Next to the station dubbed Taiwan's biggest maze, with old city gates, a book street and the Presidential Office Building all in the neighborhood
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
Taipei Main Station is jokingly called "Taiwan's biggest maze": the station connects with the buildings around it to form a huge underground network. The area in front of the station is a business district packed with offices and cram schools, and living here means weaving through crowds every weekday as soon as you step outside. Cross Zhongxiao West Road heading south and you are inside the old Qing-dynasty Taipei walled city, an area still known as Chengzhong. The North Gate (Beimen) is in the neighborhood too, one of the four city gates that survive. Bookshops still line Chongqing South Road Section 1, and the Presidential Office Building is also in this neighborhood.
Transport is the neighborhood's biggest asset: it ranks 1st out of Taipei's 73 for public transport. Taipei Main Station alone has the TRA, the THSR, the Bannan Line, the Tamsui-Xinyi Line and the Airport MRT, and there is a second station inside the neighborhood, NTU Hospital Station. The red-brick old building of National Taiwan University Hospital's West Wing, on Changde Street, is the landmark on the border between this neighborhood and CKS Memorial Hall & Dongmen. Across Zhongshan South Road, the newer East Wing belongs to that neighborhood. The streets are kept clean too, ranking 5th for cleanliness. For a walk after work, 228 Peace Memorial Park is also inside the neighborhood.
Grocery shopping is harder: for everyday shopping it ranks 66th out of 73, and the main traditional market here is Chengzhong Market. A large part of Jianguo Village is taken up by the Presidential Office Building, the Boai Special Zone and schools, so there are many government buildings and few homes.
Work on the Taipei walled city began in 1882 and finished in 1884; the district inside the walls was called Chengnei, or Chengzhong. By the end of 1904 the walls had all been demolished, and of the five gates only the West Gate (Ximen) was lost. The Presidential Office Building opened in 1919 as the offices of the Governor-General of Taiwan. National Taiwan University Hospital moved to its current West Wing site in 1898, and its red-brick old building was completed in 1921. 228 Peace Memorial Park was originally called Taipei New Park, and the National Taiwan Museum building at its north entrance was completed in 1915. Taipei Station moved to a site beside the northern city wall in 1901, and the current station building opened in 1989, when the railway was moved underground. Chongqing South Road's book street was at its busiest in the 1970s, with more than 100 bookshops; by 2020 only 22 were left.
Compared with the 73 Taipei neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
NHI-contracted hospitals, public elementary and junior high schools whose catchment covers this area (estimated from the 2026 school-year village/neighborhood catchment table, treating every neighborhood in a village as equal in size; "Shared catchment" means families there can choose between two or more schools), high schools and universities within 1 km, stations, parks of 1 ha or more, and large shopping malls and department stores.
Maps show the shops and the sights. What a street is like, you only know by walking it. TidyMap uses AI street imagery analysis and public facility data to turn each area's street environment and everyday convenience into something you can compare. Search an address and look at the street outside first.
How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data
TidyMap rates the street environment and everyday convenience. It does not assess the home itself, safety, noise or actual living experience. Street environment scores use AI assessments of imagery; convenience scores use public facility data.
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