Taipei

Taipei, Taiwan


Taipei (臺北) is the capital of the Republic of China on Taiwan. It is the central city in the Taipei metropolitan area which includes Taipei City, New Taipei and Keelung, with a total population of 6.8 million people.

Taipei City (臺北市) covers 271.79 sq km (104.9 sq mi) on the northeastern part of Taiwan. It has a population of 2.6 million people. It is surrounded by New Taipei City, the most populous city in Taiwan. New Taipei City is a newly created (on 25 December, 2010) administrative entity which was formerly Taipei County. Initially called Xinbei City, it was written New Taipei City in the official English rendering. New Taipei City covers 2,052.57 sq km (792.5 sq mi) and has a population of 3.9 million people. Located north of New Taipei City is the port city of Keelung, also within the Taipei Metropolitan Area.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial


The city of Taipei is the political, economic and cultural nerve-center of Taiwan. It is home to a number of imminent institutions including the National Taiwan University and the National Palace Museum.

Taipei was founded in the early 18th century. It was first made the capital of Taiwan Prefecture when the Qing Dynasty government of China relocated the prefectural capital from Tainan in 1886.

Following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese. Taipei was kept as the island capital, a position it retained when the Republic of China took over Taiwan following the defeat of the Japanese in World War II in 1945. After losing mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party, the Kuomintang party fled to Taiwan, where they continued to run the government of the Republic of China and proclaimed Taipei as a provisional capital.

Today Taipei is considered a developed city with an excellent transport infrastructure of highways, high-speed rail, mass-transit rail, airport and bus lines.

Taipei 101, Taiwan

Going to Taipei

By Plane
The Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, or by its former name, Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, is the main airport for Taiwan. The airport is located about 30 km to the southwest of Taipei. Arriving at the airport, you can take the Airport buses to downtown Taipei for between NT$120 to NT$150. There are also public buses going to the Taipei Main Railway Station and the Yuanshan MRT Station. Taxis from airport to downtown costs around NT$1,000 to NT$1,200.

By Train
The Taipei Railway Station on Zhongxiao West Road Sec 1 is the main station served by all the inter-city trains and the Taiwan High Speed Rail. The MRT also pass through here.

By Bus
The Taipei Bus Terminal is behind the Taipei Main Railway Station, on Chengde Road. There are intercity buses connecting Taipei with all the major cities of Taiwan.

Taiwan High-Speed Rail

Places of Interest in Taipei

Sights within Taipei Sights in the Vicinity of Taipei Sights to the South of Taipei

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