Shenkeng District () is a rural

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in central

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

in northern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Formerly an agricultural and mining town, it is now famous for its numerous

tofu or bean curd is a food prepared by Coagulation (milk), coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness: ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', and ''extra (or super) firm''. It originated in Chin ...

restaurants and vendors.

History

The area is first recorded as the preserve of a tribe of Pingpu aborigines during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

period in Taiwan. When

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

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''. The area used to have several active coal mines. The name has also been explained with reference to the mountains surrounding Shenkeng on all sides, which make the terrain similar to a pit. On December 25, 2010, Shenkeng Township () became Shenkeng District ().

Geography

Shenkeng is a rural district which borders

Taipei City , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Countr ...

Wenshan District Wenshan District () is a district in Taipei, Taiwan. It is the southernmost district of the twelve districts in Taipei. ''Wenshan'' previously referred to the region south of the Taipei Basin (including Xindian and Pinglin). History In 1894 ...

to the west, Nangang District to the north, and the Shiding District of

to the east.

Politics and government

Politics in Shenkeng have largely been uneventful; the town is considered a safe seat for the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

. An exception was in 1996, when several members of the council were arrested on suspicion of connection with organised crime.

Administrative divisions

Shenkeng District includes eight urban villages: * Shenkeng (), Puxin (), Wanshun (), Wanfu (), Tuku (), Laizhong (), Arou (), Shenggao ()

Demographics

In the years 2012 to 2017, the population of Shenkeng District hovered around 23,600 with a steadily

ageing population Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biol ...

Education

Shenkeng is home to

Tungnan University Tungnan University (TNU; ) is a private university in Shenkeng District, New Taipei, Taiwan. Tungnan University offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide range of fields including business, humanities, social sciences, engineering, ...

, a private technical university. There is also a Junior High School and an Elementary School in the town.

Tourist attractions

The economy of Shenkeng is centred on tourism, and that tourism is based largely on

. The district is sufficiently well known in culinary circles that it has been a subject of media interest in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

.Chung The tofu from Shenkeng has an unusual ratio of soybean to

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

, 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". There are also extensive hiking trails, some of which were in use during the

Japanese era The or , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed b ...

by anti-Japanese guerilla fighters. *

Shenkeng Old Street The Shenkeng Old Street () is an old street in Shenkeng District, New Taipei, Taiwan. History In the 1980s, local residents campaigned against the demolition of the buildings along the street as part of the proposed road widening and redevelopm ...

Transportation

Transportation in Shenkeng is limited to roads only; there is as yet no railway or mass transit service, although proposals have been made to extend the Wenshan Line of the

Taipei Metro Taipei Metro (also known as Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and branded as Metro Taipei) is a rapid transit system operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation serving the capital Taipei and New Taipei City in Taiwan. It was the first rapi ...

into Shenkeng.Chiu Three bus companies offer passenger services within Shenkeng and between Shenkeng and surrounding settlements.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * *

External links

*
VTS 02 1
(about Tofu in Shenkeng) {{Districts in Taiwan Districts of New Taipei