Hsinchu

Home to the Hsinchu Science Park — headquarters of TSMC, MediaTek, and United Microelectronics Corporation — this coastal city in northwestern Taiwan is also a cultural centre with a lively café and restaurant scene. The Chenghuang Temple, built in 1747, draws regular worshippers, and two major research universities sit near the park. Founded by Han Chinese colonists in 1711, the city earned the nickname "Windy City" for the strong northeastern monsoon that sweeps in each autumn and winter.

• Population453,536
• Nearest water from center1.3 km
• Nearest mountain from center2.1 km