Hsinchu City, Northern Taiwan Region, Taiwan

🇹🇼 Hsinchu is the 7th largest city in Taiwan by population, and the largest not to be a special municipality. Hsinchu is a windy coastal city bordering the Taiwan Strait to the west, Hsinchu County to the north and east, and Miaoli County to the south.

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 centres 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 world-wide 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 centre of Taiwan. The Chenghuang Temple of Hsinchu, built during the Kingdom of Tungning, is a common prayer destination. The research institutions of National Yang Ming 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. The same name is rendered Xīnzhú in Hanyu Pinyin and Sinjhú in Tongyong Pinyin.

This name refers to the settlement's original Hokkien name Tek-chhàm (竹塹), meaning "bamboo barrier". The name may transcribe an aboriginal name meaning "Seashore". The same name is variously recorded as Teukcham, Teuxham, Tekcham, and Teckcham; its Mandarin pronunciation appears as Chuchien.

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

History The area around Hsinchu City was inhabited by the Taokas 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 Shih-chieh  and other Han settlers in 1711. Wang and his party of over 180 people were natives of Kinmen who first camped alongside what is now Dongqian Street in East District, Hsinchu.

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. When Taiwan was made a province in 1887, Hsinchu was made a part of Taipeh Prefecture.

Japanese rule 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 provincial 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 15 April, 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 provincial 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.

A movement is underway from 2021 to have Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County to be upgraded to the nation's seventh special municipality.

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.

Economy The Hsinchu Science Park is home to 360 high tech companies. 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 centre 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 recognise the challenges faced by Taiwan's high-tech development. The government has endeavoured to upgrade Hsinchu Science Park into a global manufacturing and R&D centre of high-end products. They also plan to intensify the co-operation among the manufacturing, academic, and research sectors by introducing incubation centres, 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 vigourous era of high tech development.

Education Hsinchu City is one of the most focused educational centres in northern Taiwan. It has six universities in this concentrated area, and among these universities, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University are focused on by the government of Taiwan. Other public and private educational institutions in the city included 33 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 12 high schools and a complete secondary school.

International schools (grade school and secondary school) • Pacific American School • Hsinchu International School • Hsinchu American School; High Schools • National Experimental High School • National Hsinchu Senior High School • National Hsinchu Girls' Senior High School • Hsinchu Kuang-Fu Senior High School.

Education: University • National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University • National Tsing Hua University • Chung Hua University • Hsuan Chuang University • Yuanpei University of Medical Technology • National Hsinchu University of Education

Tourist attractions Some tourist attractions in Hsinchu include: • Aqueduct Museum of Hsinchu City • Black Bat Squadron Memorial Hall • Chenghuang Temple of Hsinchu • Glass Museum of Hsinchu City • Hsinchu City Art Site of Railway Warehouse • Hsinchu CKS Baseball Stadium • Hsinchu Museum of Military Dependents Village • Hsinchu Fish Harbor • Hsinchu Zoo • National Hsinchu Living Arts Center • 17 Kilometer Coastal Scenic Area • Green Grass Lake • Chenghuang Temple Night Market – Most of the old stands in Cheng-huang Temple are of 50-year-old history, known snacks here include Hsin-chu meatballs, pork balls, spring rolls, braised pork rice, cuttlefish thick soup, rice noodles, and cow tongue-shaped cakes. • Neiwan Old Street – Traditional Hakka restaurants that serve ginger-lily-flavored glutinous rice dumplings, Hakka tea, and Hakka rice cakes.

Sport Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League has a professional baseball team, Wei Chuan Dragons, based in Hsinchu.

Major sporting events held by Hsinchu include: • 1997 World Youth Baseball Championship • 2005 BWF Para-Badminton World Championships.

Transport: Rail Hsinchu City is mainly served by Hsinchu railway station, along with five other minor TRA stations on both the Western Trunk line and the Neiwan line. There is also an HSR station in nearby Zhubei, Hsinchu County on Taiwan High Speed Rail.

Transport: Cycling Hsinchu City has recently created a series of cycling routes. Hsinchu is home to many cycling clubs.

Sea ports Fishing ports are located at Nanliao Street, North District, and Haishan, Xiangshan.

Transport: Air Hsinchu Airport is located in the North District and is mainly used as a military airbase. The nearest international airport is Taoyuan International Airport, which is located 58 km away from the city.