Hsinchu City

In 1626, after Spain occupied northern Taiwan, Spanish missionaries came southwest to where the native Taoka Taiwanese lived. This area eventually become known as Hsinchu, (sin-chu) or (shin-chu) I have heard it pronounced either way. Hsinchu has a population of around 200,000 but it is hard to tell where the actual boundaries are. If you take a bus from Taipei (about an hour) or Taoyuan International Airport (30 minutes) you will see large apartment buildings and industry the whole way. There is no break at all, it is similar to driving through suburbs in America but there are more high rise apartments.

Taiwan is currently around the second or third most populated country in the world per square mile, with approximately 23 million residents. Lying only 90 miles off the coast of China, this small island can be traveled from one end to the other by train in an hour and a half. The high speed bullet train the goes north and south uses similar technology to those in Japan, and some areas of Europe, reaching speeds of well over 100 mph.