台中

Literally 'Central Taiwan', Taichung (pop. ~2.8m) is the island's second-largest city and cultural hub for central Taiwan. Known for bubble-tea origins (春水堂 opened the first shop in 1983), the National Taichung Theater, and specialty foods like 太阳饼 (sun cakes) and 凤梨酥 (pineapple cakes).

usage

The traditional form 臺中 uses the older 臺 (meaning 'platform, Taiwan'); simplified mainland texts usually write it as 台中. Both are pronounced Táizhōng.