Wulai District

Wulai District (Chinese: 烏來區; pinyin: Wūlái Qū; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: U-lai-khu) is a mountain indigenous district in southern New Taipei City in northern Republic of China (Taiwan). It sits near the border with Taipei and is famous for its hot springs. It is the largest district in New Taipei, as well as the most mountainous, and was formerly classified as "Savage Land" under Taihoku Prefecture during Japanese rule.

Name

The name of the town derives from the Atayal phrase kilux ulay meaning "hot and poisonous" when an Atayal aborigine was hunting by a stream and saw mist coming from the stream.

History

In August 2015, Wulai was devastated by Typhoon Soudelor, wiping out several hotels and destroying hot springs in the region. Course of the Nanshi River that passes through the district has changed and the riverbank was eroded heavily by surging water. Heavy landslides were attributed to the overdevelopment of the mountain areas around the river which damaged the soil and watershed along the slope lands.

Taipei

Taipei (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/, literally means "North of Tai(wan)"), officially known as Taipei City (Chinese: 臺北市 or 台北市; pinyin: Táiběi Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Chhī), is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan. Sitting at the northern tip of Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City. It is about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city Keelung. The city is mostly located on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border.

The city proper is home to an estimated population of 2,693,672 in 2009, forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 6,900,273, the 40th most-populous urban area in the world. The name "Taipei" can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper.

Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan, and one of the major hubs of the Chinese-speaking world. Considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area.Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan. Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks which include Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Mengjia Longshan Temple, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House, Ximending, and several night markets dispersing over the city. Its natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan, and hot springs are also well known to international visitors.

New Taipei City

New Taipei City (Chinese: 新北市; pinyin: Xīnběi Shì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-pak-chhī) is a special municipality and the most populous city in Taiwan. Located in northern Taiwan, the city includes a substantial stretch of the island's northern coastline and surrounds the Taipei Basin, making it the second largest special municipality by area, behind Kaohsiung. New Taipei City is bordered by Keelung to the northeast, Yilan County to the southeast, and Taoyuan to the southwest. It completely surrounds Taipei. Banqiao District is its municipal seat and biggest commercial area.

Name

New Taipei City was originally a county known as Taipei County before 2010, which surrounds Taipei. After the county's population overtook that of Taipei, it was decided that the county should be upgraded to city status. However, it could not simply rename itself as "Taipei City", because Taipei City already existed.

The name Taipei means "Northern Tai[wan]" and -as a result- the new city was given the name of Xinbei City, (Chinese: 新北市; literally: "new north city"). County authorities at first rendered the name of the proposed municipality in English as "Xinbei", the pinyin romanization of New North, but both candidates for the city's first mayoral election opposed the name. Consequently, citing public opinion, the inaugural mayor, Eric Chu, requested and received approval from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to render the name in English as New Taipei City. This rendering became official on 31 December 2010.

Wulai Waterfall

Coordinates: 24°50′51″N 121°33′8.35″E / 24.84750°N 121.5523194°E / 24.84750; 121.5523194

The Wulai Waterfall (Chinese: 烏來瀑布; pinyin: Wūlái Pùbù) is a waterfall in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. The height of the waterfall is around 80 meters.

Facilities

The waterfall features an observatory deck.

Transportation

The base of the waterfall is accessible by Wulai Scenic Train.

See also

References

Hot Springs

Hot Springs may refer to:

Places

United States

Other places