Taitung City (Chinese: 臺東市; pinyin: Táidōng Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-tang-chhī) is a county-administered city and the county seat of Taitung County, Taiwan. It lies on the southeast coast of Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean. Taitung City is the most populous subdivision of Taitung County and it is one of the major cities on the east coast of the island.

Taitung
臺東市
Taitō
Taitung City
View of Taitung City
View of Taitung City
Etymology: Taitō (Japanese: 臺東, Taiwan east)
Nickname: 
東市 (Eastern City)
Map
Taitung is located in Taiwan
Taitung
Taitung
Location in the Republic of China
Coordinates: 22°45′30″N 121°08′40″E / 22.75833°N 121.14444°E / 22.75833; 121.14444
CountryRepublic of China (Taiwan)
CountyTaitung
Government
 • MayorChang Kuo-chou (張國洲)[1]
Area
 • Total109.7691 km2 (42.3821 sq mi)
Population
 (February 2023)
 • Total103,260
 • Density940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Websitewww.taitungcity.gov.tw (in Chinese)
Taitung City
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese臺東 or 台東
Simplified Chinese台东
Literal meaningEastern Taiwan
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTáidōng Shì
Bopomofoㄊㄞˊ   ㄉㄨㄥ   ㄕˋ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhTairdong Shyh
Wade–GilesTʻai²-tung¹ Shih⁴
Tongyong PinyinTáidong Shìh
Yale RomanizationTáidūng Shr̀
MPS2Táidūng Shr̀
IPA[tʰǎɪ.tʊ́ŋ ʂɻ̩̂]
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳThòi-tûng-sṳ
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTòihdùng Síh or
Tòihdūng Síh
JyutpingToi4dung1 Si5
IPA[tʰɔj˩.tʊŋ˥˧ si˩˧] or
[tʰɔj˩.tʊŋ˥ si˩˧]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTâi-tang-chhī
Tâi-lôTâi-tang-tshī
Japanese name
Kanji台東市
Kanaたいとうし
Kyūjitai臺東市
Transcriptions
RomanizationTaitō-shi
Taitung City in Taitung County

Taitung City is served by Taitung Airport. Taitung is a gateway to Green Island and Orchid Island, both of which are popular tourist destinations.

History

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Taitung City under Japanese rule

Before the 16th century the Taitung plain was settled by agriculturalist Puyuma and Amis aboriginal tribes. Under Dutch rule and during Qing rule, a large part of eastern Taiwan, including today's Taitung, was called "Pi-lam" (Chinese: 卑南; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pi-lâm). Many artifacts of the prehistory sites of the city are located at Beinan Cultural Park, which was discovered in 1980 during the construction of Taitung Station.

In the late 19th century, when Liu Mingchuan was the Qing Governor of Taiwan, Han Chinese settlers moved into the Taitung region. Pi-lam Subprefecture (卑南廳) was established in 1875, and was upgraded and renamed to Taitung Prefecture in 1888, after the island was made Fujian-Taiwan Province.[2]

Japanese rule

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Map of Taitung (labeled as TAITŌ) and surrounding area (1944)

During Japanese rule, the central settlement was called Nankyō Village (南鄉新街). Taitō Chō (臺東廳) was one of twenty local administrative offices established in 1901. English-language works from the era refer to the place as Pinan (from Japanese) and Pilam (from Hokkien).[3] Taitō Town was established in 1920 under Taitō Prefecture, and included modern Taitung City and eastern Beinan Township. There were no Americans living here during the Japanese rule.[citation needed]

Post-war

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Map of the region including Taitung (labeled as T'ai-tung (Taitō) 臺東) (1951)

After handover of Taiwan from Japan to the ROC in 1945, it became Taitung Township and in 1948 it was promoted to Taitung City.

City government

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Taitung City government is headquartered at Taitung City Hall which takes the responsibility for the city general administration and all of its other affairs, from folk, education, cultural popularization, negotiation, emergency help, disaster prevention, environmental taxation, cleaning control, finance, public property control, tellership, taxing help, farming and fishing control, wholesale products, marketing and business administration, urban planning, public establishment, tourism, community development, army service administration, welfare, national health insurance program and indigenous administration affairs.

Departments

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  • Civil Affair Section
  • Financial Section
  • Construction Section
  • Labor Affair Section
  • Social and Army Service Section
  • Aboriginal Administration Section
  • Administration Section
  • Personnel Office
  • Budget, Accounting and Statistics Office
  • Ethics Section[4]

Climate

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Taitung has a tropical monsoon climate, with a wet season from May to October, a dry season from November to April, and consistently very warm to hot temperatures with high humidity. Unlike most tropical climates, however, the dry season is foggy rather than sunny, so that moisture availability during this period is greater than the low rainfall and warm temperatures would suggest. The highest record of temperature of Taiwan was recorded in Taitung on May 9, 2004, with temperatures peaking above 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in Taiwan's recorded history.

Climate data for Taitung City (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1901–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 32.7
(90.9)
34.0
(93.2)
37.4
(99.3)
38.2
(100.8)
40.2
(104.4)
39.5
(103.1)
39.0
(102.2)
39.3
(102.7)
37.8
(100.0)
38.5
(101.3)
33.3
(91.9)
30.8
(87.4)
40.2
(104.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 23.2
(73.8)
23.8
(74.8)
25.4
(77.7)
27.8
(82.0)
30.0
(86.0)
31.8
(89.2)
32.6
(90.7)
32.2
(90.0)
31.3
(88.3)
29.4
(84.9)
27.1
(80.8)
24.3
(75.7)
28.2
(82.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 19.7
(67.5)
20.2
(68.4)
21.8
(71.2)
24.1
(75.4)
26.4
(79.5)
28.3
(82.9)
29.1
(84.4)
28.8
(83.8)
27.7
(81.9)
25.8
(78.4)
23.6
(74.5)
20.8
(69.4)
24.7
(76.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 17.1
(62.8)
17.5
(63.5)
19.0
(66.2)
21.3
(70.3)
23.7
(74.7)
25.5
(77.9)
26.2
(79.2)
26.1
(79.0)
25.0
(77.0)
23.2
(73.8)
21.1
(70.0)
18.3
(64.9)
22.0
(71.6)
Record low °C (°F) 7.2
(45.0)
7.5
(45.5)
9.7
(49.5)
11.6
(52.9)
15.9
(60.6)
17.1
(62.8)
20.5
(68.9)
20.9
(69.6)
18.3
(64.9)
15.2
(59.4)
9.3
(48.7)
8.9
(48.0)
7.2
(45.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 33.1
(1.30)
40.7
(1.60)
36.5
(1.44)
64.8
(2.55)
138.3
(5.44)
201.9
(7.95)
250.2
(9.85)
316.4
(12.46)
295.6
(11.64)
215.0
(8.46)
99.3
(3.91)
45.8
(1.80)
1,737.6
(68.4)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 8.4 9.1 9.3 10.9 14.4 11.5 10.1 11.7 12.8 9.9 8.6 8.4 125.1
Average relative humidity (%) 71.5 72.9 73.3 75.2 77.3 77.3 76.0 76.6 76.3 72.6 72.1 70.7 74.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 93.7 85.1 102.1 116.8 148.0 210.2 253.2 223.5 173.1 157.3 122.2 98.6 1,783.8
Source: Central Weather Bureau[5][6][7][8][9]

Administrative divisions

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Wenhua, Minzu, Zijiang, Minsheng, Baosang, Minquan, Siwei, Zhonghua, Renai, Jiangguo, Datong, Chenggong, Jianguo, Zhongzheng, Zhongshan, Xingguo, Tiehua, Tunghai, Fuguo, Fuxing, Xinxing, Xinsheng, Zhongxin, Malan, Guangming, Fengnian, Fengle, Yongle, Kangle, Fengrong, Fenggu, Fengli, Fengyuan, Fugang, Fufeng, Nanrong, Yanwan, Beinan, Nanwang, Fengtian, Xinyuan, Jianhe, Jianxing, Jianye, Zhiben and Jiannong Village.

Government institutions

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Education

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National Taitung University

Tourist attractions

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Kararuan Coast

Transportation

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TRA Taitung Station
 
Taitung Airport
 
Taitung Bus Station

Notable natives

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References

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  1. ^ "Mayor's Column". Taitung City Office. Retrieved 7 May 2022. (in Chinese)
  2. ^ 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 & co. p. 244. OL 6931635M.
  3. ^ Davidson (1903), Index p.29: "Pinan (Pilam)"
  4. ^ "Organization". Taitung City Office. Retrieved 8 May 2022. (in Chinese)
  5. ^ "Monthly Mean". Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  6. ^ "氣象站各月份最高氣溫統計" (PDF) (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  7. ^ "氣象站各月份最高氣溫統計(續)" (PDF) (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  8. ^ "氣象站各月份最低氣溫統計" (PDF) (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  9. ^ "氣象站各月份最低氣溫統計(續)" (PDF) (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
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