Shenkeng 深坑區 |
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District | |
Shenkeng District | |
Nickname(s): The Tofu Capital | |
Shenkeng District in New Taipei City |
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Coordinates: 25°0′12″N 121°37′2″E / 25.00333°N 121.61722°ECoordinates: 25°0′12″N 121°37′2″E / 25.00333°N 121.61722°E | |
Country | Taiwan |
Special municipality | New Taipei City |
Villages (里) |
List
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• Mayor | (Kuomintang) |
Area | |
• Total | 20.58 km2 (7.95 sq mi) |
Highest elevation | 562 m (1,844 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 32 m (105 ft) |
Population (January 2016) | |
• Total | 23,614 |
• Density | 1,100/km2 (3,000/sq mi) |
• Households | 9,463 |
Time zone | CST (UTC+8) |
Postal code | 222 |
Area code(s) | 02 |
Website | www |
Shenkeng | |||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||
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Literal meaning | deep pit; deep mine | ||||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Shēnkēng Qū |
Bopomofo | ㄕㄣ ㄎㄥ ㄑㄩ |
Southern Min | |
Hokkien POJ | Chhim-kheⁿ-khu |
Shenkeng District (Chinese: 深坑區; pinyin: Shēnkēng Qū; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhim-kheⁿ khu) is a rural district in central New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. Formerly an agricultural and mining town, it is now famous for its numerous tofu restaurants and vendors.
The area is first recorded as the preserve of a tribe of Pingpu aborigines during the Qing dynasty period in Taiwan. When Han Chinese farmers eventually moved in to develop the area, they bought the low-lying land from the aborigines and began cultivation in the main valley. The modern name of the township, Shenkeng, literally means deep pit or deep mine, and indeed the area used to have several active coal mines.
Shenkeng is a rural district which borders Taipei City's Wenshan District to the west, Nangang District to the north, and the Shiding District of New Taipei City to the east.
Politics in Shenkeng have largely been uneventful; the town is considered a safe seat for the Kuomintang. An exception was in 1996, when several members of the council were arrested on suspicion of connection with organised crime.
Shenkeng is home to Tungnan University, a private technical university. There is also a Junior High School and an Elementary School in the town.
The economy of Shenkeng is centred on tourism, and that tourism is based largely on tofu. The district is sufficiently well known in culinary circles that it has been a subject of media interest in Japan and Hong Kong. The tofu from Shenkeng has an unusual ratio of soybean to gypsum, giving it a yellowish colour and distinctive flavour. The town has become so readily identified with tofu that it has earned the epithet "The Tofu Capital".