The National Taichung Theater: Experimenting Publicity of Metropolitan Urbanism

That Taichung becomes one of the leading cities in Taiwan is part of a story that is less than one century old. Historically, the plateau in the central basin of the island of Taiwan where the city is located was cultivated under the supervision of Tainan, Chiayi, and many other traditional cultural centers. Changhua, today a comparably minor city close to Taichung, was established in 1722 and dominated the region for a long time because of its good seaside location and available transportation. There was a brief bureaucratic reformation that transferred the power from Tainan to Taichung in 1887, and later further north to Taipei. This transfer led to the reconstruction of Taichung in 1889, and the new city had eight main-gate buildings with single pitched roofs that were surrounded by newly established walls.