Taichung (Taiwan China)

Taichung is a port city in central Taiwan Island, which by population (over 2,8 million) is ranked Taiwan's second-largest - following the capital Taipei. Taichung is also the core city of the Taichung-Changhua Metro (population around 4,3 million), which is Taiwan's second-largest (after Taipei-Keelung Metro). The road distance between Taichung and Taipei (to the north/northeast) is approx 165 km (100 mi) or at ~2 hours drive.

Taiwan's other major cruise ports are Keelung (Taipei's port), Kaohsiung, and Hualien, while Magong (on Penghu Island) is the principal port of the Penghu Archipelago.

Port Taichung

Port Taichung (locode TWTXG) by annual cargo/container shipping traffic is currently ranked Taiwan's second-largest (after Kaohsiung). However, unlike Kaohsiung, Taichung Port (proper) serves only naval and cargo ships. It doesn't have facilities and doesn't provide passenger shipping services (cruise liners and ferries) as access to the port is granted only to authorized personnel. A future port development plan includes building a commercial/passenger port and a separate industrial port, to a total of 78 (cargo and passenger) docks/terminals.

The 1976-opened Taichung Port is in the city's Wuqi District and is operated/managed by the state-owned company Taiwan International Ports Corporation. The port has land area approx 38 km2 / 14,65 mi2 (3793 hectares / 9370 acres) and houses facilities (docks) dedicated to industrial businesses, container shipping and commercial fishing. The Port has a deepwater harbor with capacity to handle vessels with max DWT tonnage 60,000 tons.

Taichung Harbor is approx 110 NM (200 km / 125 mi) from Port Keelung and approx 120 NM (220 km / 140 mi) from Port Kaohsiung. Constantly increasing its cargo handling capacity and annual volumes, Taichung surpassed Keelung in 2010 to become Taiwan's second-largest. The Port has a Free Trade Zone (housing 30+ companies out of ~70 total) and is directly linked via three highways (12, 17, and 61) and a railway (TRA's Taichung Harbor Line) to the island's transport infrastructure.

In 2021, the ship Explorer Dream (operated by GHK's Dream Cruises) opened domestic (Taiwan-only) passenger shipping routes leaving roundtrip from Kaohsiung (departures on Fridays). The 3-night itinerary visited Taichung, while the 2-night itinerary visited Hualien.

Taichung Airport serves both military aircraft and commercial flights operated by the domestic airlines EVA Airways, UNI Airways and Mandarin Airlines as well as by the international airlines Tigerair Taiwan, Fly Gangwon, HK Express, and VietJet Air. Taichung is one of Taiwan's three international airports (together with Taipei-Taoyuan, Kaohsiung) providing regularly scheduled daily connections to mainland China (Meixian, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Shenzhen-Shekou, Hong Kong and Macau), Vietnam (Saigon, Hanoi), Japan (Naha/Okinawa), and Korea (Seoul-Incheon, Yangyang).

Taichung City

The settlement (as Toatun) was founded in the early-18th-century (1705, fortified in 1721, by the Chinese Qing dynasty), received town status in the late-19th-century (1887) and city status (as Taichung) in 1945. In 2010 was formed the first-level administrative unit/special municipality Taichung that includes the former Taichung County.

Taichung is part of the 17th-18th-centuries Zhuluo County (1684-1787) encompassing two-thirds of Taiwan Island's northern territory. The town started to develop after 1887, when the Japanese ceded Taiwan and established the Fujian-Taiwan Province) and granted it independence from China.

In the 19th-20th centuries, the city (named Taiwan-fu/capital of Taiwan) was developed by the Chinese to become the Province's main city and principal seaport, due to its central island location. In 1945 (following WW2/1939-45) the provincial capital became Taipei.

In the period 1895-1945, Taiwan (and the city) were occupied by the Japanese Empire (1868-1947). After losing the Sino-Japanese War (1895) Taiwan-fu was renamed Taichu by the Japanese who started to develop the city and Taiwan's infrastructure by building dams/levees, roads, railways, and an airport. In 1901 was established the Taichu Cho district (one of Taiwan's 22 administrative regions). The Japanese-built roads were completed in 1908, the railway was opened in 1917, the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (Kokan Airport) was opened in 1936. Taichu was officially declared a city in 1920.

The city's current economy is based on many large industries (engaged in production or processing) with most factories being concentrated in the Xitun District's Industrial Zone. Taichung's Central Taiwan Science Park houses numerous chip-producing factories, the largest of which is TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd/1987-founded). In 2021, TSMC produced ~14 million chips/semiconductors generating a revenue of US$57,22 billion.

Other major businesses in the city are the bicycle- and cycling component manufacturing companies Giant Manufacturing Co Ltd (1972-founded in Dajia), SRAM Corporation (1987-founded, Chicago Illinois USA-based), and TRP Brakes (2006-founded, Ogden Utah USA-based). The city's economy also benefits from well-developed tourism and retail shopping industries, with most large malls being in Xitun.