Taipei

T'ai-pei, (台北, pinyin Taibei, old Japanese Taihoku population 2,600,543 in 2000), is the provisional capital of the Republic of China on Taiwan. It also was the capital of Taiwan province until the 1960s when that was moved to Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un[?]. Administratively, "Taipei" can refer to Taipei City, which is a special municipality directly under the central government, or Taipei County, which is nominally inside Taiwan province.

Major industries include electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, metals, ship-building, and motorcycles. Founded in the 18th century, Taipei began development only after 1885, when it replaced Tainan[?] as the capital of the Chinese province of Taiwan. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule including the Presidental Palace which was the former mansion of the Japanese governor and which faces Tokyo.

In 1949, the Communists forced the government of Chiang Kai-shek to flee from the mainland of China and establish Taipei as the seat of the ROC.

The current mayor of Taipei is the Kuomintang's Ma Ying-jeou. The current President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian is a former mayor of Taipei.

Taipei's public transport system uses both a light rail system based on VAL technology and a heavy rail conventional underground.

Taipei 101, a new financial center being constructed in Taipei.

See also: Political divisions of Taiwan

External links

• Taipei City Government official site (http://www.taipei.gov.tw/)