# Beigan
## English
### Alternative forms

* Pei-kan, Peikan (Wade–Giles)

### Etymology

Late 20th century, from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 北竿 (Běigān), reinforced by Tongyong Pinyin. With respect to the township specifically, likely: 2000s, from Mandarin 北竿 (Běigān) Tongyong Pinyin romanization: Běigan, reinforced by Hanyu Pinyin.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: bāʹgänʹ

### Proper noun

Beigan
* A rural township in Lienchiang County, Taiwan, in the Matsu Islands.
** [1998, Robert Storey, “Islands of the Taiwan Straits”, in Taiwan (Lonely Planet)‎, 4th edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 318, column 1:PEIKAN TOWNSHIP (běigān xiāng) 北竿鄉 Peikan Township consists of three groups of islands, of which Peikan (běigān) is the largest and the only one open to visitors.]
** 2005, “Matsu”, in Birdwatching in Taiwan‎, Taipei: Wild Bird Society of Taipei, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 334, 335‎:This birding area, located in the southwestern corner of Beigan Township, is the township's flattest and largest stretch of farmland. […] This area is in the eastern part of Beigan Township. The several hundred-meter Tanghou Trail connects the two villages of Tangci and Houwo, and along this trail, you can see shorebirds, herons, and egrets.
** 2006, 觀光年報‎, Tourism Bureau, →OCLC, page 75:To provide an experience of Matsu's traditional fishing methods, water activities in Beigan Township were carried out and arrangements were made for tourists to participate in net-pulling, night fishing, and set-net fishing […]
** 2017 February 22, Guy Plopsky, Taiwan’s Cold War Fortresses‎, The Diplomat, archived from the original on 22 February 2017:The Lienchiang County government (which administers Matsu’s 36 islands and islets) estimates that — excluding facilities still in use by Taiwan’s military — some 256 underground fortifications, tunnels, air raid shelters, and other related structures were constructed in Matsu’s four townships: Nangan, Beigan, Juguang, and Dongyin.
** 2021 June 29, Ching-yu Chao, Evelyn Kao, “Part of Matsu's Liang Island designated national archaeological site”, in Focus Taiwan‎, archived from the original on 29 June 2021, Culture‎:The Ministry of Culture said Tuesday that it has designated four ancient areas of Liang Island in the Matsu archipelago as the Taiwan's 11th national archaeological site. Liang, a 0.35 square kilometer island in the Matsu archipelago off the east coast of China, is part of Beigan Township in Lienchiang County.
** 2021 June 30, Sherry Hsiao, “Lienchiang site handed archeological designation”, in Taipei Times‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-06-29, Taiwan News, page 3‎:Liang Island is the northeastern-most island in Beigan Township (北竿), and the site includes four locations known as Daowei I, Daowei II, Daowei III and Daowei IV, the ministry said.
** 2022 May 21, Matthew Strong, “Taiwan coast guard doubts PLA piloted speedboats near outlying island”, in Taiwan News‎, archived from the original on 2022-05-21, Politics‎:A Matsu website reported Friday (May 20) that two speedboats had recently appeared near Gaodeng Island, part of Matsu’s Beigan Township, with individuals on board wearing helmets and showing no intention of fishing.
** 2023 March 9, Ling-ling (張玲玲) Chang, “Soldiers should keep complaints off Internet”, in Taipei Times‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 March 2023, Editorials, page 8‎:For Matsu, Jyuguang Township (莒光) includes two major islands, Dongjyu (東莒) and Sijyu (西莒), as well as smaller islets. When I was doing education and promotional work across Taiwan in the Young Women’s Working Brigade, I visited Matsu four times, visiting Beigan (北竿), Nangan (南竿) and Dongyin (東引) townships, as well Dongjyu and Sijyu, along with other islands such as Liang (亮島) and Gaodeng (高登), with each tour lasting three months.
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Beigan.
* An island in Beigan, Lienchiang County, Taiwan, the main island of the township.
    Synonym: Peikantang
** 1994 March 28 [1994 March 18], Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), quotee, “ARATS Writes SEF on Fishing Boat Shooting Incident”, in Daily Report: People's Republic of China‎, numbers 94-059, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 83, column 1‎:After the incident, the boat sought medical treatment but was rejected by the defense troops firing their guns. Fifteen minutes later, the boat sailed to Mazu's Beigan to moor at (Huaikaicun) pier, and was again fired at by the defense troops.
** 1995 May 2 [1995 April 28], Zhou Xiang (0719 5046), “Matzu Troops Fire at Fishermen, Killing One”, in Daily Report: People's Republic of China‎, numbers 95-084, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 88, column 2:When the transaction was being carried out on the afternoon of 23 April in the waters between Matzu's Daxiaoqiu and Beigan, the garrisoned troops in Matzu suddenly opened fire at them.
** 2004, Phil Macdonald, National Geographic Traveler: Taiwan, National Geographic Society, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 203:A paved road leads east from the main settlement of Tangci (Tangqi) Village to Tanghoudao Beach, a spit of sand connecting Beigan's two mountainous island sections.
** 2013, “The Taiwan Strait Islands”, in Sarah Sweeney, editor, Taiwan (Insight Guides)‎, 5th edition, Apa Publications, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 233, column 1:Flights to the two main islands, Beigan and Nangan, are now regular, though often cancelled by fog.
** 2023 March 8, Huizhong Wu, Johnson Lai, “Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables”, in The Washington Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 March 2023, Business; republished as Chinese ships cut internet of Taiwan’s outlying islands‎, AP News, 2023 March 8, archived from the original on 2023-03-08:“A lot of tourists would cancel their booking because there’s no internet. Nowadays, the internet plays a very large role in people’s lives,” said Chen, who lives in Beigan, one of Matsu’s main residential islands.
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Beigan.

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “Taiwan place names”, in Pinyin.info‎, 2006, archived from the original on 2006-10-01‎: “鄉鎮市區別 / Hanyu Pinyin (recommended) / Hanyu Pinyin (with tones) / Tongyong Pinyin / old forms […] 北竿鄉 / Beigan / Běigān / Beigan / Peikan”