Tianmu is best known as an enclave for Taiwan's US expatriate community. From the mid 1950s to 1979, before the US broke formal ties with Taiwan, large portions of the US Armed Forces serving under MAAG[1] and their families stationed in Taiwan lived[2][3] in Tianmu. Middle- to lower-ranking US servicemen resided within present-day Tianmu, while higher-ranking officers resided[4][5] in neighboring Yangmingshan. Other than military housing and recreation, significant portions of modern-day Tianmu were designated for housing developments created for USAID workers and foreign civilians. As of the 1980s relatively few of these Western style developments and buildings remain as they have been replaced by multi-storey apartment blocks. The road layout in Tianmu still aligns to the former Western style neighborhoods.
With the withdrawal of the US military in 1979, the Bank of Taiwan re-purposed the former sites by leasing them to Taipei American School and Taipei Japanese School. With the further creation of Taipei European School, Tianmu has continued to attract foreign residents. In addition, several of the countries which retain diplomatic relationships with Taiwan have their foreign embassies and consulates located in Tianmu.
Tianmu is home to Taiwan's first branch of Mister Donut, a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store, a Sogo department store, and a Dayeh Takashimaya department store. There is also one Movie Theater, Wovie Cinema Tianmu. In addition, It also hosts a number of Western and Japanese restaurants, as well as specialty stores which cater to the expat community.
Tianmu Baseball Stadium, which replaces the old Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium, is located in Tianmu. Right next to the baseball stadium is Tianmu Sports Park. The public facility has six tennis courts, a skating rink, a few children's playgrounds, an open-air theater, four basketball courts, a jogging track, a biking path, and a multi-purpose lawn.
