Pingtung County

Pingtung County 屏東縣 Abbreviation(s): Pingtung (屏東)
County
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Pingtung County within the island of Taiwan
Coordinates: 22°40′31.78″N 120°29′29.09″E / 22.6754944°N 120.4914139°E / 22.6754944; 120.4914139Coordinates: 22°40′31.78″N 120°29′29.09″E / 22.6754944°N 120.4914139°E / 22.6754944; 120.4914139
Country	Taiwan
Region	Southern Taiwan
Seat	Pingtung City
Largest city	Pingtung City
Boroughs	1 cities, 32 (3 urban, 29 rural) townships
Government
• County Magistrate	Tsao Chi-hung
Area
• Total	2,775.6003 km2 (1,071.6653 sq mi)
Area rank	5 of 22
Population (June 2007)
• Total	890,753
• Rank	10 of 22
• Density	320/km2 (830/sq mi)
Website	www.pthg.gov.tw (English)
Symbols
Flower	Hairy Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea brasiliensis)
Tree	Coconut tree

Pingtung Train Station

Typical railroad scenery of Pingtung

Pingtung Baseball Field

National Pingtung Institute of Commerce

Chuanfan Rock of Kenting National Park

Hengchun Old Town Gate

Catholic Church of Wanchin

Old House of the Hsiao Family

Pingtung County (Chinese: 屏東縣; pinyin: Píngdōng Xiàn) is a county in Southern Taiwan. It consists of the oldest and the largest national park in Taiwan, Kenting National Park, established in Pingtung County in 1984. Pingtung City is the capital of Pingtung County.

History

Modern-day Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City were part of Wan-nien Province (萬年州) during the Kingdom of Tungning and Fengshan Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty. Pingtung County is a recently developed county. Its largest city is Pingtung City. The name Pingtung refers to a former nearby mountain known as Half-Screen Mountain (半屏山). Pingtung means "East of Half-Screen Mountain."

Until the seventeenth century this area of Taiwan was a place of exile for Chinese criminals and occasional landing point for international mariners. Only the settlements near present-day Checheng Township existed. In 1664 Chinese, Cantonese and Hakka settlers arrived from China and farmed under a homesteading system introduced by Zheng Jing.

Pingtung City, the biggest city in Pingtung County, also known as "A-Kau" (阿猴 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: A-kâu), was the home of Pingpu Aboriginals. In their language, "A-kau" means "the forest".

The first settlements by Han people were not established until 1684 (the 23rd year of Kangxi) with the creation of villages near Pingtung by people from China's southern Fujian region. By 1734 most of the Pingtung plain was cultivated and in 1764 Pingtung was expanded. In 1836 the government and locals worked together to build the four walls of the city (the North gate, the East gate, the West gate and the South gate), and the roads were also properly finished. (Translated from the website of Cultural Affairs Bureau of Pingtung County)

Under Japanese rule (1895–1945) the Pingtung area became a favourite spot for relaxation.

Pingtung was the site of an 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 26 December 2006. In 2009, Pingtung received rainfall in excess of 2,500 millimetres (98 in); breaking all rainfall records of any single place in Taiwan induced by a single typhoon.

Geography

With a land area of over 2775km², Pingtung is the 5th largest county in Taiwan, the 2nd largest of Southern Taiwan after Kaohsiung City. Geographically it borders Kaohsiung City to the north, Taitung County to the east, the Taiwan Strait to the west and the Bashi Channel to the south. Due to being located at the southern most part of Taiwan, Pingtung County has one of the warmest climate on average within the country. The whole county experiences a tropical wet and dry climate, with the exception of the Hengchun Peninsula where it has a tropical savanna climate. Due to being such a large county, climate differs in different areas of the county. Northern Pingtung, such as the Pingtung City, is characterized by having a high daily maximum temperature year round, averaging from 29-33 during the warmer season of april-november to 24-28 during the cooler season of december-march while having the lowest night time temperatures within the county during winter with temperatures usually dropping below 15 degrees at night in January due to being located more further away from the sea than any other flatlands within the county. Central Pingtung, such as the Fangliao Township, compared to northern Pingtung, has a relatively lower daily maximum temperature during mid-day but has warmer nights due to the temperating affect of the ocean especially noticeable during winter. The southern tip of Pingtung, the Hengchun Peninsula has the mildest climate within the county due to being nearly completely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean with the exception of the mountains on the north. Daily highs during the warmer season reaches around 28-31 while daily highs during the cooler season varies around 22-25 degrees C but on the other hand night time temperatures maintains pretty warm throughout the year from around 25 degrees during summer to around 20 degrees during the winter.

Administration

Pingtung County is divided into 1 city, 3 urban townships and 29 rural townships. Pingtung County has the most number of rural townships among other counties in Taiwan.

Higher education

• National Pingtung University of Education
• National Pingtung University of Science and Technology
• National Pingtung Institute of Commerce
• Tajen University
• Yung Ta Institute of Technology and Commerce
• Meiho Institute of Technology
• Kao Fong College

Tourist attractions

• Fangliao F3 Art Venue

Located just a few minutes'walk from Fangliao train station, the art village stretches around 3,000 square meters which provides artists in residence plenty of room to work and live. Converted from old dormitories that once belonged to the Taiwan Railway Administration, the art village has been part of the Art Network of Railway Warehouses run by the Council for Cultural Affairs since 2002.^[2]

See also

• County (Taiwan)
• List of magistrates of Pingtung County
• Hengchun Township
• Southern Taiwan
• Pingtung City

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pingtung.

• Pingtung County Government (English)

v t e Administrative divisions of the Republic of China Provinces (2) Taiwan Fujian Special municipalities (5) Kaohsiung New Taipei Taichung Tainan Taipei Provincial cities (3) Chiayi Hsinchu Keelung Counties (14) Changhua Chiayi Hsinchu Hualien Kinmen Lienchiang Miaoli Nantou Penghu Pingtung Taitung Taoyuan Yilan Yunlin See also Free area of the Republic of China, List of administrative divisions of Taiwan

v t e Cities and townships of Pingtung County County seat: Pingtung City Cities Pingtung City Urban townships Chaojhou Donggang Hengchun Rural townships Changjhih Checheng Chunrih Fangliao Fangshan Gaushu Jhutian Jiadong Jiouru Kanding Laiyi Ligang Linbian Linluo Liouciou Majia Manjhou Mudan Nanjhou Neipu Sandimen Shihzih Taiwu Wandan Wanluan Wutai Sinpi Sinyuan Yanpu Note: Although Hanyu Pinyin is the national standard, Tongyong Pinyin is still commonly used in Pingtung.