SS Taiping was a 4,324 ton steamship launched by the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, Hong Kong in 1925 for the Australian Oriental Line.
Taiping was the second of two sister passenger-cargo liners ordered in May 1924 from the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company by the Australian Oriental Line, which was owned and managed by G. S. Yuill & Company, Sydney, New South Wales. With a tonnages of and , she was long, had a beam of and a depth of . Three oil-fired boilers supplied steam at 200psi to a triple expansion steam engine with a rating of 638 NHP, driving a single propeller. Service speed was 13 knots.
Cargo capacity was , of which 400 tons was refrigerated. There was accommodation for 278 passengers (40 x 1st, 56 x 2nd class, 182 deck passengers)
The shipyard launched Taiping on 11 June 1925, but completion was delayed due to strikes by both port and shipyard workers.
Sister ship Changte