Current Time in Chiayi City, Taiwan

Chiayi City lies on the western plain of southern Taiwan, at the point where the flat rice fields meet the foothills of the central mountain range. The Tropic of Cancer passes just south of the city, which enjoys a warm subtropical climate with hot humid summers, heavy monsoon rain and mild dry winters. Although surrounded by Chiayi County, the city is administered separately, and the great massif of Alishan rises to the east, its peaks often visible above the morning haze.

About two hundred and sixty thousand people live here. Chiayi is the commercial and administrative centre of a rich agricultural region producing rice, pineapples, bamboo shoots and tea, and it is best known as the gateway to Alishan, one of Taiwan's most beloved mountain destinations. Light industry, food processing, timber and tourism support the local economy.

The city began as the plains settlement of Tirosen, home to the indigenous Hoanya people, and was later occupied by Han Chinese migrants who called it Zhuluoshan. In 1786, during a major rebellion, the townspeople withstood a long siege, and the Qianlong Emperor rewarded their loyalty by renaming the place Chiayi, meaning to praise righteousness. Under Japanese rule from 1895 the city was transformed by forestry: a narrow-gauge railway was built up into the Alishan range to bring down the giant red cypress trees, and Chiayi became the processing centre for that timber, gaining sawmills, workers' housing and a planned urban grid.

That heritage survives in the Hinoki Village, a group of restored Japanese wooden houses now filled with cafes and craft shops, and in the historic Beimen station where the forest railway still begins its climb through bamboo and cloud forest to the mountain resort famous for its sunrise, sea of clouds and ancient trees. Chiayi Park contains the Sun Shooting Tower, a modern landmark built in the shape of a log stack, and a shrine complex from the Japanese period. The Chiayi Old Prison, a rare surviving wooden prison of the 1920s, is a national historic monument open to visitors, and the Museum of Koji pottery celebrates the colourful glazed figures that decorate temples across Taiwan.

Chiayi is proud of its part in Taiwanese baseball history, since the agricultural school team from the city reached the final of the Japanese national tournament in 1931, a story retold in a much-loved film. Food is a serious local matter, above all turkey rice, the city's signature dish of shredded turkey over rice with savoury sauce, sold at stalls throughout the day, along with the night market on Wenhua Road. Lantan Lake and the surrounding hills offer cycling and walking.

The high-speed railway station just outside the city links Chiayi to Taipei in around ninety minutes, conventional trains run along the west coast, and highways cross the plain. National Chiayi University and other colleges bring students to the area.

Chiayi City is valued as a friendly, food-loving city and the starting point for a journey into Taiwan's high mountains.