How big is a ping?
A ping (坪) is the unit Taiwan uses for floor area in property listings, rental ads and building documents. It comes from the Japanese tsubo and is the same size: a square 6 shaku on each side, where 1 shaku is 10/33 m.
1 ping = 400/121 m² ≈ 3.3058 m² ≈ 35.58 ft²
1 m² = 0.3025 ping
So multiply square meters by 0.3025 to get ping, or multiply ping by 3.3058 to get square meters. A 30-ping apartment is about 99 m², or 1,067 ft².
Ping conversion chart
| Ping | m² | ft² |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3.31 | 35.6 |
| 10 | 33.06 | 355.8 |
| 20 | 66.12 | 711.7 |
| 25 | 82.64 | 889.6 |
| 30 | 99.17 | 1,067.5 |
| 35 | 115.7 | 1,245.4 |
| 40 | 132.23 | 1,423.3 |
| 50 | 165.29 | 1,779.2 |
Registered area and shared spaces
The area in a Taiwanese listing is usually the registered area. It includes the unit itself, attached structures such as balconies, and a share of the building’s common areas, such as the lobby, elevators, stairwells and parking ramps.
The share of common areas is called the shared-area ratio (公設比). With 35 ping registered and a 33% ratio, about 11.55 ping is shared space and about 23.45 ping is your own. That still includes balconies, so the indoor area is a little smaller.
Frequently asked questions
Is a tsubo the same as a ping?
Yes. Taiwan’s ping comes from the Japanese tsubo, and both are about 3.3058 m². Japanese listings, however, usually give areas in square meters.
How do I measure a room in ping?
Multiply the length by the width, then convert. Use “Room size from length and width” above: 4 m × 3.5 m is 14 m², about 4.24 ping.
Why does an apartment feel smaller than its ping number?
Because the advertised number usually includes shared spaces and balconies. Ask for the shared-area ratio, or for the main building area (主建物) on the ownership certificate, which is the indoor area alone.