Located in theTaichung Basin, the city was initially developed from several scattered hamlets helmed by theTaiwanese indigenous peoples. It was constructed to be the new capital ofTaiwan Province and renamed "Taiwan-fu" in the lateQing dynastic era between 1887 and 1894. During theJapanese era from 1895, the urban planning of present-day Taichung was performed and developed by the Japanese.[9] The urban area of Taichung was organized as aprovincial city from the start of ROC rule in 1945 until 25 December 2010, when the original provincial city andTaichung County were merged into a new special municipality.[10]
North of the city, on theDajia River, an aboriginal revolt broke out in 1731 after Chinese officials moved in and compelled them to provide labor. The revolt spread through the city as far south asChanghua County in May 1732 before the rebels were chased into the mountains by Qing forces.[13] In 1786, another rebellion against the Qing, known as theLin Shuangwen rebellion, began as an attempt to overthrow the government and restore theMing dynasty. Unfortunately, as the rebels moved northward, they turned to slaughter and looting. They were eventually defeated by a coalition of Qing forces,Hakka,QuanzhouFujianese descendants, and aboriginal volunteers.[14]
WhenTaiwan Province was declared an independent province in 1887, the government intended to construct its capital city at the centrally locatedToatun, which was also designated as the seat ofTaiwan Prefecture.[15] Thus the city took the title of "Taiwan-fu", meaning "capital city of Taiwan", from modern-dayTainan, which had held the title for more than 200 years. Qing officialLiu Ming-chuan received permission to oversee development of the area, which included constructing a railway through the city.[16] However, the provincial capital was ultimately moved toTaipei.
After the Qing dynasty lost theSino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan by theTreaty of Shimonoseki, and the name of the city was changed toTaichū (Japanese:臺中). The Japanese sought to develop the city to make it the first "modern" area of Taiwan[17] and invested in roads, dams, and levees. In 1901,Taichū Chō (臺中廳) was established as one of 20 local administrative districts on the island. In 1904, the town of Taichū had a population of 6,423, and Taichū District had more than 207,000.[18]
Taichū Park was completed in 1903. A tower marking the old north gate was moved to the new park where it stands today. The first market in Taichū was built in 1908, along Jiguang Road between the Zhongzheng and Chenggong Roads and it is still in use today.[11] The Japanese undertook a north–south island railway project.Taichū Train Station was completed and began operation in 1917,[11] and still operates today. Taichū City was officially declared by Japanese authorities in 1920, andTaichū City Hall was completed in 1924 after 11 years of construction.[11] Kōkan Airport (公館空港), now known asTaichung Airport, was constructed during Japanese rule.
Taichū Middle School (now known asTaichung First Senior High School) was founded in 1915 by elite members of local gentry, includingLin Hsien-tang and his brotherLin Lie-tang [zh], two wealthy Taiwanese intellectuals of the era. This was in an effort to teach children theculture of Taiwan and to foster the spirit of theTaiwanese localization movement.[11] TheTaiwanese Cultural Association, founded in 1921 in Taipei by Lin Hsien-tang, was moved to Taichū in 1927. Most of the members of this association were from Taichū and the surrounding area. The city became a center of Taiwanese culture and nationalism.[11]
After thehandover of Taiwan from Japan to theRepublic of China in October 1945,Taichung County was established, which consists of present-day area of Taichung City,Miaoli County andTaoyuan City. In 1947 the first mayor of Taichung County (which included Taichung City) was Lai Tien Shen. The position was appointed by the government to rule during the interim period. Taichung also served as the temporary capital of the exiledJiangxi (Kiangsi) provincial government in 1949 after theChinese Communist Party took control of the province.[19] In 1950, Miaoli and Taoyuan were taken out from Taichung County area to formMiaoli County andTaoyuan County respectively. In June 2009, theExecutive Yuan approved the plan to merge Taichung City and Taichung County to form a larger Taichung City.[20] On 25 December 2010, the city was merged with the surroundingTaichung County to create aspecial municipality of 2.65 million people spread across 2,214 km2 (855 sq mi).[21]
TheCentral Mountain Range lies just east of the city. Rolling hills run to the north leading toMiaoli County, while flat coastal plains dominate the landscape to the south leading to Changhua County and theTaiwan Strait to the west. TheDadu Plateau lies to the northwest.
Taichung has a warmhumid subtropical climate (KöppenCwa) bordering on atropical monsoon climate, with an average annual temperature of 23.3 °C (73.9 °F). The highest temperature of the year occurs in July and August, while the lowest temperature occurs in January and February.[24] Daytime temperatures remain warm to hot year-round, though night time temperatures during the winter months are significantly cooler than those during the summer and the warm daytime temperature. Its average annual rainfall is just above 1,700 mm (67 in), relatively low compared to other major cities of Taiwan.[25] The average humidity is 80%.
Due to the protection provided by the Central Mountain Range to the east and the Miaoli hills to the north, Taichung is rarely severely affected bytyphoons, but typhoons emerging from theSouth China Sea occasionally pose a threat to the city, as evidenced byTyphoon Wayne in 1986, which struck Taiwan's west coast near Taichung.[26]
Climate data for Taichung (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1897–present）
Taichung's population was estimated to be 2,867,848 in August 2025.[32] There are slightly more females in the city (50.97%) than males. 24.32% of residents are children, while 16.63% are young people, 52.68% are middle-age, and 6.73% are elderly.[33] According toMinistry of Interior statistics, the fertility rate in Taichung City in 2007 was 1.165 for each woman.
The city surpassedKaohsiung to become the second largest city in Taiwan in July 2017, growing at the 2nd fastest rate in Taiwan from 2012 to 2017.[34] Recent population increases have been attributed tonatural population growth, more people moving to the city, and subsidized housing.[35]
UnlikeTaipei in the north, which is solidly in thePan-Blue political camp, and the southern cities ofKaohsiung andTainan that are solidlyPan-Green, Taichung is more balanced, with the urban city center area leaning Blue and the suburban and rural areas leaning Green. In fact, both major political parties have won a mayoral election among the last four with at least 49 percent of the vote (Democratic Progressive Party in 1997 and 2014 and theKuomintang in 2001 and 2005).[36] Similarly, the Kuomintang majority in thecity council is not as large as it is in other cities, and is only negligible when one excludesBeitun District, which is solidly pro-Kuomintang. The incumbent Mayor of Taichung isLu Shiow-yen of theKuomintang.
Taichung City's executive branch is headed by mayorLu Shiow-yen of the Kuomintang.[37] Taichung's legislative branch is a unicameral 46-member City Council. Each member is elected from one of six member districts where each voter has only one vote.
Inner Taichung refers to the eight former districts of Taichung City before the merger withTaichung County on December 25, 2010. Colors indicate statutory language status ofHakka language in the respective subdivisions. Note thatHeping District is also anindigenous area of theAtayal people.
Taichung is the center and the largest city inCentral Taiwan. Its main industries are machinery and retail services.[40][41][42]
Taichung is home to many industries. It has six main manufacturing industries: tool machines, mechanical components, photoelectric panels, bicycles, woodworking machinery, and aerospace manufacturing.[43][44]
Taichung's financial center andcentral business district is the7th Redevelopment Zone, where many corporation offices are located. The retail sector is another main industry in Taichung. Almost a quarter of all Taichung employees work in the retail sector.,[41] Its output value is 1.3 trillion NTD, second largest after Taipei (5.8 trillion NTD) in Taiwan.[50]
Two railways run parallel to each other in Taichung: theTaichung Line, which passes through the urban areas in the interior, and theWest Coast Line, which passes through rural areas closer to the coastal shore.Taichung railway station is located in the heart of the city inCentral District and numerous bus companies provide connections to other towns by bus.
Taichung Port, located on the coast in Taichung City, is the second largest cargo facility on the island capable of handling container shipping.[55] Despite being the second largest port on the island of Taiwan, there are no passenger ferry services available and the port is closed to unauthorized personnel.
Taichung City generally follows a radial road layout, with its center atTaichung railway station. Major roads start in Central District and run outwards, including Taiwan Boulevard, Xiangshang Road, Zhongqing Road, and Zhongshan Road.
Freeway 1 runs along the Fazi River on the outskirts of the city, whileFreeway 3 runs along theDadu River to the coastal plains on the west, where it then runs parallel to the coastline.Freeway 4 begins inQingshui District and terminates inFengyuan District.Highway 74, known as the Taichung Ring Expressway circles the outskirts of the city, whileHighway 63, known as the Zhongtou Expressway, runs from Taichung southward toCaotun,Nantou. Many other highways run through the city.
The most frequently used public transportation system in Taichung is by bus, with 18 bus companies providing 275 routes that cover all districts. All station names are announced in both Mandarin and English, while some also provide Hokkien pronunciations. For local passengers using acontactless smartcard (for example, anEasyCard), the first 10 kilometers are free.[57] In addition, some taxi served as bus routes in rural areas.[58]
Taichung MRT Green line at Sihwei Elementary School Station
The city currently has oneMRT line, theGreen line, which opened on April 25, 2021.[59] A second line, theBlue line, was approved in 2024 and is expected to open in 2034.[60]
For a short period of time, the city operated abus rapid transit system, named theBRT Blue Line, running down Taiwan Boulevard. It usedarticulated buses running a specialized lane, a first in Taiwan. The system began operation in July 2014;[61] however, it did little to ameliorate traffic congestion, and was terminated within a year. The lane and specialized bus stops are currently used as a general bus lane, with bus lines 300-310 running through it.
U.S. Vice PresidentRichard Nixon presided over the groundbreaking ceremony ofTunghai University, which is the first private university in Taiwan.
In 1915, the Taichung Middle School (台灣公立台中中學校) (nowTaichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School) was established as the first school for young people in Taiwan.[63] In 1943, the Advanced Academy of Agronomy and Forestry (nowNational Chung Hsing University) became an independent entity and moved to Taichung. It is the beginning of higher education in Taichung. In 1955,Tunghai University was established, becoming the first private university in Taiwan.[64]
Currently, there are 17 universities, 50 high schools, 71 junior high schools, and 235 elementary schools in Taichung. In addition, there are four special schools,three international schools, and nine community colleges in the city.[65]
Taichung City is in the process of implementingHanyu Pinyin on road signs throughout the city whenever the mayor is aNationalist. However, there are still signs displaying spellings from previously used romanization systems, as well asTongyong Pinyin and systems that do not conform to any standard system.[66] UnlikeTaipei, which uses a capital letter at the beginning of every syllable, Taichung City uses the standard form of Hanyu Pinyin on street signs erected in recent years. However, the municipal website uses the Taipei system. Most major intersections have at least one sign containing some form of romanization. Nearly every intersection in the downtown area has signs in Hanyu Pinyin. However, outside of the downtown area, while coverage by Hanyu Pinyin signs is improving, many intersections have signs in other romanization systems (especially Wade–Giles and MPS2) or no Romanized signs at all.
National Museum of Natural Science together withNational Palace Museum in Taipei and theNational Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung are called "the Museums of Taiwan". Across 22 acres (89,000 m2), the museum is a six-venue complex housing the Space IMAX Theater, Science Center, Life Science Hall, Chinese Science Hall, Global Environment Hall and the Botanical Garden, excluding the Earthquake Museum in Wufong, which is dedicated to public education on seismology, located just 10 kilometers east of the main complex of NMNS. Over 30 permanent exhibit areas cover subjects on astronomy, space science, paleontology, ecology, gems and minerals, Taiwanese Aborigines, and tropical plants. Rotating special exhibits are a constant occurrence.
Taichung Municipal Cultural Center: The Municipal Cultural Center is located on Yingcai Road on property adjacent to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
Taichung Folklore Park: This park is dedicated to presenting a more traditional Taiwanese way of life. It includes a combination of authentic and recreated buildings and streets in an attempt to recreate a more rustic Taiwan.
921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan: This museum is located inWufeng District. With the rebuilding of Kwangfu Junior High on its present site, the Earthquake Memorial Museum was renamed the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan on February 13, 2001. The new plan retains the original sites as a record of the damage wrought by the earthquake, and it also adds technological and educational facilities designed to inform the public and school children about earthquakes and disaster readiness.
Asia Museum of Modern Art: This museum is located atAsia University in Wufeng District. On May 4, 2007, Dr. Tsai presented the project plan and officially invited Mr. Tadao Ando to design an art museum for Asia University. Therefore, the main purpose of inviting Tadao Ando to design the museum was to educate students and create the opportunity for them to have contact with art works from masters of international status. This museum provides various and amazing exhibitions which are related to Asian art and modern art.
Taichung has a large number of temples, many of which hold historic and cultural value. According to a 2018 survey by the city government, Taichung is home to 1,012 registered temples, of which 774 areTaoist and 208 areBuddhist.[67]
Zhongshan Hall: Zhongshan Hall is a popular venue for a variety of performances including musical, opera, ballet, dance, theatrical, and other performances. Seating capacity is 1,692.
Fulfillment Amphitheater: This recently completed outdoor venue is located in the Wenxin Forest Park and is suitable for a wide range of outdoor performances.*Zhongxing Hall at National Taichung Library
TheSinon Bulls was a professional baseball team playing in the four-teamChinese Professional Baseball League. While they were identified with Taichung City, many of their “home games” were played outside of the city due to the inadequacies of the oldTaichung Baseball Field. The team was expected to move into the newly completedTaichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in 2008, but never did. At the end of the 2012 season, Sinon Corporation announced its intention to sell the team. By late December, an agreement was reached between Sinon Corporation and E-United Group, and the team was renamed EDA Rhinos and moved to Kaohsiung. TheSpecial Force II division of theFlash Wolvesesports team is known as the Taichung Flash Wolves, the team competed in the Special Force II Pro League (SF2PL) based in Taipei.[72] Taichung is home to Taichung City FC, a club which strives to represent Taichung in soccer tournaments as well as charitable events.[73]
In 2015, after the CTBC Holdings took ownership of the Brother Elephants and renamed the teamCTBC Brothers, they made Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium their home as part of Taiwan'sCPBL's effort to establish home fields in all major Taiwanese cities.
Taichung has signed sister city agreements with 29 cities (January 2025) since 1965. They are listed below along with the dates that the agreements were signed.[76]
Aside from sister cities, Taichung has signed 14 friendship cities and one sightseeing friendship city (Nagoya) as of January 2025. They are listed below along with the dates that the agreements were signed.[77][78]
^各區人口結構 [Population structure by district].demographics.taichung.gov.tw (in Traditional Chinese).Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved2019-08-08.
^Davidson (1903), p. 245: "...the seat of government (which had been formerly at the old town of Taiwan-fu in the south, which city had been in turn the capital of the Dutch, Koxinga, and the Chinese,) was now removed temporarily to the new city ofTaipeh, which had been lately in course of construction ... In connection with this, it is necessary to go further and explain that it was the intention of the government to build a new capital city in the center of the island near Changwha. Accordingly, the new city was laid out and the construction of official yamens commenced. The name of the new city became Taiwan-fu, or the capital city of Taiwan (Formosa), and it was also to be the seat of a new prefecture calledTaiwan [Prefecture]."
^Davidson (1903), pp. 247–8:"To obtain Imperial sanction to the undertaking, Governor Liu represented to the authorities that, if the capital was removed into the interior as they had recommended, it would be necessary, as there were no roads, to construct a railway from the new capital to one of the coast ports, preferably Kelung in the north. This proposition met with sonic opposition inPeking, but eventually Imperial approbation was obtained."
^"Districts & Landmarks". 13 March 2019.Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved29 May 2019.Taichung city is broken up into 29 districts.
^1.7-鄉鎮市區戶口數 [Population for Township and District].Ministry of the Interior (in Chinese (Taiwan) and English). August 2020.Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved21 September 2020.臺中市 Taichung City中區 Central District東區 East District南區 South District西區 West District北區 North District西屯區 Situn District南屯區 Nantun District北屯區 Beitun District豐原區 Fongyuan District東勢區 Dongshih District大甲區 Dajia District清水區 Cingshuei District沙鹿區 Shalu District梧棲區 Wuci District后里區 Houli District神岡區 Shengang District潭子區 Tanzih District大雅區 Daya District新社區 Sinshe District石岡區 Shihgang District外埔區 Waipu District大安區 Daan District烏日區 Wurih District大肚區 Dadu District龍井區 Longjing District霧峰區 Wufong District太平區 Taiping District大里區 Dali District和平區 Heping District
^陳建元 (2016), p. 1:"臺中市做為全臺灣中部區域經濟發展中心，為工業發展重鎮與推動產業成長之重要樞紐"
^ab行政院主計總處 2018, p. 4: 按從業員工人數觀察，臺中市為中部地區最大都會區及民生消費中心，以批發業及零售業為就業市場主力，從業員工合計達 27.4 萬人或占 23.0%
^"創校五先賢事略" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived fromthe original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved2018-09-03.
^"東海大學_路思義教堂" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Tourism and Travel Bureau, Taichung City Government. Archived fromthe original on 2020-09-11. Retrieved2020-08-25.
^"107臺中市寺廟登記概況"(PDF).Civil Affairs Bureau, Taichung City Government (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2018.Archived(PDF) from the original on June 10, 2022. RetrievedMarch 15, 2021.
^"大甲媽祖遶境進香(直轄市登錄)".National Cultural Heritage Database Management System (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Bureau of Cultural Heritage.Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. RetrievedMarch 15, 2021.
Gardella, Robert (1999). "From Treaty Ports to Provincial Status, 1860-1894". In Rubinstein, Murry A. (ed.).Taiwan: A New History. New York: M.E. Sharpe.ISBN9781563248160.
Phillips, Steven (1999). "Between Assimilation and Independence: Taiwanese Political Aspirations Under Chinese Nationalist Rule, 1945-1948". In Rubinstein, Murry A. (ed.).Taiwan: A New History. New York: M.E. Sharpe.ISBN9781563248160.
1 Provinces are merely formal entities within the constitutional structure, and have no governing power after the dissolution of their administrative organs in 2018. Cities and counties are thede facto principal administrative divisions of Taiwan.
Sarah Shair-Rosenfield (November 2020)."Taiwan Combined"(PDF). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved29 May 2021.
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