Xindian District - History

History

Xindian's name originated during the Qing Dynasty close to 300 years ago. According to legend, a person named Lin and others came from Quanzhou, Fujian Province. On a mountain road leading to Wulai, they built a small cabin and opened a store selling groceries and for the exchange of goods with mountain aborigines. Since the store had no formal name, travelers called it "New Store" (Chinese: 新店; pinyin: Xīndiàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-tiàm).

An area usually not considered as part of Xindian is Ankeng (安坑), although it is within the jurisdiction of the city, located in a valley on the west side of the Xindian Creek. It was originally called Àm-kheⁿ-á (Chinese: 暗坑仔; pinyin: Ànkēngzǎi; literally "dark/secret gorge"), due to luxurious vegetation in the area. However, it was later decided to be indecent and the name was changed to Ankeng (Chinese: 安坑; pinyin: Ānkēng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: An-kheⁿ; literally "peaceful gorge").

Taiwan's Kuomintang government moved the seat of government (in exile) of Fujian Province to Xindian from 1956 to 1996.

Although in 1980, it was still underdeveloped, the four-lane Zhongxing Road helped to develop the city. Areas south of Xiaobitan are still farmland. After the second National Highway opened, parks along Xiaobitan and Xindian Creek gave way to development. With the opening of the Taipei Metro, more commercial development and businesses have come into the area. In 2004 when the Tzu Chi Hospital branch opened, a new road was constructed to deal with traffic.