanes (perpendicular to streets) and alleys (parallel with streets, or, conceptually, perpendicular to lanes) spill out from the main controlled-access highways. These minor roads are not always perpendicular and sometimes cut through the block diagonally. Although development began in the western districts of the city (still considered the cultural heart of Taipei) due to trade, the eastern districts have become the focus of recent development projects. Many of the western districts have become targets of urban renewal initiatives. ==Transportation==

Station on the Taipei Metro system Public transport accounts for a substantial portion of transportation trips in Taipei. According to a 2022 government survey, 34.9% of transportation trips were taken on public transit in Taipei, higher than any other locality in the country. Private transport consists of motor scooters, private cars, taxi cabs and bicycles. Private transport trips represented 41.6% of trips taken in Taipei in 2022, the lowest in Taiwan. A contactless smartcard, known as EasyCard, can be used for all modes of public transit as well as several retail outlets. It contains credits that are deducted each time a ride is taken. The EasyCard is read via MIFARE panels on buses and in MRT stations, and it does not need to be removed from one's wallet or purse. Metro Taipei's public transport system, the Taipei Metro (commonly referred to as the MRT), incorporates a metro and light rail system based on advanced VAL and Bombardier technology. There are currently six metro lines that are organized and labeled in three ways: by color, line number and depot station name. In addition to the rapid transit system itself, the Taipei Metro also includes several public facilities such as the Maokong Gondola, underground shopping malls, parks, and public squares. Modifications to existing railway lines to integrate them into the metro system are underway. In 2017 a rapid transit line was opened to connect Taipei with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Zhongli District. The new line is part of the new Taoyuan Metro system. On 31 January 2020, Hitachi Rail Corporation officially commissioned Phase 1 of the Circular line which took place at Shisizhang station. The Circular line is a 15.4-kilometre driverless rail system. The Circular line offered free rides beginning in February 2020 for passengers to test the route. Rail Beginning in 1983, surface rail lines in the city were moved underground as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project. The Taiwan High Speed Rail system opened in 2007. The bullet trains connect Taipei with the west coast cities of New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, and Tainan before terminating at Zuoying (Kaohsiung) at speeds that cut travel times by 60% or more from what they normally are on a bus or conventional train. The Taiwan Railway also runs passenger and freight services throughout the entire island. Bus An extensive city bus system serves metropolitan areas not covered by the metro, with exclusive bus lanes to facilitate transportation. Airports Most scheduled international flights are served by Taoyuan International Airport in nearby Taoyuan City. Songshan Airport, at the heart of the city in the Songshan District, serves domestic flights and scheduled flights to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, and about 15 destinations in the People's Republic of China. Songshan Airport is accessible by the Taipei Metro Neihu Line; Taoyuan International Airport is accessible by the Taoyuan Airport MRT. Ticketing In 1994, following the rapid development of Taipei, a white paper for transport policies expressed the strong objective of creating a transport system for the people of Taipei to accommodate the burgeoning city's needs. In 1999, they chose Mitac consortium, which Thales-Transportation Systems is part of. Thales was then selected again in 2005 to deploy an upgrade of Taipei's public transport network with an end-to-end and fully contactless automatic fare collection solution that integrates 116 metro stations, 5,000 buses and 92 car parks. ==Education==

Taipei is home to the campuses of 24 universities and Academia Sinica, Taiwan's national academy which supports the Taiwan International Graduate Program: National Taiwan University (NTU) was established in 1928 during the period of Japanese colonial rule. NTU has produced many political and social leaders in Taiwan. Both pan-blue and pan-green movements in Taiwan are rooted on the NTU campus. The university has six campuses in the greater Taipei region (including New Taipei) and two additional campuses in Nantou County. The university governs farms, forests, and hospitals for educational and research purposes. The main campus is in Taipei's Da-An district, where most department buildings and all the administrative buildings are located. The College of Law and the College of Medicine are located near the Presidential Office Building. The National Taiwan University Hospital is a leading international center of medical research. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) likewise traces its origins to the Japanese colonial period. Founded as Taihoku College in 1922 and organized as a teacher training institution by the Kuomintang in 1946, NTNU has since developed into a comprehensive international university. The university boasts especially strong programs in the humanities and international education. Worldwide it is perhaps best known as home of the Mandarin Training Center, a program that offers Mandarin language training each year to over a thousand students from scores of countries throughout the world. The main campus, in Daan district near Guting metro station, is known for its historic architecture. The Shida market area surrounding this campus takes its name from the school's acronym 師大 in Mandarin. ==Sports==

Wei Chuan Dragons of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League is a professional baseball team based in Taipei. The Taipei Highwealth team of the Popcorn League is also based in Taipei, co-sponsored by the Taipei City Government and Highwealth Construction. Taipei also has two professional basketball teams, the Taipei Taishin Mars of the T1 League and the Taipei Fubon Braves of the P. League+. Major sporting events Below is a selected list of recent sporting events hosted by the city: • 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship • 2006 Women's Baseball World Cup • 2007 Baseball World Cup • 2009 Asian Judo Championships • 2009 Summer Deaflympics • 2013 Badminton Asia Championships • 2015 WBSC Premier12 • 2016 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia Division I • 2017 Summer Universiade • 2019 Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship • 2022 U-23 Baseball World Cup (co-hosted with Taichung and Yunlin) • 2023 Asian Men's Volleyball Challenge Cup • 2023 IKF World Korfball Championship • 2023 U-18 Baseball World Cup (Co-hosted with Taichung) • 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships • 2024 WBSC Premier12 • 2025 Summer World Masters Games (co-hosted with New Taipei City) • 2026 TWIF Indoor World Championships • Taipei Marathon (annual): The marathon is one of the two World Athletics Label Road Races in Taiwan, being categorized as an Elite Label Road Race. The other race is the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon, categorized as a Gold Label Road Race. The Taipei Arena is located at the site of the former Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (demolished in 2000), with a capacity of over 15,000. It was opened on 1 December 2005 and has since held more art and cultural activities (such as live concerts) than sporting events, which it was originally designed for. The Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League plays out of the auxiliary arena. Taipei Dome and Tianmu Baseball Stadium are the major baseball venues in Taipei. The Taipei Dome, known officially as the Farglory Dome, which has the capacity to house 40,071 seats, officially opened in October 2023. On April 13, 2024, the Taipei Dome hosted the largest crowd in Taiwanese professional basketball history between the New Taipei CTBC DEA and the Taipei Mars. Taipei Municipal Stadium is a multipurpose stadium that hosts football and track and field events, as well as concerts, both live and prerecorded. Originally built in 1956, it was demolished and reconstructed in 2009. Youth baseball In 2010, a Taipei baseball team—Chung-Ching Junior Little League—won the Junior League World Series. The achievement came after winning the Asia-Pacific Region, then defeating the Mexico Region and Latin America Region champions to become the International champion, and finally defeating the U.S. champion (Southwest Region), Rose Capital East LL (Tyler, Texas), 9–1. Taiwan's Little League World Series international team has won 17 championships, the most wins in the league. In 2025, Taipei's Tung-Yuan Little League won the 2025 Little League World Series. This was Taiwan's 18th title in the Little League World Series and the first title since 29 years ago in 1996. ==Media==

building in Taipei City. As the capital, Taipei City is the headquarters for many television and radio stations in Taiwan and the center of some of the country's largest newspapers. Television Television stations located in Taipei include the CTV MyLife, CTV News Channel, China Television, Chinese Television System, Chung T'ien Television, Dimo TV, Eastern Television, Era Television, FTV News, Follow Me TV, Formosa TV, Gala Television, Public Television Service, SET Metro, SET News, SET Taiwan, Sanlih E-Television, Shuang Xing, TTV Family, TTV Finance, TTV World, TVBS, TVBS-G, TVBS-NEWS, Taiwan Broadcasting System, Videoland Television Network and Taiwan Television. Newspapers Newspapers include Apple Daily, Central Daily News, The China Post, China Times, DigiTimes, Kinmen Daily News, Liberty Times, Mandarin Daily News, Matsu Daily, Min Sheng Bao, Sharp Daily, Taipei Times, Taiwan Daily, Taiwan News, Taiwan Times and United Daily News. ==International relations==

Taipei was a member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 before its dissolvement. Twin towns and sister cities Taipei is twinned with: United States • Houston, TX, United States (1961) • San Francisco, CA, United States (1970) • Guam, United States (1973) • Cleveland, OH, United States (1975) • Indianapolis, IN, United States (1978) • Marshall, TX, United States (1978) • Atlanta, GA, United States (1979) • Los Angeles, CA, United States (1979) • Phoenix, AZ, United States (1979) • Oklahoma City, OK, United States (1981) • Boston, MA, United States (1996) • Dallas, TX, United States (1996) Outside United States • Lomé, Togo (1966) • Manila, Philippines (1966) • Cotonou, Benin (1967) • Quezon City, Philippines (1968) • Seoul, South Korea (1968) • Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1970) • Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (1978) • Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia (1982) • Johannesburg, South Africa (1982) • Pretoria, South Africa (1983) • Lilongwe, Malawi (1984) • San José, Costa Rica (1984) • Versailles, France (1986) • Asunción, Paraguay (1987) • Panama City, Panama (1989) • Managua, Nicaragua (1992) • San Salvador, El Salvador (1993) • Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (1995) • Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, Russia (1996) • Dakar, Senegal (1997) • Banjul, Gambia (1997) • Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (1997) • Busan, South Korea (1997) • Mbabane, Eswatini (1997) • Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (1997) • San Nicolás, Nuevo León, Mexico (1997) • La Paz, Bolivia (1997) • Guatemala City, Guatemala (1998) • Monrovia, Liberia (1998) • Vilnius, Lithuania (1998) • Majuro, Marshall Islands (1999) • Riga, Latvia (2001) • Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2008) • Gwangju, South Korea (2008) • Daegu, South Korea (2010) • Quito, Ecuador (2015/2016) • Castries, St. Lucia (2015/2016) • Belmopan, Belize (2019) • Prague, Czech Republic (2020) • Lima, Peru (2020) • Apia, Samoa Partner cities • Anchorage, AK, United States (1997) • Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (2001) • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (2003) • Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2004) • Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan (2006) • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (2008) • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (2011) • Wellington, New Zealand (2015) Friendship cities • Perth, Western Australia, Australia (1999) • Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (2000) • Orange County, CA, United States (2000) • George Town, Penang, Malaysia (2009) • Helsinki, Finland (2012) ==In popular culture==

• Taipei's name is used in a professional wrestling match named the "Taipei Deathmatch" in which the wrestlers' fists are taped and dipped into glue and in broken and crushed glass, allowing shards to stick to their fists. This match can be won by pinfall, submission or escape. • Writer Tao Lin's 2013 novel is titled Taipei and takes place in both New York City and Taipei, where the protagonist Paul's parents were born and live. In the novel, the character named Paul gets married and then visits Taipei with his new wife. They take MDMA and LSD and film a mock documentary on "Taiwan's first McDonald's". The novel was made into a movie titled High Resolution, starring Justin Chon and Ellie Bamber. ==Gallery==

File:Minquan_Bridge2017_TAIWAN.jpg|Taipei panoramic view File:A03-28.jpg|Dadaocheng File:EntranceChiangKaiShek.JPG|the main entrance of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall File:Taipei_101_2008_NewYear_Firework.jpg|New year fireworks at Taipei 101 File:Taiwan 2009 Taipei Presidential Palace FRD 7172.jpg|Presidential Office Building from Ketagalan Boulevard File:西門紅樓01.jpg|Red House Theater File:北投文物館(原佳山旅館).jpg|Beitou Museum File:Grand Hotel Taipei View from Minsheng Community Center 20140930.jpg|Grand Hotel Taipei File:DaZhiBridge2_byJaojao.JPG|Dazhi Bridge File:dansui.jpg|Dadaocheng Wharf, Taipei File:Taipei_Baoan_Temple.jpg|Bao-an Temple File:指南宮凌霄寶殿.jpg|Zhinan Temple File:101.typhoon.altonthompson.jpg|A typhoon makes landfall in Taipei City File:ZhiShanGardenTaipei.jpg|Zhishan Garden at the National Palace Museum File:Ximending Side Alley at Night.jpg|Ximending at night File:Taipei_Story_House_20100718a.jpg|Taipei Story House (Yuanshan Mansion) File:2010 07 21240 6773 Da'an District, Taipei, Daan Park, Washingtonia filifera, Taiwan.JPG|Daan Park File:2010 07 20770 6691 Da'an District, Taipei, Daan Park, Taiwan.jpg|Daan Park ==See also==