A useful starting point for New Taipei is the documented fact “New Taipei holds the lantern-lit hill town of Jiufen, Tamsui's sunset waterfront, Yehliu's Queen's Head rock and the sky lanterns of Pingxi.” The natural conditions and social experience of New Taipei therefore belong to one connected geographic story. Communities responded to surrounding conditions through residence, exchange, and daily practice, giving the spatial pattern a traceable history. The chain from environmental conditions to social practice gives the regional change of New Taipei a clear real-world expression. Taken together, these clues clarify the position, change, and distinctive contribution of New Taipei within the larger region.