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Taoyuan is the seat of Taoyuan City in north-western Taiwan, a special municipality since 2014 that has grown from a satellite of Taipei into the country's fourth largest metropolitan area. Its central district, with about 479,000 people, is the second most populous district in Taiwan, and the country's main international airport lies nearby.
The area was first known as Hu-mao-zhuang, after the tall grass that grew here, and Han settlers from Zhangzhou arrived in 1726. They planted so many peach trees that the place became known as Tao-a-hng, the peach garden, and the name Taoyuan was fixed in a land survey of 1888. Under Japan it was a district town of Shinchiku Prefecture.
Visitors see the old Jingfu Temple and one of the best kept Shinto shrines outside Japan, then head south to the decorated shopfronts of Daxi, the Shihmen Reservoir and the mountain forests of Fuxing, where giant cypress trees grow on Lalashan. The coast has busy fishing ports, and the high-speed rail area has a large aquarium.
Taoyuan Jingfu Temple, known as the Great Temple, honours the Holy King who opened Zhangzhou and was founded in 1745 after epidemics struck the village. Rebuilt in 1811, it gained its present halls from 1923 under the master builder Chen Ying-bin, and it is still the main temple of the old centre.
Taoyuan Martyrs' Shrine was built by the Japanese in 1938 as the Touen Shinto Shrine on a hillside in Taoyuan, and after 1945 it became a shrine honouring Koxinga and Chinese war heroes. Made largely of unpainted cypress wood, it is one of the best kept Shinto shrines outside Japan.
Taoyuan 77 Art Town began as six semi-detached houses built in 1937 for the police of the Japanese era in central Taoyuan, mixing Japanese and Western styles, and four of them survive. Listed as historic buildings in 2012 and restored, they now form an arts and culture quarter with a cafe.
Taoyuan Arts Center is a seven-storey performance hall of aluminium and lattice-like glass in the arts district of Taoyuan, and it hosted the 47th Golden Horse Awards for Chinese-language film. After a renovation that began in 2020, its main hall seats 1,418 people for concerts and shows.
Daxi Old Street in Taoyuan's Daxi District grew rich as a river port on the Dahan River, trading camphor and tea, after the Lin family of Banqiao settled here in 1818. When the street was rebuilt from 1912 to 1919, craftsmen covered the shopfronts with ornate plaster decoration that still survives.
Daxi Bridge crosses the Dahan River into Daxi Old Street in Taoyuan, and it was first built in 1934 before being rebuilt as a steel suspension bridge 280 metres long. Rebuilt again in 2001 to a length of 330 metres with Baroque-style gateways, it is lit up at night for evening strolls.
Daxi Martial Arts Hall in Taoyuan's Daxi District opened in 1935 for police and young people to practise judo and kendo, under a Japanese-style hipped roof. It housed military police from 1950, was repaired in 2000, and is now part of the Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum, which opened in 2015.
Sankeng Old Street in Longtan, Taoyuan, is called the first street of Longtan, a Hakka village on a river terrace that grew as a transfer point for goods carried on the Dahan River. Trade faded once the dam and canals took the water, so the street around Yongfu Temple has kept its old look.
Shihmen Dam on the Dahan River in southern Taoyuan was completed in 1964 as Taiwan's first multi-purpose water project. Its reservoir, the third largest in Taiwan, supplies irrigation, flood control, power and drinking water across the north, and its shores are popular for walks and boat trips.
Jiaobanshan is a 639-metre mountain in Fuxing District, Taoyuan, rising above the river terraces of the Dahan, and its Atayal name Pyasan is said to mean a place for trading goods. Its hilltop park holds two former guest houses of Chiang Kai-shek and looks out over the river valley below.
Xiao Wulai Waterfall drops in three tiers through a forested gorge in Fuxing District, Taoyuan, its middle tier plunging about 50 metres into a pool. A path and viewing points lead towards its foot, and a glass skywalk that opened in 2011 lets visitors stand out high above the falls.
Lalashan rises to 2,031 metres in Fuxing District at the southern edge of Taoyuan, and since 1986 its Atayal forests have held a 75-hectare nature reserve. A 3.7-kilometre trail winds past 22 numbered giant trees, mostly red cypresses, aged from about 500 to 3,000 years old.
Yong'an Fishing Port in Xinwu, Taoyuan, opened in 1953 at the mouth of the Shezi River and took its present name in 1959. It is the only fishing port in Taiwan run mainly by Hakka people, and its harbour, seafood market and sea-view bridge now draw visitors at weekends and at sunset.
Zhuwei Fishing Port in Dayuan, Taoyuan, lies just 3 kilometres from the international airport and was completed in 1968 on the site of the old Nankan harbour. Its fish market is one of the three largest in northern Taiwan, and a red steel arch bridge spanning 180 metres marks the harbour.
Xpark opened on 7 August 2020 near Taoyuan's high-speed rail station as the first overseas branch of Yokohama's Hakkeijima Sea Paradise. This city aquarium spreads over three floors with 13 zones and more than 300 species, from sharks and rays to seals, king penguins and capybaras.
Taoyuan Hakka Culture Museum in Longtan, Taoyuan, was completed in 2005 and fully opened in August 2008, with Hakka literature and music as its main themes. It has halls on the composer Deng Yu-xian and the novelist Zhong Zhao-zheng, a performance hall, an ecological pond and gardens.
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