In a Taiwan address, which is larger — xiang (巷) or nong (弄)?

Question

Weirdo · Accepted Answer

Xiang (巷) is larger. It is a passage off a road or street that does not itself meet the width and length rules for lu or jie. Nong (弄) is a smaller passage branching off a xiang. Household registration follows road/street → xiang → nong.

Taipei City’s Road Naming and House Numbering Ordinance, Article 4, is blunt: a way at least 15 m wide and 300 m long is a lu (路, road); 8 m up to 15 m wide and 300 m long is a jie (街, street). A way that meets those roads but fails the size test is a xiang (巷, lane). A small way inside a xiang is a nong (弄, alley). Article 6 numbers a xiang from the door plates of the parent avenue, road, or street; nong numbering follows the same rule. Xiang hangs off the road; nong hangs off the xiang.

The national address schema uses the same stack: ROAD, LANE (巷), ALLEY (弄), SUB_ALLEY (衖衕). A xiang can still have a sub-alley under it. You write an address as road → xiang → nong → number, not as two equal street names. County rules differ in the details; the hierarchy does not: xiang is larger, nong is smaller.

In a Taiwan address, which is larger — xiang (巷) or nong (弄)?

Xiang off the road; nong off the xiang

Household-registration fields follow the same order