Although all of the island receives 40 inches of rainfall a year, except for a very narrow strip along the west coast, precipitation is seasonally and locally variable. Most of it falls between May and September, except in the northeast where 60-100 inches is fairly well distributed throughout the year. Here the prevailing winds are northerly and northeasterly and bring rain to T'ai-pei and I-lan hsien.
Situated in the centre of the largest agricultural basin in northern Formosa, T’ai-pei (population in 1964 was estimated to be 1,117,000) forms the nucleus of a major industrial area. The T’ai-pei industrial complex includes light and heavy industies within the urbanized area and also in several industrial suburbs, including Pan-ch’iao and Nan-chiang.
1973, Clifton W. Pannell, “Preface and Acknowledgements”, in T’ai-chung, T’ai-wan: Structure and Function, number 144, University of Chicago Department of Geography, →LCCN, →OCLC, page iii:
In addition to SEADAG, I am also indebted to the University of Chicago, Committee on Far Eastern Studies, for supporting a year of additional language study in T'ai-wan and to the Inter-University Program for Chinese Languages Studies in T'ai-pei (administered by Stanford University) for round trip travel assistance to T'ai-wan.
On Dec. 8, 1949, T'ai-pei, on the island of Formosa, to which Chiang Kai-shek and many of his followers had fled, was declared the Nationalist Capital.
After the communists came to power on the Chinese mainland in 1949, the nationalists fled to the island and set up a rival government of China in T'ai-pei.
2006, Philip Dodd, Ben Donald, The Book of Cities, New York (printed in China): MJF Books, →ISBN, page 236:
"T’ai-pei is still as Chinese as a spring roll - with barbecue sauce on top." - Peter Biddlecombe