Hsinchu

Hsinchu
新竹市
City
Hsinchu City

Flag

Logo
Nickname(s): 風城 (The Windy City) or 竹市 (Zhu City)
Coordinates: 24°49′N 120°59′E / 24.817°N 120.983°E / 24.817; 120.983Coordinates: 24°49′N 120°59′E / 24.817°N 120.983°E / 24.817; 120.983
Country  Republic of China (Taiwan)
Region Northern Taiwan
Seat North District
Districts
Government
  Mayor Lin Chih-chien (DPP)
Area[1]
  City 104.15 km2 (40.21 sq mi)
Area rank 20 out of 22
Population (2016)[2]
  City 434,674
  Rank 15 of 22
  Density 4,200/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+8 (National Standard Time)
Postal code 300
Area code(s) (0)3
ISO 3166 code TW-HSZ
Bird European magpie (Pica pica)
Flower Azalea
Website www.hccg.gov.tw
Hsinchu
Chinese name
Chinese 新竹
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 風城
Simplified Chinese 风城
Japanese name
Kanji 新竹市
Kana しんちくし

Hsinchu (Chinese: 新竹市; pinyin: Xīnzhú Shì) officially known as Hsinchu City, is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" for its windy climate.

History

In 1626, after Spain occupied northern Taiwan, Spanish missionaries arrived at Teckcham (Chinese: 竹塹; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tek-khàm), where the Taokas Taiwanese aborigines lived. The city was first settled by Han Chinese in 1711,[3] during Qing rule. In 1878, Teckcham Subprefecture was converted into a district and renamed Hsinchu.[4] After Fujian-Taiwan Province was established in 1887, Hsinchu was a part of Taipeh Prefecture.

Empire of Japan

By 1904, the city population was 16,371, ranked 7th, following Keelung and followed by Shoka. In 1920, under Japanese rule, Shinchiku Cho (新竹廳) was upgraded to town status. In 1930, the town was renamed as Shinchiku City, under Shinchiku Prefecture. In 1941, its administration district was expanded, annexing Kōzan village (modern-day Xiangshan), whereas Kyūminato village (舊港庄) and Rokka village (六家庄) became Chikuhoku village (竹北庄, modern-day Zhubei) under the same district.

Republic of China

In 1945, the incoming Kuomintang established the Hsinchu City Government to govern Hsinchu-Chou (Shinchiku Prefecture). In 1946, the Take Over Committee dissolved and Hsinchu County Government was formed. Hsinchu County Government was moved to Taoyuan. As the administrative districts were readjusted, it became a city, using the original Prefecture office as its legal office, with seven district offices. In February of the same year, representative congress was formed in every district. On April 15 the City Congress was formed. Provincial Representatives were elected from the city legislators, to become legislative bodies of different levels. On 16 August 1950, the administrative districts in Taiwan were re-adjusted once more, demarcating 16 counties and 5 provincially governed cities.

In June 1982, under the President's order, the Xiangshan Township of Hsinchu County would merge into Hsinchu City, and the new entity would become a city. The new government of Hsinchu was legally established on 1 July 1982 with the merging of Xiangshan, with 103 lis (villages), and 1,635 lins (neighborhoods). The City Government is located on 120 Chung Cheng Road, the former Prefecture Office.

In end of June 1983, there were three Bureaus (Civil Service, Public Works, and Education), four Departments (Finance, Social Welfare, Compulsory Military Service, and Land Affairs), four offices (Secretary, Planning, Personnel, and Auditing), and 49 sections (units, teams) under the City Government's organization to provide services for various urban affairs. Affiliate institutions include the Police Department, Tax Department, and Medicine and Hygiene Department.

By the end of 1982, the city was classified into East, North and Xiangshan districts. The East, North and Xiangshan district administration offices were posted on October 1 and then they were formally established on November 1 in the same year.

From 1994 to 1999, as Taiwan made its transition from authoritarian rule to modern democracy and the mostly pro forma provincial level of government began to be dissolved, regulations were established for formal Hsinchu City self-government. A deputy mayor, consumer officer, and three consultants were added to the city government. In 2002, the city added a Bureau of Labor and transferred Compulsory Military Service to the Department of Civil Service.

Geography

The city is bordered by Hsinchu County to the north and east, Miaoli County to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west.

Climate

Hsinchu's climate is humid subtropical (Koppen: Cfa). The city is located in a part of the island that has a rainy season that lasts from February to September, with the heaviest time coming late April through August during the southwest monsoon, and also experiences meiyu in May and early June.[5] The city succumbs to hot humid weather from June until September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant times of year. Hsinchu is affected by easterly winds off of the East China Sea. Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes are common in the region.[6][7][8]

Government

Hsinchu City
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1985 304,010    
1990 324,426+6.7%
1995 340,255+4.9%
2000 368,439+8.3%
2005 394,757+7.1%
2010 415,344+5.2%
2015 434,060+4.5%
Source:"Populations by city and country in Taiwan". Ministry of the Interior Population Census.

Hsinchu City is administered as a city. North District is the seat of Hsinchu City which houses the Hsinchu City Government and Hsinchu City Council. The incumbent Mayor of Hsinchu City is Lin Chih-chien of the Democratic Progressive Party.

Administrative divisions

Hsinchu has 3 districts ():

MapNameChineseHokkienHakkaPopulation (2016)Area (km²)
East東區TangTûng 208,12233.5768
North北區PakPet 149,30015.7267
Xiangshan香山區Hiong-sanHiông-sân 76,83654.8491

Colors indicate the common language status of Hakka within each division.

Politics

Hsinchu City voted one Democratic Progressive Party legislator to be in the Legislative Yuan during the Taiwanese general election, 2016.[10]

Economy

The Hsinchu Science Park is home to 360 high tech companies including TSMC, Philips, United Microelectronics Corporation, Holtek, AU Optronics and Epistar. As a result, the city has the highest income level in Taiwan.

The purpose of the park is to attract high tech investment to Taiwan and to make the area the economic center for the information industry. The park is designed to cater for high quality R&D, production, work, life and also recreation. From its establishment in 1978, the government has invested over NT$30 billion on software and hardware ventures. In 2001, it developed 2.5 km2 (0.97 sq mi) of land in the park and 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi) in southern Hsinchu, attracting 312 high-tech companies' investments. Viewing the performance of Hsinchu Science Park in the past 21 years, it can be said that it holds a decisive position in the economic development in Taiwan, with international acclaim.

Although the semiconductor and related electronic businesses have been doing well, they face fierce competition from Japan, Korea, the United States and Singapore. This has resulted in lower profits and over-supply of some electronic products such as memory and semiconductors. Therefore, manufacturers, government, academia, and the R&D sectors all recognize the challenges faced by Taiwan's high-tech development. The government has endeavored to upgrade Hsinchu Science Park into a global manufacturing and R&D center of high-end products. They also plan to intensify the cooperation among the manufacturing, academic, and research sectors by introducing incubation centers, in order to elevate the technological standard in the park. Further, through the development of the northern, central, and southern industrial park and its satellite sites, it hopes to sow the seeds of high tech business in all of Taiwan, leading to a vigorous era of high tech development.

Education

National Tsing Hua University
National Chiao Tung University

Currently, Hsinchu City is one of the most focused educational centers in northern Taiwan. It has six universities in this concentrated area and among these universities, National Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University are highly focused by government in Taiwan on its academic development. Other public and private educational institutions in the city included 33 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 12 high school and complete secondary school, National Hsinchu Senior High School, National Hsinchu Girls' Senior High School and National Experimental High School are prestigious.

International and American Schools (grade school and secondary school)

Elementary Schools

  • Sagor Bilingual School
  • Hsinchu Elementary School
  • San Min Elementary School
  • Ke Yuan Elementary School
  • Guan Dong Elementary School
  • Zai Xi Elementary School
  • SunShine Elementary School
  • Lung Shan Elementary School
  • Dong Yuan Elementary School
  • Chu Lian Elementary School
  • Cheng Kong Elementary School
  • Bei Men Elementary School
  • Min Fu Elementary School
  • Da Chuang Elementary School
  • Nan Liao Elementary School
  • Shui Yuan Elementary School
  • Hu Lin Elementary School
  • Jia Dong Elementary School
  • Ching Tsao Hu Elementary School
  • Nan Ai Elementary School
  • Da Hu Elementary School
  • Nei Hu Elementary School
  • Xi Men Elementary School

Junior High School

  • Chien Hua Junior High School
  • Pei Ying Junior High School
  • Zhu Guang Junior High School
  • Nan Hua Junior High School
  • Guang Wu Junior High School
  • Hu Lin Junior High School
  • Guang Hua Junior High School
  • Yu Hsien Junior High School
  • San Min Junior High School
  • Nei Hu Junior High School
  • Hsin Ke Junior High School

High Schools

Colleges and Universities

Tourist attractions

Name Feature Location
Chenghuang Temple Night Market Most of the old stands in Cheng-huang Temple are of 50-year-old history, the famous snacks here are Hsin-chu meat balls, pork balls, spring rolls, braised pork rice, cuttlefish thick soup, rice noodles, and cow tongue shaped cakes (quote from Tourism Bureau, MOTC, T.O.C.[15]) Cheng-huang Temple and fa-lian shrine square
Neiwan Old Street Traditional Hakka restaurants and shops serve ginger lily-flavored glutinous rice dumplings, Hakka tea, and Hakka rice cakes.[16] Hengshan Town

Transportation

Hsinchu Bus Station

Rail

Hsinchu City is accessible from Hsinchu TRA station and North Hsinchu railway station.

Cycling

Hsinchu City has recently created a series of cycling routes to help cyclists navigate the city more easily. Hsinchu is home to many cycling clubs

Notable natives

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Hsinchu is twinned with:[17]

City Region Country Since
Beaverton Oregon  United States 1988
Cary North Carolina  United States 1993
Cupertino California  United States 1998
Richland Washington  United States 1988
Plano Texas  United States 2003
Okayama Okayama Prefecture  Japan 2003
Puerto Princesa Palawan  Philippines 2006
Fairfield New South Wales  Australia 1994
Chiayi City Taiwan  Taiwan 2002
Airai Airai  Palau 2011

See also

References

  1. 《中華民國統計資訊網》縣市重要統計指標查詢系統網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  2. "新竹市統計月報". 新竹市政府 (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. Wang, Erika (October 25, 2007). "Hsinchu owns rich history, culture and natural resources". The China Post. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. Davidson, James W. (1903). The Island of Formosa, Past and Present : history, people, resources, and commercial prospects : tea, camphor, sugar, gold, coal, sulphur, economical plants, and other productions. London and New York: Macmillan. p. 211. OCLC 1887893. OL 6931635M.
  5. "Monthly Mean Days of Precipitation". Climate Data. ROC Central Weather Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
  6. "Rescuers hunt quake survivors". BBC. 1999-09-21.
  7. "Recent Earthquakes Near Hsinchu, Taiwan, Taiwan".
  8. "Earthquakes Today".
  9. "Statistics > Monthly Mean". Central Weather Bureau.
  10. "2016 The 14th Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and The 9th Legislator Election". vote2016.cec.gov.tw.
  11. "Pacific American School". www.pacificamerican.org.
  12. "Hsinchu International School". hc.edu.tw.
  13. "Hsinchu American School". hc.edu.tw.
  14. "Theme Tours - Department of Tourism Hsinchu City Government". hccg.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 2015-10-04. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  15. "Eng.taiwan.net.tw". taiwan.net.tw. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  17. "Sister Cities". Hsinchu City Government. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
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