T’ao-yüan

T’ao-yüan, Pinyin Taoyuan, former county (hsien, or xian), northern Taiwan. In 2014 it was combined administratively with the municipality of T’ao-yüan (the former county seat) to form a special municipality with the status of a county.

The special municipality is bordered by the special municipality of New Taipei City to the north, by the counties of I-lan (Yilan) to the east and Hsin-chu (Xinzhu) to the south, and by the Taiwan Strait to the west. Ranges of the Hsüeh-shan (Xueshan) Mountains extend over most of the southeastern part of the region and gradually merge with the fertile alluvial coastal plains to the northwest, where paddy rice, sweet potatoes, tea, and citrus fruits are grown. The Shih-men (Shimen) Reservoir, on the Tan-shui (Danshui, or Tamsui) River, provides irrigation and hydroelectric power to nearby textile, cement, and small machinery industries. The T’ai-pei (Taibei) oil and gas fields are in the northeast. Coal, iron ore, and nickel are mined.

A network of north-south-running railways and roads connect T’ao-yüan city district, the administrative seat, with Hsin-chu (southwest), I-lan (southeast), and Chi-lung (Jilong, or Keelung; northeast). Taiwan’s principal international airport (opened 1979) is located at T’ao-yüan city district. Hsin-wu (Xinwu), a coastal village noted for historical architecture, and the Chung-cheng (Zhongzheng) Sports Park, at Kuei-shan (Kuishan), are the major tourist attractions. The mountainous region in the south is inhabited chiefly by Atayal aboriginal peoples.