Excerpts from Wikipedia.org
Taichung (台中市 ) is a city located in west-central Taiwan with a population of just over one million people, making it the third largest city on the island, after Taipei and Kaohsiung. It is officially administrated as a provincial city of Taiwan. The city's name is Chinese for "Central Taiwan."
The Central Mountain Range lies just to the east of the city. Lower, rolling hills run to the north leading to Miaoli County. Flat coastal plains dominate the landscape to the south leading to Changhua County and the Taiwan Strait to the west.
Climate
The average temperature of Taichung city is about 23 °C (73 °F), with an average annual rainfall of 1,708 millimeters (67.25 in). The city sees an average humidity of 80%. Taichung has a milder climate than other major cities in Taiwan. Due to the protection provided by the Central Mountain range to the east and the Miaoli hills to the north, Taichung is rarely severely affected by typhoons. However, occasional typhoons emerging from the South China Sea will pose a threat to the city as evidenced by Typhoon Wayne in 1986 which struck Taiwan from the west coast near Taichung
Early History
Taiwanese aborigines populated the plains that make up modern Taichung City. They lived by cultivating millet and taro and were hunter gathers.
Taichung was founded in 1705 as a part of Changhua County with the name of Dadun (大墩). At this point in history, the Qing Dynasty, formed by invading Manchus in the 1640s, was consolidating its hold on western Taiwan, which it had wrested from the Koxinga family in 1682. As a part of strengthening its control, a garrison was founded in 1721 near the site of present-day Taichung Park by Lan Ting-chen.
All was not peaceful for Qing authorities in central Taiwan. North of the city, at the Dajia River (大甲溪), an aboriginal revolt broke out in 1731 after Chinese officials moved in and compelled them to provide labor. After being joined by other aboriginals, they drove as far south as the county seat of Changhua in May, 1732 before being chased into the mountains by Qing forces.
Another rebellion, this one in 1786, against Qing authorities had its roots in the nearby town of Dali (大里市), just south of Taichung City. Led by Lin Shuang-wen, it began as an attempt to overthrow the Manchu government and restore the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, as they moved northward, they turned to slaughter and looting. They were eventually defeated by a coalition of Hakka, Quanzhou Fujianese descendants, and Aboriginal volunteers who joined with the government to defeat the rebels
Qing Dynasty Rule Era
Taiwan became a province of Qing-dynasty China in 1885, and the city, named Taiwan at the time, was named capital of Taiwan Prefecture, one of three prefectures in the newly created Taiwan Province. It was also initially designated as the provincial capital, and Qing official Liu Ming-chuan received the authority from the Guangxu Emperor to oversee development of the area. However, four years later, Liu was forced to “retire” by Empress Dowager Cixi, and the provincial capital was moved to what is now known as Taipei.
Japanese Colonial Era
China lost the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. As a consequence, the Qing Dynasty was forced to surrender Taiwan to the Japanese in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The Japanese changed the name of the city from Dadun to Taichū (台中), and began to develop the city, setting themselves out to make it the first “modern” area of Taiwan.
However, Taichung bore the brunt of early Japanese repression. There were many rebels who stated that they had accepted amnesty from the earlier period of rebellion when the Republic of Taiwan was declared in 1895. However, many of those same people continued anti-Japanese activities. On May 25, 1902, some 360 rebels and their families accepted invitations to surrender and receive amnesty and rewards. Instead of receiving amnesty, once inside, the Japanese locked the doors and slaughtered the former rebels.
Taichung Park was completed in 1903. The old north gate, one of the few Liu-era structures to survive the Japanese reconstruction of the city was move to the new park. To this day, Taichung Park is one of the most popular places in the city for people to relax.
The first market in Taichung was built in 1908 along JiGuang Road between ZhongZheng and ChengGong Roads. It is still used today, and is a popular spot to purchase food and other items in downtown Taichung. Taichung Middle School (now known as Taichung First High School) was founded in 1913 by Lin Hsien-tang and his brother Lin Lie-tang, two wealthy Taiwanese intellectuals of the era. This was done in an effort to teach children the Culture of Taiwan and to foster a spirit of Taiwanese localization movement.
Taichung Train Station was completed and began operation in 1917, and still operates today. Taichung was officially designated as a city by Japanese Imperial authorities in 1920, and Taichū City Hall was completed in 1924 after eleven years of construction.
A Taiwanese cultural association founded in 1921 in Taipei by Lin Hsien-tang was moved to Taichū in 1927. Most of the members of this association were from Taichū and the surrounding area. The city became a center of Taiwanese culture and nationalism.
The newfound prosperity of Taichung was eventually squandered by the war effort. When World War II ended in 1945, Taiwan’s economy, like Japan’s, was in shambles.
Chinese Nationalist-Rule Era (1945-1996)
The Japanese were forced to surrender to Republic of China forces on behalf of Allied forces on 1945-10-25, who came across the Strait on U.S. ships and accepted their surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers.
The early post-war era was one of transition and turmoil for Taiwan. Taiwanese nationalists had divided into three prominent groups, one of which was known as the Taichung Clique. These were men with relatively high social standing during the Japanese era, such as Lin Hsien-t’ang (林獻堂), Yang Chao-chia, Yeh Jung-chung, and others. These men attempted to take what they believed to be their rightful place as the political leaders of the island. However, the administrator of the island, Chen Yi, opposed this faction as it contained many people, especially merchants and landlords, who had opposed his policies.
The Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party, relocated the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan upon losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists.