Hsinchu

Hsinchu (Chinese: 新竹; pinyin: Xīnzhú, IPA: [ɕin˥ʈʂu˧˥]), officially Hsinchu City, is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a special municipality, with estimated 476,273 inhabitants. Hsinchu is a coastal city bordering the Taiwan Strait to the west, Hsinchu County to the north and east, and Miaoli County to the south. Hsinchu is nicknamed the Windy City for its strong northeastern monsoon during the autumn and winter seasons. The area was originally settled by the Austronesian Taiwanese indigenous peoples, with the settlement being named Tek-kham by Hokkien and Hakka immigrants. The city was founded by Han Chinese colonists in 1711, and renamed "Hsinchu" in 1878. During Japanese rule, the city was named "Shinchiku" and was the seat of Shinchiku Prefecture. The prefecture encompassed present-day Hsinchu City and County, as well as entire Taoyuan and Miaoli. After the ROC rule in 1945, the urban area of Hsinchu was organized as a provincial city. In 1980, the Taiwanese government established the Hsinchu Science Park, an industrial centre for semiconductor manufacturing. The headquarters of TSMC, a semiconductor foundry, MediaTek and United Microelectronics Corporation, are all located in the park. Besides its industry, Hsinchu is a cultural center of Taiwan. The Chenghuang Temple of Hsinchu, built in 1747, is a common prayer destination. The research institutions of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University are both located near the science park.