Tai'an (Miaoli)

	Tai'an ; 泰安鄉
	; Location of Tai'an in Miaoli County
State :	Republic of China (Taiwan)
County :	Miaoli
Coordinates :	24 ° 25 ' N , 121 ° 3' E Coordinates: 24 ° 25 '22 " N , 121 ° 3' 3" E
Height :	4 - 3886 m
Area :	614.5127 km²
Residents :	5,888 (Dec 2019)
Population density :	10 inhabitants per km²
Time zone :	UTC + 8 (Chungyuan time)
Telephone code :	(+886) (0) 37
Postal code :	365
ISO 3166-2 :	TW-MIA
Community type :	Rural community ( 鄉 , Xiāng )
Structure :	8 villages ( 村 , Cūn )
Website :	www.taian.gov.tw
	Tai'an
	Tai'an

Tai'an ( Chinese 泰安鄉 , Pinyin Tài'ān Xiāng ) is a rural community ( 鄉 , Xiāng ) in Miaoli County in the Republic of China (Taiwan) .

description

Tai'an is located inland in the east of the district of Miaoli and is the largest district municipality in terms of area with around a third of the total district area. With less than 6,000 inhabitants, Tai'an is very sparsely populated and ranks last among the county councils in terms of population. The municipality is predominantly located in the western foothills of the Xueshan Mountains . The height above sea level varies between 4 meters in the valleys and over 3800 meters in the high mountains and increases from west to east. The highest mountain peaks are located on the municipal boundaries: the Xueshan ( 雪山 - "Snow Mountain", 3886 m), Daxueshan ( 大雪山 , Dà xuěshān , 3530 m) and Dabajianshan ( 大霸尖山 , Dàbà jiānshān , 3492 m). The dominant flowing water is the Da'anxi ( 大安溪 ) whose catchment area makes up about three quarters of the area of Tai'an and in whose river valley the majority of the population lives. The neighboring communities are in the northern district of Hsinchu Wufeng in the north and Jianshi in the east, in the city of Taichung in the south the district of Heping , and in the district of Miaoli Nanzhuang in the north, and (from north to south) Shitan , Dahu and Zhuolan in the west.

history

The original inhabitants of the area were Austronesian ethnic groups, the ancestors of today's indigenous peoples of Taiwan . Due to its accessibility, the region was never really under the control of Chinese authorities when Taiwan belonged to the Chinese Empire of the Qing Dynasty and was only subjected to and administratively recorded during the time of Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945). From 1920 the area of Tai'an belonged to Dahu County ( 大湖郡 ) within Shinshiku Prefecture ( 新竹州 ). After Taiwan was taken over by the Republic of China in 1945, Tai'an first came to Hsinchu County, and on October 25, 1950, it became part of the newly established Miaoli County as the rural community Da'an ( 大安鄉 , Dà'ān xiāng ). Since there was also a community of the same name in the neighboring district of Taichung , the name was changed in 1954 to the similarly sounding Tai'an .

population

At the end of 2018, 4348 members of indigenous peoples were counted, which corresponded to a share of the population of around 74%. Most of them were Atayal . The rest of the population is mostly made up of Hakka , the majority of whom live in Qing'an village.

Structure of Tai'an

Administrative division

Tai'an is divided into 8 villages ( 村 , Cūn ):

1 Bagua ( 八卦村 )
2 Jinshui ( 錦水村 )
3 Qing'an ( 清安村 )
4 Daxing ( 大興村 )
5 Zhongxing ( 中興村 )
6 Shilin ( 士林村 )
7 Xiangbi ( 象鼻村 )
8 Meiyuan ( 梅園村 )

Transport links

Due to the mountainous topography, there are no major road connections. Only in the west of the municipality there are two larger municipal roads that serve as feeder roads to Provincial Road 3, which runs past Tai'an a few kilometers away in a north-south direction to the west.

economy

Main branches of business are agriculture and tourism. Bamboo ( Phyllostachys reticulata ), plums, ginger , Japanese apricots , dragon fruits , wet rice , pineapples , citrus fruits , peaches , strawberries and various vegetables are grown .

particularities

The main attractions are nature, which is particularly popular for hiking and mountaineering, and the culture of the local Atayal. Of all municipalities, Tai'an has the largest share of the Shei-Pa National Park with 39,536 hectares , which takes up the entire eastern part of the municipality. There are traces of geothermal activity in various places. In the village of Zhongxing, natural gas leaks from the ground at various points and burns down with a small flame. Hot springs can be found in Jinshui Village.