A Hakka heartland in the hills — old market towns and ground tea, wind-dried persimmons, mountain rituals, and a science-park boomtown on the plain.
丘陵間的客家原鄉——老街市鎮與擂茶、風乾的柿餅、山中祭典,以及平原上因科學園區而起的新興城市。
Hsinchu County is the ring of land that wraps around — but does not include — Hsinchu City. Its seat is Zhubei (竹北), while most of the county is one of Taiwan's great Hakka heartlands: the towns of Beipu, Emei, Hengshan, Guanxi, Xinpu and Zhudong are heavily Hakka, and in Guanxi over 90% of residents are Hakka. This is a landscape of tea-covered hills, persimmon orchards and old-street market towns where Hakka is still spoken on the street.
新竹縣是環繞、卻不包含新竹市的一圈土地。縣治設在竹北,而縣內多數地區是台灣重要的客家原鄉之一:北埔、峨眉、橫山、關西、新埔、竹東等鎮都以客家人為主,關西更有超過九成居民是客家人。這是一片茶園丘陵、柿子果園與老街市鎮交織的土地,街頭至今仍聽得到客語。
The county's defining story is the 19th-century camphor-and-tea frontier. In 1834 officials backed a joint Hoklo-Hakka land-development charter called Jinguangfu (金廣福) — the name fuses "Guang" (Hakka) and "Fu" (Fujianese), symbolizing the rare cooperation of the two groups. Under the Hakka leader Jiang Xiuluan (姜秀鑾), armed settlers pushed into the hills and reclaimed the land that became today's Beipu, Baoshan and Emei. The Jinguangfu headquarters, built in 1835, still stands in Beipu as the county's only first-grade national monument.
新竹縣的核心故事,是十九世紀的樟腦與茶葉拓墾。1834 年,官方支持一個閩客合股的墾號——金廣福,「廣」代表客家、「福」代表福建,象徵兩大族群罕見的合作。在客家領袖姜秀鑾率領下,武裝墾民向山區推進,開墾出今日的北埔、寶山、峨眉一帶。1835 年興建的金廣福公館至今仍矗立在北埔,是全縣唯一的國定古蹟。
The mountains belong to Indigenous peoples: the Atayal (泰雅族) live in the high country of Jianshi, home to the remote cypress-forest village of Smangus, while the Saisiyat (賽夏族), one of Taiwan's smallest Indigenous groups, hold the famous pasta'ay ritual in Wufeng. The county is also famous for wind — the dry, fierce autumn "Jiujiang wind" (九降風) that dries Xinpu's persimmons. In recent decades the northwestern plain has been transformed: Zhubei has exploded from farmland into a high-rise boomtown, a bedroom community and overflow zone for the Hsinchu Science Park, making the county a study in contrasts — gleaming tech suburbs, century-old Hakka towns and Indigenous villages all at once.
山區則是原住民的家園:泰雅族世居尖石高山,其中包含偏遠的檜木森林部落司馬庫斯;賽夏族是台灣人口最少的原住民族之一,在五峰舉行著名的巴斯達隘(矮靈祭)。新竹也以風聞名——每年秋天乾冷強勁的「九降風」,正是吹乾新埔柿餅的那陣風。近數十年來,西北部平原已徹底改變:竹北從農田暴漲為高樓林立的新興城市,是科學園區的外溢區,使本縣成為對比鮮明的縮影——科技新貴的郊區、百年客家老街與原住民部落並存。
One of Taiwan's best-preserved Hakka towns, dense with old-house teahouses, persimmon shops and lei cha (ground tea). At its heart stands the Jinguangfu Gongguan, the 1835 land-development headquarters of Jiang Xiuluan — the county's only first-grade national monument.
A grand 1940s Western-style mansion built by the Beipu tea magnate Jiang A Hsin, just beside the old street. Its woodwork and elegance made it a key filming location for the hit Hakka period drama Gold Leaf (《茶金》).
Beside scenic Emei Lake rises a colossal bronze Maitreya Buddha statue, 72 metres tall and completed in 2011 — among the largest Maitreya statues in Asia. Lakeside paths and a suspension bridge make it a popular day trip.
A nostalgic Hakka mountain town at the end of the scenic Neiwan branch rail line. Once a logging and mining hub, it was revived around 2000 using the comic characters of local-born cartoonist Liu Hsing-chin, whose figures decorate shops and lampposts.
In Guanxi Township, this is Taiwan's pioneering combination of a drive-through African safari park (open since 1979) and a full theme park (since 1994) with four themed lands and major roller coasters — a genuine Hsinchu County landmark.
A remote Atayal village in the high mountains of Jianshi, nicknamed "God's Tribe." It had no road until 1995 and no electricity until 1979; today it runs as a famous communal cooperative, and a forest trail leads to giant ancient cypress trees.
A hot-spring valley in Wufeng with deep cultural layers: the reconstructed residence where the "Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang was held under house arrest (1946–1959), and the "Dream House" where writer San Mao lived in the 1980s. (Neither was born here.)
A rare carbonated, sulfurous cold spring with water staying around 10–20°C year-round — one of only a handful of cold springs in the world, alongside Su'ao in Taiwan and one in Italy.
A quiet, over-90%-Hakka market town known both as the "hometown of grass jelly" (仙草) and as one of Taiwan's longevity towns, with dozens of residents over 80 and several centenarians.
In autumn, Xinpu's farms become Taiwan's most photographed scene of orange persimmons drying in racks under the fierce "Jiujiang wind." The combination of dry monsoon wind and tradition makes Xinpu Taiwan's persimmon-cake capital.
The county's culture rises from two worlds: the Hakka market towns of the foothills, and the Indigenous peoples of the high mountains.
The signature experience is lei cha (擂茶, "ground tea") in Beipu — tea leaves, grains, seeds and nuts ground together with a wooden pestle, then mixed with hot water into a savory, nutty drink you can grind yourself. Add Xinpu's wind-dried persimmon cakes, Guanxi grass jelly, Hakka blue-dye and floral cloth, and bayin music, and the foothills are a living Hakka world.
The Saisiyat (賽夏族) of Wufeng hold the pasta'ay (巴斯達隘 / 矮靈祭), the Ritual of the Short Spirits — a solemn ceremony every two years (a grander rite every ten) to honor the spirits of the legendary Ta'ai. Held across the Hsinchu–Miaoli border, it is the only national folk ritual that spans two counties. Higher up, the Atayal (泰雅族) of Jianshi keep mountain villages like Smangus, with traditions of weaving and millet farming.
The Hakka leader who headed the Jinguangfu settlement company from 1834, led the armed reclamation of the Beipu hills and built the Jinguangfu fort-complex. He is the founding figure of Beipu's Jiang family, whose mansions and teahouses still shape the old town.
A beloved Taiwanese cartoonist born in Dasyantio, Hengshan Township. Creator of the classic comic Asanko and Auntie Dashupo (《阿三哥與大嬸婆》), set in his home region, his characters revived Neiwan into a bustling tourist town.
Held every two years around the 10th lunar month (with a grand version every ten years) at the Daai ground in Wufeng. A solemn, taboo-laden Indigenous ceremony honoring the spirits of the Ta'ai — one of Taiwan's most important Indigenous rituals.
Autumn, roughly September to November, when racks of orange persimmons dry in the Jiujiang wind, drawing photographers from across Taiwan to Xinpu's farms.
Each spring, around April and May, the hills of Hakka townships like Hengshan, Beipu and Emei turn white with falling tung-tree blossoms — the "May snow" of Hakka country.
A major Hakka festival centered on the Xinpu Yimin Temple (founded 1786) in the seventh lunar month, honoring the "righteous martyrs," with water-lantern releases and a procession that rotates among fifteen worship-circle villages.
Hsinchu County's table is deeply Hakka — and home to one of Taiwan's most prized teas.
The county's signature: a nutty, savory ground-tea drink you can grind yourself in Beipu's old teahouses.
Beipu 北埔Chewy, sweet, wind-dried autumn delicacies from Xinpu's century-old farms, made by the Jiujiang wind.
Xinpu 新埔Served hot or as iced jelly; Guanxi is the "hometown of grass jelly," prized for its fragrance.
Guanxi 關西A honey-sweet, heavily oxidized oolong made from leaves nibbled by tea jassids — and Beipu and Emei are a genuine traditional home of it.
Beipu・Emei 北埔・峨眉The classic Hakka dish of pork, dried squid, tofu and celery — salty, oily and deeply fragrant.
Countywide 全縣Wide, slippery Hakka rice noodles, a staple across Beipu, Zhudong and Hengshan.
Zhudong 竹東Braised pork belly with Hakka dried mustard greens — tender, savory and frugal in the best Hakka way.
Countywide 全縣Sticky-rice dumplings scented with locally grown wild ginger flower — a Neiwan specialty.
Neiwan 內灣Beipu old street, lei cha, Xinpu persimmons and Hakka market towns.
A genuine home of the honey-sweet, insect-bitten oolong.
The biennial Ritual of the Short Spirits in the Wufeng mountains.
The high-mountain "God's Tribe" and its giant cypress trees.
The fast-growing science-park overflow city on the plain.
Guanxi's pioneering theme park and African safari.
Introduce Hsinchu County to a visitor — tap 🔊 to hear each sentence. 用英文向訪客介紹新竹縣,點 🔊 聽聽看。
Sources · 資料來源:新竹縣政府、文化部文化資產局、參山國家風景區管理處、客家委員會、維基百科等公開資料整理。