Taiwan's most populous city — a giant ring around the capital, holding gold-mining hill towns, sky lanterns, sea-carved rocks and golden river sunsets.
台灣人口最多的城市——環抱首都的巨大環形,容納了金礦山城、天燈、海蝕奇岩與金色的河口夕陽。
New Taipei City is Taiwan's most populous city, home to roughly four million people, and it forms a giant ring that completely wraps around the capital, Taipei. No other place in Taiwan holds so many different worlds at once: a long Pacific coastline of strange rock formations, misty mountain villages, hot-spring valleys, old gold-and-coal mining towns, river ports, pottery kilns, and the dense modern suburbs where most people actually live.
新北市是台灣人口最多的城市,約有四百萬人,環繞著首都台北,形成一個巨大的「環」。台灣再沒有別處能同時容納這麼多不同的世界:綿長的太平洋海岸與奇岩怪石、霧氣繚繞的山城、溫泉峽谷、昔日的金礦與煤礦小鎮、河港、陶瓷窯場,以及大多數人實際居住的現代化稠密市鎮。
Its history runs deep at Tamsui (淡水), one of northern Taiwan's most important historic ports. The Dutch built the stone fortress locals call 紅毛城 (the "Fort of the Red-Haired") in 1644; in 1867 the British leased it as a consulate, opening the treaty-port era. In 1872 the Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay (馬偕) arrived and spent his life in Tamsui, founding churches, a school and a hospital — and even pulling teeth for ordinary people.
它的歷史在淡水扎根極深——淡水是北台灣最重要的歷史港口之一。荷蘭人在 1644 年立起當地人稱為「紅毛城」的石造城堡;1867 年英國租為領事館,開啟條約港時代。1872 年加拿大宣教士馬偕(George Leslie Mackay)抵達,終老於淡水,創辦教會、學校與醫院,甚至為平民拔牙。
In the northeast, a different story unfolded under Japanese rule: gold found in the 1890s made hill towns like Jiufen (九份) and Jinguashi boom, while the coal of the Pingxi (平溪) valley left the sky-lantern legacy alive today. When the mines closed the towns fell quiet — until the 1990s, when their faded lanterns and stone stairways made Jiufen one of Taiwan's most beloved destinations. For most of the modern era all of this was simply "Taipei County"; on 25 December 2010 the county was upgraded, and since its population had passed Taipei City's, a public contest chose the name "New Taipei."
在東北角,日治時期上演著另一段故事:1890 年代發現黃金,使九份、金瓜石等山城興盛,而平溪谷地的煤礦則留下至今鮮活的天燈傳統。礦坑歇業後小鎮一度沉寂——直到 1990 年代,褪色的燈籠與石階讓九份成為台灣最受喜愛的景點之一。近代史大半時間,這一切都只是「台北縣」;2010 年 12 月 25 日升格,因人口已超越台北市、無法沿用其名,遂透過公開票選定名「新北」。
A former gold-mining town climbing a steep hillside above the northeast coast, famous for narrow stone alleys, red-lantern-lit teahouses and sweeping ocean views. Gold was found here in the 1890s; the town boomed, fell quiet, then was reborn as a nostalgic favorite.
In the old coal-mining Pingxi valley, visitors write wishes on paper sky lanterns and release them glowing into the sky. Nearby, Shifen Waterfall is a roughly 40-metre-wide curtain of water often called Taiwan's most beautiful.
A slender cape in Wanli where 4,000 years of erosion have sculpted bizarre mushroom and candle rocks. Its star is the Queen's Head (女王頭), an 8-metre formation with a regal profile — though its slender neck erodes 1–2 cm a year and may one day collapse.
Tamsui's riverside is famous for golden sunsets over the water. Crowning the hill is Fort San Domingo, the "Red Fort" (紅毛城) — a Dutch-built fortress of 1644 later leased by the British as a consulate, its red walls and elegant residence still standing.
At the mouth of the Tamsui River, this harbor promenade is a favorite sunset spot. Its landmark is the white, sail-shaped Lover's Bridge, a curving pedestrian bridge that lights up beautifully at dusk.
A 260-metre row of red-brick Japanese-era shophouses — northern Taiwan's best-preserved old street. At one end stands the Qingshui Zushi Temple, rebuilt after WWII under artist Li Mei-shu with carving so fine it's nicknamed the "Hall of Eastern Art."
Taiwan's pottery capital, with over 200 years of ceramics history thanks to fine local clay and the old river trade route. The old street is lined with kilns turned into studios and shops, alongside the Yingge Ceramics Museum.
A mountain township at New Taipei's southern edge and homeland of the Atayal (泰雅) people. Its name comes from the Atayal word for hot springs, and its clear, odorless thermal water is renowned; the roughly 80-metre Wulai Waterfall and cable car are highlights.
Set among preserved Japanese colonial houses and a Shinto shrine, this museum tells the story of Jinguashi, once one of Asia's most productive gold mines. A highlight is a giant 220-kilogram gold bar visitors can touch, plus a real mining tunnel to walk through.
On the rugged northeast coast, Bitou Cape offers dramatic sea-cliff hiking trails with wide ocean views, while neighboring Longdong ("Dragon Cave") has Taiwan's largest sea-cliff rock-climbing area and clear waters for snorkeling.
New Taipei's culture is as varied as its landscape — from pottery kilns and mining towns to a treaty-port past and living Indigenous traditions.
With over 200 years of history, Yingge is Taiwan's pottery and porcelain capital, sometimes called "Taiwan's Jingdezhen." To the northeast, the gold of Jiufen and Jinguashi and the coal of Pingxi powered the island in the Japanese era; the towns' stone stairways, old tunnels and railway lines are now treasured heritage landscapes.
Tamsui's Red Fort, old consulate and Mackay sites make it a living museum of Taiwan's encounter with the world. In the mountains, the Atayal of Wulai preserve weaving, song and traditional foods, while Sanxia revives its old indigo-dyeing (藍染) craft and guards the carved masterpiece of the Zushi Temple.
Taiwan's most influential Mandopop superstar, born in Linkou — then part of Taipei County, today New Taipei City. (He is very often described simply as "from Taipei," but his birthplace lies within present-day New Taipei.) His songs reshaped Chinese pop music for a generation.
A renowned Taiwanese painter born in Sanxia, celebrated for his Western-style oil paintings. After WWII he led the reconstruction of his hometown's Qingshui Zushi Temple, turning it into the famed "Hall of Eastern Art."
Held around the Lantern Festival (the 15th day of the first lunar month), this is New Taipei's most iconic celebration. Crowds release hundreds of glowing sky lanterns carrying written wishes into the night — ranked by global media among the world's most spectacular festivals.
Tamsui's golden river sunsets draw crowds year-round, and the waterfront hosts seasonal environmental-art and music events along its old streets and wharf.
Each late winter and early spring, the mountains of Wulai bloom pink with cherry blossoms, drawing visitors to combine flower-viewing with a soak in the hot springs.
The rugged northeast coast comes alive with summer sea activities, autumn silver-grass on the hills above Jiufen, and fresh seafood landed at its fishing harbors.
New Taipei's food map runs from Tamsui's fried tofu pouches to Jiufen's taro balls and Wulai's Atayal mountain fare.
Fried tofu pouches stuffed with glass noodles and sealed with fish paste, served in a sweet-spicy sauce — a Tamsui original first made in 1965.
Tamsui 淡水Eggs repeatedly stewed in spiced soy sauce and air-dried until dark, chewy and shrunken to half their size — a famous portable snack.
Tamsui 淡水Chewy, hand-made balls of taro and sweet potato, served hot in sweet soup or over shaved ice — said to have originated in Jiufen.
Jiufen 九份Shenkeng is nicknamed the "hometown of tofu"; its clear water and salt-braising make its charcoal-grilled and fried stinky tofu legendary along the old street.
Shenkeng 深坑A crisp, buttery, croissant-shaped horn pastry that is the signature snack of Sanxia Old Street.
Sanxia 三峽Light, crispy fish crackers (invented in Tamsui in 1963) and the playful towering ice-cream cones sold along the old street.
Tamsui 淡水Indigenous Atayal cuisine featuring millet, wild mountain greens, bamboo-tube rice and grilled mountain fare.
Wulai 烏來Fresh-off-the-boat seafood at the coastal towns and fishing harbors along the rugged northeast shore.
NE Coast 東北角Taiwan's most populous city, wrapped right around the capital.
The golden-age mining town of red lanterns and hillside teahouses.
Glowing wish-lanterns rising into the night over the old coal valley.
The sea-carved rock formations of the northern cape.
Golden sunsets, the historic Red Fort and a treaty-port past.
Two centuries of ceramics, plus hot springs and Atayal culture.
Introduce New Taipei to a visitor — tap 🔊 to hear each sentence. 用英文向訪客介紹新北,點 🔊 聽聽看。
Sources · 資料來源:新北市政府觀光旅遊局、淡水古蹟博物館、交通部觀光署、文化部、維基百科等公開資料整理。