Taichung City, Taiwan: An Introduction by Edward Hsu, Joyce Hu, and Sam Lin

Practical English Writing: An EFL Composition Course

Assignment #11: Independent Writing Projects

Taichung City, Taiwan
by Edward Hsu, Joyce Hu, and Sam Lin

O R I G I N A L

Taichung City is located in a large basin in central Taiwan. It faces Daya, Wuje, and Tantse townships. The rivers in and around Taichung not only make it more beautiful, they also moderate it's climate as well. Taichung has one of the best climates in Taiwan, with an average temperature of 22.4⁰C. In 1947, Taichung became a city under Taiwan's Provincial Government. But basically, from the Ching Dynasty, the emperor has ordered some officials to come here to cultivate rice and crops. During the era of Japanese occupation, Taichung was only a town with a few populations because of the infertility of the soil. Until after 1947, it made great progress in economy and people's lives. It is 163 square kilometers in area and has a population of about 920,000. Therefore, Taichung stands as central Taiwan's most important city, and the third largest in Taiwan.
Taichung is proud of its educational and cultural heritages. It is named the "Cultural City." Besides a fine Municipal Cultural Center and Provincial Library, it has cultural organizations such as the Provincial Art Museum, National Museum of Natural Science, Guinness Museum of World Records. A Municipal Educational Marine Museum and a Plant Garden are under construction. There are about ten universities and colleges in Taichung.
Major problems in Taichung are the worsening of social law and order at night, especially on some wide and broad roads, some youngsters would gather to ride motorcycles at the speed of 100 km/hr. This terrible situation not only destroys the city's originally beautiful image, but also disturbs people's lives.
As for industries in Taichung, it's not developed by heavy industry, but commercial and banking industries. Therefore, here in Taichung, the air and water pollution can't be seen forever.
According to a March 1999 survey of the "Yuen-Gien" magazine, Taichung got second prize among the cities in Taiwan in which people feel inspired to move to. Taichung citizens tend to be more satisfied with their lives than people in Taipei or Kaohsiung. Above all, the average cost of living in Taichung only takes 26% of people's income, and the average downtown housing cost is 100,000 dollars.
In order to become an international city in the near future, the Executive Yuan and Taichung City Government have completed the blueprint of major construction plans, such as the development of an International Airport, the enlargement of Taichung Harbor, the National Music Hall, the New Municipal Political Center, MRT, High Speed Railway, etc. In this way, Taichung will be a sparkling tomorrow-star in Taiwan and a well-known metropolis in the world.

References:

Taiwan's Provincial Government Page. www.tpg.gov.tw.
Taichung City Government. www.tccg.gov.tw.

Q U E S T I O N S T O E X P L O R E

1. What information do you want to emphasize most in this essay? Does anything seem redundant?

2. Is the crime rate in Taichung much different from other Taiwanese cities?

3. Does anything in this essay seem like hype or exaggeration?

3. The web site "www.tpg.gov.tw" is a general search page - not an exact reference. Please mention the exact information source.

4. Are there any English mistakes in this essay worth correcting?

R E V I S I O N

Taichung is located in a large basin in central Taiwan. It faces Daya, Wuje, and Tantse townships. The rivers in and around Taichung not only make the city more beautiful, they also moderate its climate. Taichung has one of the best climates in Taiwan, with an average yearly temperature of 22.4⁰ C. Since the Ching Dynasty, the emperor has ordered some officials to go there to cultivate rice and crops. During the era of Japanese occupation, Taichung was only a small town with infertile soil. In 1947, Taichung was organized as a city under Taiwan's Provincial Government and it has made great economic since then. It is 163 square kilometers in area and has a population of about 920,000. Therefore, Taichung stands as central Taiwan's most important city, and the third largest in the country.
Taichung is proud of its educational and cultural heritage. It is named the "Cultural City." Besides a fine Municipal Cultural Center and Provincial Library, it has some cultural organizations such as the Provincial Art Museum, National Museum of Natural Science, Guinness Museum of World Records. A Municipal Educational Marine Museum and Botanical Garden are under construction. There are about ten universities and colleges in Taichung.
Major problems in Taichung include the worsening of social law and order at nigh. On some wide roads at night youngsters would gather to ride their motorcycles at speeds exceeding 100 kph. This terrible situation not only destroys the city's image, but also disturbs people's lives.
Taichung does not have many heavy industries and is a commercial and banking center. Therefore, Taichung has relatively little air and water pollution.
According to a March 1999 survey published in the "Yuen-Gien" magazine, Taichung got second prize among the cities in Taiwan in which people feel inspired to move to. Its citizens tend to be more satisfied with their lives than people in Taipei or Kaohsiung. The average cost of living in Taichung represents just 26% of people's income. The average downtown house cost in Taichung is NT $100,000.
To internationize Taichung, plans are underway to expand its airport, harbor, music hall, city hall, and its high speed railway. It has a bright future as a growing metropolis.

References:

Taichung City Government. Welcome to Taichung City (online) http://www.tccg.gov.tw/eng/ [6 March 2002].