Local transportation 7: Street addresses

Wikimania 2007 Taipei :: a Globe in Accord
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Main Page   Airport←→City   To Venue   In the City   EasyCard   Driving   Street addresses   To other parts of Taiwan    

Street addresses

Naming example: Bei Ping is the old name of Beijing. Bei Ping W. Rd. is in the center of Taipei City.

Taipei's street address system is extremely logical and well organized. Major roads are divided into sections to prevent street numbers from growing out of control. For instance, Zhongshan North Road is divided into seven sections.

Even numbers are located on one side. Odd numbers are located on the other. Alleyways are numbered consecutively with regular street numbers: if you wanted to find Alley 55 of Zhongshan North Road Section 6, it would probably be located two buildings that are marked as street numbers 53 and 57.

East-West Roads in downtown Taipei are called East Roads if they are located east of Zhongshan North/South Road and are called West Roads if they are located west of Zhongshan North/South Road. North-South Roads in downtown Taipei are called North Roads if they are located north of Civil Boulevard and are called South Roads if they are located south of Civil Boulevard.

Many streets of downtown Taipei are named after geographical places in mainland China. If you are at Chongqing North Road and you know that Chongqing is located in western China, then you know that you are in western Taipei.

While the Taipei City Government uses the Hanyu Pinyin system to romanize Chinese words in English, many establishments either use a hybrid Wade-Giles System and Chinese Postal Map Romanization System or the ROC central government endorsed Tongyong Pinyin. Therefore, it is extremely helpful that you carry the Chinese address with you.

If you really get lost in Taipei, go to the nearest police station for help or dial one of the useful numbers in the Health, Safety, & Accessibility section. Service staff at banks, hotels, and information desks of department stores or MRT stations will do their best to find a way to communicate with you. Taipei has a high concentration of English language schools, meaning that one could possibly go into one of these schools to ask for directions in English.

See also