T’aipei or Taipei, also Taibei, temporary capital of the government on Taiwan and the island's largest city, located on the western bank of the Tanshui River at the northern end of Taiwan Island. T’aipei, which means "northern terrace" in Chinese, is the political, economic, cultural, and transportation center of Taiwan. The city owes its prominence and growth to its designation as an administrative capital in 1894, a role that was enlarged in 1949 when the Kuomintang lost the Chinese civil war against the Communists and retreated to Taiwan.
T’aipei has a humid subtropical climate, with warm summers and
mild winters. Rainy precipitation occurs year round, though rainfall is greatest
from October to March when the northeast monsoon prevails. Typhoons, sometimes
quite destructive, are common from June to October.
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in T’aipei, Taiwan, is made of white marble and topped with an enormous blue-tiled roof. The memorial is surrounded by an extensive garden frequented by joggers and people practicing Chinese shadow boxing, or t’ai chi ch’uan.
