Hsinchu

Hsinchu[upper-roman 1] (Chinese: 新竹, Wade–Giles: Hsin¹-chu², literally New Bamboo, also known by other names) is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is the 7th largest city in Taiwan by population, with 446,701 inhabitants,[3] and the largest not to be a special municipality. Hsinchu is a coastal city bordering the Taiwan Strait to the west, Hsinchu County to the north and east, and Miaoli County to the south.

This article is about Hsinchu City. For the county, see Hsinchu County.
Hsinchu City

新竹市[upper-roman 1]
City
Flag
Nickname(s): 
City of wind (風城)
Coordinates: 24°49′N 120°59′E
Country Republic of China (Taiwan)
RegionNorthern Taiwan
SeatNorth District
Districts
3 districts
Government
 • MayorLin Chih-chien (DPP)
Area
 • City104.15 km2 (40.21 sq mi)
Area rank20 out of 22
Population
 (October 2019)[2]
 • City448,207
 • Rank15 of 22
 • Density4,300/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (National Standard Time)
Postal code
300
Area code(s)(0)3
ISO 3166 codeTW-HSZ
BirdEuropean magpie (Pica pica)
FlowerAzalea
Websitewww.hccg.gov.tw
Hsinchu
Chinese name
Chinese新竹
Literal meaningNew Bamboo
Japanese name
Kanji新竹
Kanaしんちく
Former names
Zhuqian
Traditional Chinese竹塹
Simplified Chinese竹堑
Literal meaningBamboo Barrier
Nicknames
Windy City
Traditional Chinese風城
Simplified Chinese风城

The area was settled by Taiwanese indigenous peoples, with the settlement bearing the Hokkien name Tek-kham. The city was founded by Han settlers in 1711, and was renamed to its current form in 1878. During the Japanese Era, the city was made the seat of Shinchiku Prefecture, named after the city. The Republic of China regained control of Hsinchu after World War II.

In 1980, the Taiwanese government established the Hsinchu Science Park, a major industrial park, currently one of the world's most significant centers for semiconductor manufacturing, industrial and computer technology development. The park contributes a major proportion of Taiwan's GDP. This made Hsinchu a vital economic hub for the worldwide semiconductor industry; the headquarters of TSMC, world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, and United Microelectronics Corporation, are both located in the park.

Besides its industry, Hsinchu is also an important cultural center of Taiwan. The Chenghuang Temple of Hsinchu, built during the Kingdom of Tungning, is a common prayer destination. The research institutions of National Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University are both located near the science park.

Etymology

Hsin-chu is the Wade-Giles romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese name 新竹市(Sin-tik-chhī). The same name is rendered Xīnzhú in Hanyu Pinyin (Taiwan's present official romanization system) and Sinjhú in Tongyong Pinyin (briefly the official romanization during the early 21st century).

This name refers to the settlement's original Hokkien name Tek-khàm, meaning "Bamboo Barrier".[4] The name may transcribe an aboriginal name meaning "Seashore". The same name is variously recorded as Teukcham,[5] Teuxham,[5] and Teckcham; its Mandarin pronunciation appears as Chuchien.[4]

Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" for its windy climate and "The Garden City of Culture and Technology" by its tourism department.[4]

History
Main article: History of Hsinchu

Ming Dynasty

The area around Hsinchu was inhabited by the Taokas, Saisiyat, and Atayal aborigines when the Spanish occupied northern Taiwan in the 17th century. Catholic missionaries reached the settlement of Tek-kham in 1626. The Spanish were expelled by the Dutch a few decades later.

Qing Dynasty

Under the Qing, a Chinese town was established at Tek-kham by Wang Shijie and other Han settlers in 1711.[4]

As part of the reorganization of Taiwan by Shen Baozhen, the viceroy of Liangjiang, Zhuqian Subprefecture (i.e., Tek-kham) was raised to the level of a county and renamed Xinzhu (i.e., Sin-tek or Hsinchu) in 1878.[6] When Taiwan was made a province in 1887, Hsinchu was made a part of Taipeh Prefecture.

Japanese Rule
Map of Hsinchu (labeled as SHINCHIKU) and surrounding area (1944)

During the Japanese occupation following the First Sino-Japanese War, the city—known at the time as Shinchiku—was among the province's most populous. In 1904, its 16,371 residents ranked it in 7th place, behind Keelung and ahead of Changhua ("Shoka"). Shinchiku was raised to town status in 1920 and city status in 1930. At the same time, it became the seat of Shinchiku Prefecture. In 1941, its prefecture was expanded, annexing Xiangshan ("Kōzan"). Jiugang ("Kyūminato") and Liujia ("Rokka") merged to become Zhubei ("Chikuhoku").

Republic of China

The Nationalist government of the Republic of China established the Hsinchu City Government in 1945 to oversee all of what had been Shinchiku Prefecture under the Japanese.

In 1946, the Take-Over Committee dissolved and replaced by the Hsinchu County Government, located in Taoyuan. As the administrative districts were readjusted, Hsinchu was granted city status. It used the old prefecture office as its city hall at 120 Chung Cheng Road. In February 1946, representative congresses were formed for seven district offices. On April 15, the city congress was formed. Provincial representatives were elected from among the city legislators.

On 16 August 1950, the administrative districts on Taiwan were re-adjusted once more, demarcating 16 counties and 5 provincially-governed cities.

In June 1982, under presidential order, the Xiangshan Township of Hsinchu County merged into Hsinchu City. A new municipal government was formally established on 1 July 1982, comprising 103 villages and 1,635 neighborhoods. These were organized into the East, North, and Xiangshan districts by 1 November. By June 1983, the new government consisted of 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 various sections. The Police Department, Tax Department, and Medicine and Hygiene Department were considered affiliate institutions.

From 1994 to 1999, as Taiwan made its transition from authoritarian rule to a representative democracy and the mostly pro forma provincial level of government began to be dissolved, regulations were established for the self-government of Hsinchu. 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.[7] 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.[8][9][10]

Government
Hsinchu City Government
Hsinchu City Council
Lin Chih-chien, the incumbent Mayor of 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 (區):[12][13]

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 2016 Taiwan general election.[14]

Economy

The Hsinchu Science Park is home to 360 high tech companies including Acer Inc, TSMC, Philips, Logitech, United Microelectronics Corporation, Holtek, AU Optronics and Epistar. As a result, the city has the highest income level in Taiwan.[15]

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 South Korea and the United States. 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

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 schools (grade school and secondary school)

High Schools

Universities

Tourist attractions
Hsinchu Fish Harbor
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.[20]) 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.[21] Hengshan Town

Transportation
Hsinchu railway station
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:[22]

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 Province  Republic of China (Taiwan) 2002
Airai Airai  Palau 2011

See also
  • Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
  • List of cities in Taiwan

Notes

Words in native languages

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). Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  2. 新竹市統計月報 (in Chinese). Hsinchu City Government. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. 中華民國內政部戶政司 (2018-05-01). "中華民國 內政部戶政司 全球資訊網". 中華民國內政部戶政司. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  4. Wang, Erika (25 October 2007), "Hsinchu Owns Rich History, Culture, and Natural Resources", China Post, Taipei: China Post, archived from the original on 30 October 2013, retrieved 7 December 2019.
  5. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed. (1879), "Formosa".
  6. 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: Macmillan, p. 211, OCLC 1887893, OL 6931635M, archived from the original on 2015-01-08, retrieved 2016-06-12.
  7. "Monthly Mean Days of Precipitation". Climate Data. ROC Central Weather Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
  8. "Rescuers hunt quake survivors". BBC. 1999-09-21. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  9. "Recent Earthquakes Near Hsinchu, Taiwan, Taiwan". Archived from the original on 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  10. "Earthquakes Today". Archived from the original on 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  11. "Statistics > Monthly Mean". Central Weather Bureau. Archived from the original on 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
  12. 臺灣地區鄉鎮市區級以上行政區域名稱中英對照表 (PDF). Online Translation System of Geographic Name, Ministry of Interior. 16 June 2011. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2012.
  13. "Geographic location". Hsinchu City Government. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  14. "2016 The 14th Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and The 9th Legislator Election". vote2016.cec.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  15. News, Taiwan. "Hsinchu highest salary in Taiwan, Taichung lo..." Taiwan News. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  16. "Pacific American School". www.pacificamerican.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  17. "Hsinchu International School". hc.edu.tw. Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  18. "Hsinchu American School". hc.edu.tw. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  19. "Theme Tours - Department of Tourism Hsinchu City Government". hccg.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 2015-10-04. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  20. "Eng.taiwan.net.tw". taiwan.net.tw. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-11-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "Sister Cities". Hsinchu City Government. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
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