It didn't used to be that way though. For the first 200 or more years after the Han Chinese began settling Taiwan in significant numbers in the early 17th century, the most prosperous towns were all in the south. It was only later that development spread northward.
然而，若從台灣發展史來看，開發腳步由南而北一路走來，北台灣的發展曾經遠遠落後於繁華的「下港」。