Shimen District (), also known as Sekimon, is a sparsely populated 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 the northern part of

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 ...

. It is part of the

North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area The North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area () (abbreviated as North Guan) is a List of national scenic areas in Taiwan, national scenic area in Taiwan. When the scenic area was first established on October 17, 2002, it covered a total ...

and includes the island of Taiwan's northernmost point,

Cape Fugui Cape Fugui, Cape Fukwei, Fukwei Chiao, Fuguei Cape, or . is a cape located at the northernmost point of the island of Taiwan. It is located in within the Shimen District in New Taipei City. Name ''Fùguì'' is the pinyin romanization of the M ...

History

While known to earlier explorers, including the Dutch, the area was first explicitly mentioned in Chinese annals in 1694 as ''Shimenshan'' (). During the period of Imperial Japanese rule, Shimen was called ''Sekimon'' Village , and was governed under Tansui District of

Taihoku Prefecture Taihoku Prefecture (臺北州; ''Taihoku-shū'') was an administrative division of Taiwan created in 1920, during Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Keelung, New Taipei City, Taipei and Yilan County. Its government office, ...

. In 1945 when 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 ...

took over administration of Taiwan the area became Shimen Rural Township, a part of Taipei County. With the reorganization of Taipei County in 2010, Shimen became a

of the newly created

Geography

The interior of Shimen is predominantly mountainous, with small areas of flat land on the coast. The district is bordered to the north by the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

, to the southwest by

Sanzhi District Sanzhi District () is a rural district in northern New Taipei, Taiwan. It is notable as the hometown of the former president Lee Teng-hui. History During the period of Japanese rule, , and was governed under of Taihoku Prefecture. Administr ...

, and to the southeast by Jinshan District.

Administration

Shimen is part of

, a special municipality under the

Republic of China 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 ...

government. The district itself is divided into nine villages: Shanxi (), Shimen (), Laomei (), Jianlu (), Maolin (), Caoli (), Qianhua/Cianhua (), Fuji (), and Demao ().

Economy

Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Shimen, which also produces a number of agricultural goods including mandarins, peanuts, and tea.

Education

Shimen has one junior high school, Shimen Junior High, and three elementary schools; Shimen, Laomei and Qianhua.

Tourist attractions

Historical buildings

The

Fuguijiao Lighthouse The Fuguijiao or Cape Fugui Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Cape Fugui near Laomei Village in Shimen District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Name The lighthouse is named after nearby Cape Fugui, the northernmost point of Taiwan. Its Japanese name ...

is located at

Nature

Shimen is home to Baisha Bay.

Festivals

Shimen has also been home to an annual kite festival since the year 2000, drawing competitors from around the world.

Others

* Fuji Fishing Port * Temple of the Eighteen Lords

Infrastructure

Shimen is the site location for Taiwan's first

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

, the

Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant The Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant or Chin Shan Nuclear Power Plant (金山核能發電廠), First Nuclear Power Plant (第一核能發電廠 or 核一), was a nuclear power plant in Shimen District, New Taipei, Taiwan. Commissioned in 1978, the pl ...

Transportation

The main road route through the district is the Provincial Highway 2. It is also served by a number of other county-level roads. There is no rail transportation in the district.

Notes

References

{{Districts in Taiwan Districts of New Taipei