Having been here for over 2 decades, I’d like to think I’m pretty familiar with all the Taipei neighborhoods and know what they’re called. There’s Tianmu, Minsheng Community, Daodaocheng, Ximending, etc. but where is North Town? I came across this name in a city government publication. It says:
North Town neighbors Dadaocheng’s eastern edge. Its boundaries are Chengde Road (承德路) on its west side, Zhongshan North Road (中山北路) on its east, Changan West Road (長安西路) on its south edge, and Minsheng West Road (民生西路) on its north.
And then further down the article, there is – what do you know – South Town, and it describes it as covering: the National Taiwan University campus and the areas south, southwest, and west of it, centered on Roosevelt Road (羅斯福路), Tingzhou Road (汀州路), and Wenzhou Street (溫州街).
It’s obviously the city government’s attempt to coin names for these areas, but I doubt these names will stick.
Started with the “East District”, which is not clearly defined. In the last few years they started to promote the West District (Wanhua/Ximending), by getting the Lantern Festival there. I guess they try to promote other areas as well. Using “Town” is moronic, cause misleading. North should be Shilin and Beitou anyway.
There was a time, when Dadaocheng, Dihua Jia street, was the center of everything. Democratic center of rebelling against Japanese occupation, the oldest famous brothel is in the area where visiting politicians slept (and played), riverside, still today have the old Taiwanese Opera at the park weekly.
Rich Taiwan culture, not specifically Chinese, often overlooked,
Most newbies think the East District (Dong-qu) is the Xinyi commercial district, but to longtime Taipei residents, the East District is actually the Zhongxiao Dunhua area. Old-timers even refer to it as the Dinghou area because there was a Dinghou (Wellcome) supermarket right in the middle of it. Back in the 80s, that was the hopping place and the Xinyi district was still hinterland.
No one refers to those places as “North Town” and “South Town.”
It’s more common to call them “Datong” and “Gongguan.”
I boldly predict this initiative will go the way of the Ma mayorship’s attempt to give numbers to Taipei’s major roads so non-Chinese literate people could say them (too bad nobody else did). : P
The location is slightly to the Northeast of the original Taipei city walls, as you can see from this 1895 Japanese map. They used this map when they invaded the island.
My uneducated guess is that it has nothing to do with history. Perhaps it’s an attempt to copy something found in another city. Which city has quarters named North Towan, South Town, etc.?
I think the city government is trying to give these places more character or make them more hip by coining these names. I’ve even heard the name Wenluoding (溫羅汀) which refers to the region delineated by Wenzhou, Roosevelt, and Dingzhou roads. It’s really just Gongguan.
Don’t think Taipei will want to copy from it’s lesser brethren. Thought about big cities abroad, like Singapore or sth. They often make these “inspection trips” abroad, the government people, and come with great ideas to implement.
