Linbian Township ( []; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Lìm-piên-hiông'') is a township (Taiwan), rural township in western
Pingtung County
Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...
, Taiwan. It lies at the mouth of the
Linbian River
The Linbian River () is a river in Taiwan. It flows through Pingtung County for 42 km.
Transportation
The river is accessible within walking distance South East from Linbian Station of Taiwan Railways Administration
Taiwan Railways A ...
, facing the Taiwan Strait. It is known for its year-round warm climate, seafood restaurants and its Syzygium samarangense, wax apples (lembus).
Names
The area was called Pangsoya or Pangsoia during the Dutch era, and was later a small town called Pang-soh (). Early ethnic Chinese settlers called the area ''Nâ-á-piⁿ'' (, lit. "wood's edge"). In 1920, the Japanese administration renamed the settlement , officially . In 1945, the Kuomintang regime retained the same
Chinese character
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...
s which are read as ''Línbiān'' in Mandarin Chinese. However, the older Taiwanese pronunciation of ''Nâ-á-piⁿ'' continues to be commonly used.
Like the rest of Southern Taiwan, Linbian is located within the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
and has a
tropical wet and dry climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
. Due to its location, it is considered to be one of the warmest townships of Taiwan having the smallest temperature variations between seasons in the country (along with other various townships in Pingtung) because it is both located at a low latitude on the central Pingtung plains and also just above the Hengchun Peninsula which therefore does not share the peninsula's temperate climate caused by its sea currents. The coldest month is January and the warmest month is July, with an average daily mean of 21°C (70°F) and 28°C (82°F) respectively. Although statistically the average highs during "winter" varies around 26°C (79°F), temperatures exceeding 29°C (84°F) during the afternoon are not uncommon even in January.
Due to the warm and mostly windless weather, Linbian is famous for growing some of the best Syzygium samarangense, wax apples (lembus) in Taiwan, with one of the longest harvest seasons in the country, therefore it is nicknamed "the wax apple township" (蓮霧之鄉).
Administrative divisions
The township comprises 10 villages: Guanglin, Linbian, Qifeng, Renhe, Shuili, Tiancuo, Yongle, Zengan, Zhonglin and Zhulin.
Tourist attractions
*
Linbian River
The Linbian River () is a river in Taiwan. It flows through Pingtung County for 42 km.
Transportation
The river is accessible within walking distance South East from Linbian Station of Taiwan Railways Administration
Taiwan Railways A ...
Linbian Station
Linbian railway station () is a railway station located in Linbian Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is located on the Pingtung line
The Pingtung Line () is a line of the Taiwan Railway Administration West Coast line in Taiwan.
It i ...
Tsao Chi-hung
Tsao Chi-hung (; born 1 March 1948) is a Taiwanese politician. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, he was a member of the National Assembly from 1992 to 1994 and has served two terms each in the Legislative Yuan and as Pingtung County ...
,
Magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
of
Pingtung County
Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...
(2005 - 2014)
* Tsai Sen-lang, Founder and Superintendent of the Da-Dung Hospital in Kaohsiung