The loyal old "Peach City" and gateway to Alishan — the true home of turkey rice, a forestry-and-baseball town with a great painter's name.
忠義的老「桃城」與阿里山的門戶——火雞肉飯真正的故鄉,一座有偉大畫家之名的林業與棒球之城。
Chiayi City began as Tirosen (諸羅山), the name of a Hoanya Indigenous community, which Chinese settlers shortened to Tsulo (諸羅). The walled town that grew downtown earned an affectionate nickname — "Peach City" (桃城) — because the old city wall was shaped like a peach.
嘉義市起源於洪雅族原住民聚落「諸羅山」(Tirosen),漢人簡稱為「諸羅」。市區內所築的古城因形狀像一顆桃子,而獲得親切的別名——「桃城」。
The city's modern name was a reward for loyalty. During the Lin Shuangwen rebellion of 1786–1788, the largest anti-Qing uprising of the era, the walled town withstood a long, grueling siege. To honor the townspeople's steadfastness, the Qianlong Emperor in 1787 renamed the city 嘉義 ("Chiayi"), meaning "commendable righteousness" — a name it has carried for over two centuries.
嘉義今名是對忠義的褒獎。1786 至 1788 年的林爽文事件是當時規模最大的反清民變,諸羅城在叛軍長期圍攻下仍堅守不破。為表彰城民的忠貞,乾隆皇帝於 1787 年將諸羅改名「嘉義」,取「嘉獎其義」之意,此名沿用至今已逾兩百年。
Under Japanese rule, Chiayi was transformed into a forestry boomtown. When the Japanese discovered the vast cypress (hinoki) forests of Alishan, they built the Alishan Forest Railway — which begins in Chiayi City — and made the city the railhead and processing center for the mountain timber. The city grew wealthy on cypress; its Japanese-era forestry dormitories survive as Hinoki Village (檜意森活村). Chiayi sits almost exactly on the Tropic of Cancer, and is a legendary baseball city: the 1931 Kagi Agriculture & Forestry School team (嘉農, "KANO") electrified Japan by reaching the final of the national Koshien tournament.
日治時期,嘉義躍升為林業重鎮。日人發現阿里山廣大的檜木林後,興建了起點就在嘉義市的阿里山森林鐵路,使嘉義成為山林木材的集散與加工中心。城市因檜木而興盛,日治時期的林業宿舍今日保存為檜意森活村。嘉義幾乎正好位於北回歸線上,也是傳奇的棒球之城:1931 年嘉義農林學校棒球隊(嘉農,「KANO」)打進日本甲子園全國大賽決賽,震撼日本。
The city's grand old park sits on the former grounds of the Japanese-era Chiayi Shrine. On the shrine's site rises the 62-metre Sun-Shooting Tower, its split form evoking a giant Alishan cypress log and its theme drawn from the Indigenous myth of heroes shooting down an extra sun.
A restored cluster of Japanese-era forestry dormitories — about 29 wooden buildings across some 3.4 hectares — now Taiwan's largest Japanese-style architectural complex and its first forestry-themed cultural-creative park, a lovely place to feel the city's cypress-era past.
Beimen Station is the historic in-city starting point of the Alishan Forest Railway, a charming wooden depot full of nostalgia. The nearby Garage Park displays vintage locomotives, including the steam engines that once hauled cypress down the mountain.
Founded in 1715 by the county magistrate Zhou Zhongxuan, this is one of old Tsulo's great historic temples and a national monument, renowned for exquisite craftsmanship including koji (Cochin) pottery by master artisans.
Built 1919–1922, this is Taiwan's only fully preserved Japanese-era prison and a national monument, now the country's only Prison Museum. Its rare Pennsylvania-style radial layout is one of only two such surviving examples in the world. Free admission, with guided tours.
The city's art museum occupies the elegant former Monopoly Bureau building, a 1936 modernist design — a fitting home for the legacy of Chen Cheng-po, the pioneering Chiayi-born painter, and a hub of the city's strong art identity.
Chiayi is a baseball town, and its ballpark celebrates it. A golden statue at a central traffic circle — modeled on KANO ace pitcher Wu Mingjie — became a city symbol after the 2014 film, and the KANO Park features a giant aluminum "baseball" sculpture.
Greater Chiayi is the heartland of koji (Cochin) pottery (交趾陶), a vivid low-fired ceramic art used to decorate temple roofs and walls. The city's museum showcases this distinctive local craft.
The city's most famous night market, where Wenhua Road becomes a pedestrian zone each evening — the place to graze on Chiayi turkey rice, cold noodles and countless local snacks.
Chiayi sits right on the Tropic of Cancer, the line that divides the tropics from the subtropics. The famous marker monument and Solar Astronomical Park lie just south of the city in the county — but the line is woven deep into the city's identity.
Chiayi's culture grew from the cypress mountain, the baseball diamond and the easel — a small city with an outsized cultural story.
Chiayi grew wealthy as the gateway and processing hub for Alishan's cypress; the forest railway starts here, and the legacy lives on at Hinoki Village and Beimen Station. It is also a baseball city to its core: the 1931 KANO team — a mixed squad of Han, Indigenous and Japanese players coached by Kondo Hyotaro — reached the Koshien final with a "never give up on any ball" spirit, a story revived by the 2014 film KANO.
Chiayi City is the home of Chen Cheng-po (陳澄波), Taiwan's pioneering Western-style painter and the first Taiwanese to have an oil painting selected for Japan's Imperial Art Exhibition (1926). The city is also part of the greater-Chiayi heartland of koji (Cochin) pottery, the colorful glazed ceramic art that adorns temples across the south.
Born in Chiayi City, Chen was Taiwan's pioneering Western-style painter and the first Taiwanese to have a Western-style work selected for Japan's Imperial Art Exhibition (1926, Outside Chiayi Street). During the 228 Incident he served as a negotiator for the townspeople, and on 25 March 1947 he was publicly executed in front of Chiayi Railway Station — remembered both as a great artist and as a symbol of the tragedy of 228.
The Kagi Agriculture & Forestry School team, coached by the Japanese mentor Kondo Hyotaro, reached the final of Japan's national Koshien tournament in 1931 with a mixed Han-Indigenous-Japanese squad — a story that helped make baseball Taiwan's national sport and that Chiayi City still wears with pride.
Chiayi's signature festival, held every December since 1993, earning the city the title "Capital of Band Music" (管樂之都). Around a hundred ensembles take part, with indoor and outdoor wind-band concerts, a street parade and marching-band displays — Taiwan's largest classical-music festival.
As a baseball city, Chiayi celebrates its KANO heritage through games and gatherings around the historic ballpark and KANO Park, where the golden pitcher statue stands.
The historic City God Temple anchors traditional folk-religion celebrations, including the City God's birthday and deity processions through the old "Peach City" streets.
Cultural events at Hinoki Village and the forest-railway sites celebrate the city's cypress past, while the Tropic of Cancer that crosses Chiayi is marked in local astronomy and seasonal activities.
Chiayi City is where turkey rice was born — and where a whole food culture grew up around it.
The city's signature — shredded turkey over rice, drizzled with savory oil and crispy shallots. It took off after WWII, when US forces near Chiayi brought in turkeys.
Citywide 全市The famous founding shop, started in 1949 beside the city's iconic fountain traffic circle (噴水圓環) — hence the name "Penshui," meaning fountain.
Fountain Circle 噴水圓環A hearty hot-pot of fish head simmered with vegetables, bean curd and a rich broth; the famous Lin Cong-ming shop, now third-generation, draws long queues.
Wenhua Rd 文化路A beloved local style of cold noodles dressed in a savory, slightly sweet sauce — a popular Chiayi street food, especially in summer.
Citywide 全市A signature Chiayi souvenir — a crispy, layered square cracker, with Old Yang (老楊) a well-known maker of this local specialty.
Citywide 全市Founded in 1951, this long-established bakery is famous for handmade egg rolls and crackers — a classic, often-sold-out local gift.
Citywide 全市Prized high-mountain oolong from the Alishan area is sold throughout the city, long the center of the mountain trade.
Citywide 全市Traditional tofu pudding and nostalgic old-style snacks round out the Wenhua Road night-market food scene.
Wenhua Rd 文化路The city is the true home of Taiwan's iconic shredded-turkey rice.
The forest railway and the cypress-forestry heritage begin here.
Taiwan's largest Japanese-era wooden architectural complex.
The legendary 1931 team and a city devoted to the sport.
The pioneering painter born and honored in the city.
The International Band Festival and the "Peach City" identity.
Introduce Chiayi City to a visitor — tap 🔊 to hear each sentence. 用英文向訪客介紹嘉義市,點 🔊 聽聽看。
Sources · 資料來源:嘉義市政府、嘉義市立美術館、林務局阿里山林業鐵路、文化部、維基百科等公開資料整理。