From Takow to Kaohsiung

Wenhu Line (文湖線) MRT (a.k.a. Brown Line)

This 25km-long line connects Taipei's Wenshan and Neihu districts, from which it takes its name. It was previously known as the Muzha Line, and later as the Muzha–Neihu Line (shortened to Zhahu Line).

BR01 Taipei Zoo (動物園)
............ Taipei Zoo MRT Station takes its name from the zoo located just 100m away. This
............ is colloquially known as the Muzha Zoo, to differentiate it from the former Yuanshan
............ Zoo (圓山動物園; founded in 1914 during the Period of Japanese Rule as the
............ Maruyama Zoo) which moved to this new site in 1986.
BR02 Muzha (木柵)
............ Muzha MRT Station takes its name from the Muzha area of Wenshan District.
............ Literally meaning "Wooden Fences", Muzha recalls the barriers erected to defend Han-
............ Chinese immigrants from indigenous people's attacks.
BR03 Wanfang Community (萬芳社區)
BR04 Wanfang Hospital (萬芳醫院)
BR05 Xinhai (辛亥)
............ Xinhai MRT Station takes its name from Xinhai Road (辛亥路), which commemorates
,,,,,,,,,,,, the 1911 (Xinhai) Revolution and founding of the Republic of China the following
,,,,,,,,,,,, year (for more details, see here)
BR06 Linguang (麟光)

... One explanation for the origin of Linguang (麟光; lit. “Unicorn Light
../ Glory”) MRT Station comes from a Mr. Ye (葉) whose family has
.. lived locally for generations.Mr. Ye said that after the ROC
.. Government relocated to Taiwan following retrocession
.. from Japanese rule and then defeat in the Chinese Civil War,
.. a unit of military police (憲兵; Mdn. xian bing) was
..stationed here.


.. A military police officer guards the Office of
.. the President (photo JYP)

Their insignia, such as on the soldiers’ armbands, is a
麒麟 (Mdn. qi-lin; Jpn. kirin whence the beer), an
auspicious mythological beast said to have been the guardian spirit of China’s kings and emperors for thousands of years. Because it is somewhat similar to the unicorn of Western mythology (like the Chinese 龍; Mdn. long) is similar to a dragon), it is sometimes translated as "unicorn" (where "Chinese myhological beast called a qi-lin" would be clunky. Linguang referred, therefore, to the light, or more likely, the “glory” of the qi-lin (麒麟之光), that is, of the military police. From which the neighborhood and, most recently, the MRT station, took their name.



BR07 Liuzhangli (六張犁)

............ Typical of place names all over Taiwan, although often now in urban settings, these
............ clearly point to former rural communities, in which one 犁 (li; lit. "to plough") was an
............ area of arable land. Abe Akiyoshi (安倍 明義), 台灣地名研究 1938 (Studies on Taiwan's
............ Place Names) says one li (一張犁) was equivalent to five 甲 (Mdn. jia;
............ Hoklo kah). Also a very common element in place names, 甲 derived from the Dutch
............ word akker meaning "field", cognate with the English word "acre", the area of land
............ that can be ploughed by a yoke of oxen in one day. Liuzhangli was the sixth such field
............ in this area, or a field of "six li" in size [MC: clearly needs adjudication].
BR08 Technology Building (科技大樓)
............ Named after the nearby Technology Building, which houses Taiwan's Ministry of
............ Science and Technology, as well as the offices of various businesses.
BR09 Daan (大安)
............ Daan MRT Station takes its name from Daan District, whose origin is not clear, but
............ perhaps derives from an irrigation channel called 大安圳 ("Great Peace Irrigation")
............ serving this agricultural area originally outside the city walls (for more details see
............ here).
BR10 Zhongxiao Fuxing (忠孝復興)
............ Located at the junction of Zhongxiao East Rd. and Fuxing South Rd.
BR11 Nanjing Fuxing (南京復興)
............ Located at the junction of Nanjing East Rd. and Fuxing North Rd.
BR12 Zhongshan Junior High School (中山國中)
BR13 Songshan Airport (松山機場)
............ Songshan Airport MRT Station serves the airport of that name. It was first established
............ in 1936 during the Period of Japanese Rule, when it was built for military use as
............ Taihoku Airfield (臺北飛行場), and later as Matsuyama Airfield (松山飛行場;
............ Mdn. Songshan Airfield). It remained under military control after retrocession to ROC
............ rule in 1945 but, after 1950, had both military and civilian use, both domestic and
............ international flights, This international use was later constrained by i) the
............ increasing volume of passengers and ii) the increasing size of planes; such that
............ international activities were relocated to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport
............ (now Taoyuan International Airport) after its inauguration in 1979. Domestic use also
............ declined following opening of the Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR) to west coast
............ destinations from 2007 onwards. Under the KMT pro-China policies of the President
............ Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)-led administration (2008~16), regular cross-Strait flights to
............ China began in 2008, primarily from Songshan Airport. This usage remains a political,
............ environmental and economic issue during election campaigns, with downtown
............ Songshan Airport often threatened with closure, demolition and development into
............ less noise- and emission- polluting housing, office and park usage.
BR14 Dazhi (大直)
BR15 Jiannan Road (劍南路)
BR16 Xihu (西湖)
BR17 Gangqian (港墘)
BR18 Wende (文德)
BR19 Neihu (內湖)
BR20 Dahu Park (大湖公園)
BR21 Huzhou (葫洲)
BR22 Donghu (東湖)
BR23 Nangang Software Park (南港軟體園區)
BR24 Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center (南港展覽館)





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