at risk of sounding stupid…
could anyone explain to me the address/road system in taiwan (taipei is where im based)? ive had problems both finding place on maps and getting parcels delivered…
so, in the UK,you have house number, road, then town, city, county, postcode.
here you seems to have roads, sections, lanes, alleys, house numbers and specific floors…
so yeah, may be totally obvious, but just wondering if comeone could clarify the heirarchy or somthing…
Thanks!
When written in Chinese, it’s written back-to-front (compared to the English format). Get hold of a courier shipping form from 7-11 to see how it’s done. Postcode (zip code) first, then County (新台北) or major City, area (XX區) or town/village, (major) road name and optional alley/lane; finally your house number and floor.
If you’re writing it in English, it’s written in the “normal” way (house number first, city/county last). However, I suggest you go to the postoffice with a copy of your address in Chinese and ask them the “correct” way to write it in English, which will depend to a certain extent on which flavour of Romanisation is in fashion this week.
thanks a lot :-)… whats the deal with “sections” btw (as in xinlong rd, section 2, for example…)
because some of the roads are very long they are divided in sections. this way it’s easier to know whereabouts on that very long road a house actually is.
I guess that’s another way to do it. I’m guessing addresses aren’t necessarily in numerical order down the street in Taiwan?
In the USA they are, so I know which direction I go to get to an address. They typically increase in number the further away you get from the center line of the city.
Good to know so I don’t rely on that, as I’m flying out of the USA in a couple weeks. My assumption might have gotten me lost finding my Apt.
… house number and number of the building at that community and number of unit at that specific floor … if it applies to your community … at mine it does, we have 8 buildings
it would be something like 100-8, 13F-2 …
And now that we are at it … I always thought that the zip numbers in Taiwan had 3 digits … wrong they have 5 …
Anyways, writing your address like this also works …
[quote]Recipient Name
No.xx, Yong An Jie
Sanxia Dist., New Taipei City 23742
Taiwan/ROC [/quote]
Misunderstandings coem from the fact that a road or street has a lane, that lane has the number of the house it’s situated at, than in that lane the house or building has number and probably a floor number … additionally you can have an alley which number it gets from the house it’s situated at, in the alley the specific building has a number in which the apartment is on specific floor or not if it’s a house … always mention Rd or street, * lane, * alley, * house number - (* building or unit) , * floor - * unit …
Belgian Pie, I think you just upped the confusion factor.
The system is actually quite orderly.
There are a heirarchy of streets. The important ones get names (ie. Zhongshan Rd.). Many of these get divided into sections to make them more manageable, and section numbers generally go up away from the center of town. So if you’re told someplace is on Zhongshan North Rd. section 1, you know it’s just a little north of the center of town. If it’s Zhongshan N Rd. section 5, you know it’s way the hell out there.
Within each section, the address numbers do go in order, going up away from the start of the section.
The lanes and alleys are streets that aren’t worthy of names. Lanes are streets that branch off a named street. They are given a number that corresponds to the address where they intersect the named street. So Lane 58 Zhongshan N. Rd. sec. 1 hits Zhongshan N. Rd. at the address 58 Zhongshan N. Rd. sec. 1. Therefore, as you go up the named street, the lane numbers also go in order. Alleys are streets that branch off of lanes, and the same numbering scheme applies. So to find, for example No. 3 Alley 7 Lane 58 Zhongshan N. Rd. section 1, you just have to find Zhongshan N. Rd. section 1, then find number 58, go down the adjacent lane to number 7, turn down the adjacent alley, and go to number 3.
It makes addresses unwieldy, but directions much easier.
In Taiwan, when writing the address in Chinese, you go from the biggest to smallest. But when writing the address in English, you go from smallest to biggest, and I believe you have to have all the commas in the written address separating each part. Don’t know why, I was told I had to.
1)To Addressee
2) Floor is always written as “F”
3) # or No.
4) Alley
5) Lane
6) Section
7) Street name
8) District (you may not need to, but I always do just in case)
9) City or County
10) Postal code all five digits
11) Taiwan ROC (I don’t think people use ROC anymore but it’s a habit of mine)
I separate them like the following example:
To: Mr Dwayne Johnson
12 F, #88, Alley 10, Lane 78, Section 4, Xinyi Road
Xinyi District, Taipei City 10204
Taiwan ROC
In Chinese, everything is the opposite, so it goes from 11) to 1).
Good breakdown, except 6) and 7) should be one item: Street name and its section if applicable. So instead of “Section 4, Xinyi Road”, it should be Xinyi Road Section 4, with no comma separating the two.