Chiayi 嘉義
—  Provincial city  —
Chiayi City · 嘉義市 Jia (嘉市)
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Peach city (桃城)
Country	Taiwan
Region	Southwestern Taiwan
Capital	East Dist.(東區)
Government
- Mayor	Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠)
Area (Ranked 24 of 25)
- Total	60.0256 km2 (23.2 sq mi)
Population (April 2009)
- Total	274,212
- Density	4,568.3/km2 (11,831.7/sq mi)
	Population ranked 21 of 25
Districts	2
Bird
Flower	Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia blakeana)
Tree	Hong Kong orchid tree
Website	English Chinese

Chiayi City (sometimes romanized as Jiayi) (traditional Chinese: 嘉義市; Tongyong Pinyin: Jiayì Shìh; Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāyì Shì; Wade-Giles: Chia-i Shih; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ka-gī chhī) is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. It is surrounded by Chiayi County and is currently governed as a provincial city of Taiwan Province, Republic of China. Formerly called Kagee during the late Qing Dynasty and Kagi during the Japanese era, its historical name is Tirosen.

[edit] History

First inhabited by the Hoanya aborigines, the region was named Tirosen.

With the arrival of Han Chinese in southwestern Taiwan, the name Tirosen evolved to become Chu-lô-san (Chinese characters: 諸羅山) in the Holo (Taiwanese) language. Eventually, Chu-lô-san was shortened to simply Chu-lô. Because of the choice of the characters, it has been mistakenly suggested that the origin of the name Chu-lô-san or Chu-lô came from the expression "mountains surrounding the east." "Peach City" is another name for Chiayi City due to its peach-shaped territory in ancient times. The tip of the peach is around current Central Fountain and was called "Peach-tip" by citizens.

Chulôsan was once the foothold from which a large scale of people from mainland immigrated in. In 1621, Yen Szu-Chi, who came from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, first led his people to cultivate this land after they landed at Penkang (Peikang). In 1661 (the 15th year of Yung-Li, Ming Dynasty), Koxinga defeated the Dutch based in Taiwan. Then he established one province, Cheng-Tien-Fu (承天府), and two counties, Tien-Hsing (天興縣) and Wan-Nien (萬年縣), demarcated by the Hsin-Kang River (新港溪, the Yen-Shui River now). Chiayi was under the jurisdiction of the Tien-Hsing County.

In 1684 (the 23rd year of Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty, see Taiwan under Qing Dynasty rule), Taiwan was established as Taiwan Sub-Province governing three counties, Taiwan (台灣) and Feng-Shan, which were divided from Wan-Nien County in Ming Dynasty, and Chu-Lo (諸羅縣), which was changed from Tien-Hsing County. The county government of Chu-Lo County was in Chia-li Hsing (佳里, modern Jiali, Tainan).

In 1704 (the 43rd year of Kangxi), the county government of Chu-Lo County moved from Chia-li Hsing to Chulosan, the current Chiayi City, with city walls in wood railing. In 1727 (5th year of the Yongzheng Emperor), the county magistrate, Liu Liang-Bi rebuilt the gatehouses and set a gun platform for each gatehouse. The four gatehouses were named: "Chin Shan" (襟山) for East, "Tai Hai" (帶海) for West, "Chung Yang" (崇陽) for South, and "Kung Chen" (拱辰) for North. In 1734 (the 12th year of Yongzheng), magistrate Lu-Hung built piercing-bamboo to better protect the city.

In 1786 (the 51st year of Qianlong), Lin Shuang-Wen headed his people to siege Chulosan but failed because of the assisting defense from the inhabitants. Consequently, on November 3 of the next year, the Qing Emperor made an imperial announcement: awarded the name "Chiayi" to replace "Chulosan" for praising the citizens' loyalty.

In 1885 (the 11th year of Guangxu Emperor), Taiwan was approved to be a province. Two years later, the jurisdiction was divided as three sub-provinces, one direct county, eleven counties and three bureaus. Chaiyi belonged to Taiwan sub-province and the hall was still in Chiayi.

In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

In 1906, a major earthquake devastated the entire city wall except the Eastern Gate. The Japanese authorities reconstructed the city and made it the most modern. Industries and trades started to flourish. In 1907, the construction of forest railroad to Alishan (Mt. Ali) was begun. Chiayi became an autonomy group as Chiayi Town and later (1930) promoted as an autonomous city.

In 1945, when Japan relinquished control of Taiwan, Chiayi City was elevated to a provincial city under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China.

In 1950, because of the re-allocation of administrative areas in which Taiwan was divided into 16 counties, 5 provincial cities, and a special bureau, Chiayi City was downgraded to a county-government status. As a result, a shortage of capital largely hindered its development.

On July 1, 1982, it was elevated again to a provincial city as a result of pressure from local elites.

[edit] Climate

[edit] Administration

Chiayi has 2 districts (區 qu):	District		Population	Land area
			as of 2009	km²
	■ East-qu	東區	128,282	29.1195
	■ West-qu	西區	145,786	30.9061

[edit] City Attractions

• Chiayi Park
• Sun Shooting Tower (射日塔) (in Chiayi Park)
• Lantan (蘭潭水庫) (also known as Dutch Lake or Holland Lake)
• Historic Archives Building of Chiayi City(史蹟博物館)
• University of Chiayi
• Chiayi Museum
• Wenhua Road (文化路) Night Market
• Carrefour Night Market
• The High Speed Railway

quote from Tourism Bureau, MOTC, R.O.C.

• Chiayi International Band Festival

Chiayi is the city of wind music in Taiwan. The wind music festival started as a local event in 1988, when it was more like a joint performance by local wind music bands. Over the years the festival has become the most anticipated annual event in Chiayi.^[2]

[edit] Sister cities

• Hsinchu City, Republic of China (2002)
• Syracuse, New York, United States (1995)
• Juneau, Alaska, United States
• Murray, Utah, United States

[edit] See also

• List of mayors of Chiayi
• Momofuku Ando

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "Statistics > Monthly Mean". Central Weather Bureau. http://www.cwb.gov.tw/eng/index.htm. 
2. ^ "The sound of wind music: 2008 Chiayi City International Band Festival"by Eva Tang, 17 January 2009,Taiwan Culture Portal. http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1080&Itemid=157

[edit] External links

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Learning resources from Wikiversity

• Chiayi travel guide from Wikitravel
• Chiayi City Government Website (Chinese)(English)
• Chiayi City Police Burea
• Chiayi City/County Tourism Website

Coordinates: 23°20′00″N 120°27′00″E / 23.3334°N 120.45°E / 23.3334; 120.45