Hualien County (

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...

: Hua¹-lien² Hsien⁴;

Pīnyīn Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: ''Huālián Xiàn'';

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

POJ: ''Hoa-lian-koān'' or ''Hoa-liân-koān'';

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

PFS: ''Fâ-lièn-yen''; Amis: ''Kalingko'') is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

on the east coast of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It is the largest county by area, yet due to its mountainous

terrain Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin wo ...

, has one of the lowest populations in the country. The county seat and largest city is

Hualien City Hualien City (; Wade-Giles: Hua¹-lien² Shih⁴; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-chhī'' or ''Hoa-liân-chhī'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Hualien County, Taiwan. It is located on the east coast of Taiwan on the Pacific Oc ...

. Most of the population resides in the

Huadong Valley The Huadong Valley or Hualien–Taitung Valley (), also known as East Rift Valley or the Longitudinal Valley, is a long and narrow valley located between the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range. It is also recognized as a plai ...

, which runs north to south, sandwiched between the Central and

Hai'an Hai'an () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nantong, in eastern Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of ...

mountain ranges. Due to the rural nature of the county, Hualien attracts many visitors for its natural environment, which includes

Taroko Gorge Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is lo ...

, Qingshui Cliff and

Qixingtan Beach The Qixingtan Beach or Chihsingtan Beach () is a beach in Xincheng Township, Hualien County, Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic ...

History

Early history

Modern-day Hualien City was originally called ''Kilai'' (), after the Sakiraya

Taiwanese aborigines Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China ...

and their settlement. Spanish settlers arrived in 1622 to pan for gold. Picking up the sounds of native words, these settlers called the area ''Turumoan'' ().

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

settlers arrived in 1851.

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

records give the name of the region as ''Huilan'' () due to the whirling of waters in the

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

Empire of Japan

During Taiwan's Japanese colonial period (1895–1945) the island's Japanese governors opted not to

transliterate Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

the name "Kiray" because the Japanese pronunciation of the word resembled the Japanese word for . The official name became .

Karenkō Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Hualien County. Population Administrative divisions Cities and Districts In 1945 ( Shōwa 20), there were 1 city and 3 dist ...

consisted of modern-day Hualien County. Toward the end of World War II the

Governor-General of Taiwan The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945. The ...

moved many Japanese residents of Taiwan to the area to develop agriculture.

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in October 1945, Hualien was established as a

named Hualien County of

Taiwan Province Taiwan Province (; PFS: ''Thòi-vàn-sén'' or ''Thòi-vân-sén'') is a nominal administrative division of the Republic of China (ROC). Its definition has remained part of the Constitution of the Republic of China, but the province is no lo ...

on 9 January 1946. In 1951 Hualien was the first county in Taiwan to be governed according to the ROC local autonomy law. Today the Hualien area serves as the key population centre on the east coast as well as the one of five main life circle regions in Taiwan, together with

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Ta ...

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of his ...

and Kaohsiung.

2021 train derailment

On 2 April 2021, a

Taroko Express The ''Taroko Express'' () is an express train service of the Taiwan Railways Administration, and is part of ''Tze-Chiang'' Limited Express. The name of the service comes from the long Taroko Gorge, which is one of Taiwan's most popular touri ...

derailed at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel after striking an unattended

flatbed truck A flatbed truck (or flatbed lorry in British English) is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, its bodywork is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy load ...

that had fallen onto the tracks. The accident is the deadliest train accident in Taiwan since 1948, with at least 50 passengers reported dead and more than 150 injured.

Geography

Taiwan 2009 HuaLien City Roadside Cemetery FRD 8181

Hualien County is situated in eastern Taiwan Island. It faces the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

towards Japan ( Okinawa Prefecture) to the east,

Central Mountain Range The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. Due to this separation, connecting between the west and east is not very convenient. The tallest peak of th ...

to the west bordering

Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...

, Nantou County and

Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohs ...

, Yilan County to the north and Taitung County to the south. It stretches around from north to south with its width ranging from long from east to west. Its area is about and occupies one eighth of Taiwan's total area. Despite its vast area, only 7% of the county area is populated. The remaining area is occupied by rivers (7%) and mountains (87%). Mountains are composed of

in the west and

Hai'an Range The Coastal Mountain Range, also known as the Hai'an Range (), is a mountain range situated on the eastern coast of the island of Taiwan, and spans the border between Hualien and Taitung Counties. The Coastal Mountain Range is the northern port ...

in the east. The main rivers in the county are the Hualian River,

Xiuguluan River The Xiuguluan River () is the eighth-longest river in Taiwan with a total length of . It is located in the southeastern part of the island. It flows through the Huadong Valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean in Fengbin, Hualien. Overvie ...

and their branches. The plains stretch along the valleys between both mountain ranges with a width around . Due to the restriction of its landscape, Hualien people reside mostly on the

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

s of the

Huatung Valley The Huadong Valley or Hualien–Taitung Valley (), also known as East Rift Valley or the Longitudinal Valley, is a long and narrow valley located between the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range. It is also recognized as a plai ...

plains.

Government

Administrative divisions

Hualien County is divided into 1

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, 2 urban townships, 7 rural townships and 3 mountain indigenous townships. Some towns have Japanese names because these towns were named by Japanese during the Japanese ruling period from 1895 to 1945.

is the county seat and houses the Hualien County Government and

Hualien County Council The Hualien County Council (HLCC; ) is the elected county council of Hualien County Hualien County ( Mandarin Wade–Giles: Hua¹-lien² Hsien⁴; Pīnyīn: ''Huālián Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-koān'' or ''Hoa-liân-koān''; Hakk ...

. Colors indicate the common language status of

and

Formosan languages The Formosan languages are a geographic grouping comprising the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, all of which are Austronesian. They do not form a single subfamily of Austronesian but rather nine separate subfamilies. The Taiwa ...

within each division.

Politics

Hualien County voted one Democratic Progressive Party legislator to be in the Legislative Yuan during the

2016 Republic of China legislative election The 2016 Taiwanese legislative election was held, along with the presidential election, on 16 January 2016 for all 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by Tsai Ing-wen, who also won the presidential elect ...

. The incumbent Magistrate of the county is

Hsu Chen-wei Hsu Chen-wei (; born 12 October 1968) is a Taiwanese politician. She is the incumbent Magistrate of Hualien County since 25 December 2018. Political careers Publicly known as the wife of former Hualien County Magistrate Fu Kun-chi, Hsu was app ...

of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Climate

Demographics and culture

Population

Hualien County has 333,392 inhabitants as of December 2014 and is divided into 1

and 12

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

. Its late development means that many aboriginal cultures such as Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Truku, Sakizaya and Kavalan are well-preserved. As of 2014, aborigines make up 27.5% of the population of Hualien County (about 91,675). The

Hakka people The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

comprise about 30% of inhabitants. The county has seen negative population growth since the early 2000s due to emigration to other places outside Hualien County, with an average reduction of 1,393 people per year over the past 18 years. According to a 2015 survey on national happiness index, Hualien County was rated as the happiest place to live in Taiwan among other 20 counties and cities due to the residents happiness driven by strong levels of satisfaction with work-life balance, living condition, education, environmental quality and the performance of the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

Belief

The internationally famous Buddhist

Tzu Chi Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, known for short as the Tzu Chi Foundation ( zh, t=佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會, p=Fójiào Cí Jì Císhàn Shìyè Jījīn Huì, l=Buddhist Compassionate Relief Charity Foundation), is a Taiwanese in ...

foundation is headquartered in

. There are also many temples around the county. Buddhism and Folk religions are popular in Hualien County. Hualien County also has the highest concentration of Roman Catholics in Taiwan at 9.46% of the population.

Sports

Hualien County is home to the

Hualien Stadium Hualien Stadium (), as known as Te-hsing Stadium (), is a multi-use sport venue located in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. Notable events * 38th Golden Horse Awards See also * List of stadiums in Taiwan * Sports in Taiwan References

...

and Hualien Baseball Stadium. Because of its awesome scenic view, fresh air, fine weather, and plenty of well-maintained bike trails, Hualien County is a popular destination for cyclist enthusiasts and marathon runners. Many cycling tournaments and marathon events are held each year in Hualien County. For example,

Taiwan KOM Challenge The Taiwan KOM Challenge is a one-day road cycling race held annually in Taiwan. Created in 2012, the event is recognized as one of the most difficult cycling races in the world due having nearly 3500m of climbing over a 105 kilometer course. Vinc ...

and Taroko Gorge Marathon. Hualien also hosted the

2009 Asian Canoe Polo Championships 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

Economy

Xincheng Hualien Taiwan Asia Cement Corporation-03

There is

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

mining activity in the county. The

Asia Cement Corporation The Asia Cement Corporation (ACC; ) is a cement company of Taiwan. History ACC was founded on 21 March 1957. Cement plants * Hsinchu Plant at Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County * Hualien Plant at Xincheng Township, Hualien County Transport ...

plant in Xincheng Township contributes nearly 29% of Taiwan's annual cement production.

Education

Higher education

The Hualien County Department of Education lists in all 6 institutions of higher learning within the county's borders as well as 15 high schools, 35 junior high schools and 151 elementary schools, though some of the listed elementary campuses have been closed for years due to their remote location or to low enrollments. Hualien County is home to

National Dong Hwa University National Dong Hwa University (NDHU; ; shortened as "") is a national research university located in Hualien, Taiwan. Established in 1994, NDHU is widely considered as the most potential research university and the most prestigious university ...

Tzu Chi University Tzu Chi University (TCU; ) is a private university in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. It was founded by the Tzu Chi Foundation (NGO) and is famous in Taiwan for the quality of the medical education it provides. TCU has strong ties with H ...

, Taiwan Hospitality and Tourism University,

Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology (TCUST; ) is a private university in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. History Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology was established by Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassion Relief Foundation in ...

and Dahan Institute of Technology.

Mandarin education

National Dong Hwa University Chinese Language Center National Dong Hwa University Chinese Language Center (NDHU-CLC; ) is one of the most distinguished programs for Chinese as a second language study in Taiwan, which is run by National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) in Hualien, Taiwan. In 2019, NDHU ...

*Tzu Chi University Chinese Language Center

Energy

Hualien County houses the hydroelectric

Bihai Power Plant The Bihai Power Plant () is a hydroelectric power plant in Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. History The geological survey and exploratory drilling for the project were started in 1996 and construction was started in 2001. After 15 year ...

with an installed capacity of 61.2 MW and coal-fired

Hoping Power Plant The Hoping Power Plant () is a coal-fired power plant in Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. With the installed capacity of 1,320 MW, the power plant is the fourth largest coal-fired power plant in Taiwan. Generation Electricity generated ...

with a capacity of 1,320 MW, the fourth largest coal-fired power plant in Taiwan. Both power plants are located in Xiulin Township. Due to the power plant, Hoping is also the location of a deep water

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude o ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

. Hoping port is located in Hoping Village, Xiulin Township.

Tourist attractions

Taiwan 2009 HuaLien Taroko Gorge Temple FRD 6719

Nature

National parks in the county are Matai'an Wetland Ecological Park,

Taroko National Park Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is lo ...

and

Yushan National Park Yushan National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the summit Yushan, the highest peak of the park.Hehuan Mountain, Pingfeng Mountain,

Qilai Mountain Mount Qilai () is a mountain in Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. Its highest point of the range, the Northern Peak, is above sea level. It is named after the Sakizaya people. See also *List of mountains in Taiwan The island of Tai ...

and Qingshui Cliff. Other natural areas include the Liyu Lake, Shihtiping, Mugua River Gorge
Walami Trail
Niushan Huting, East Rift Valley, Rareseed Ranch,

Lintianshan Forestry Culture Park The Lintianshan Forestry Culture Park () is a former lumber town in Fenglin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. History Forestry began in the area since 1918 with a name of Morisaka. The park was originally the ground for logs processing area f ...

and

Museums

Museums and historical buildings in Hualien County include Dongli Story House, Hualien Sugar Factory, Pine Garden, Saoba Stone Pillars,

Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park The Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park () is a multi-purpose park in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. History The buildings in the area used to be constructed during the Japanese rule of Taiwan The island of Taiwan, toge ...

Lintian Police Substation and Old Lintian Police Station The Lintian Police Substation and Old Lintian Police Station () is a former police station in Fenglin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the Ea ...

, Chihsing Tan Katsuo Museum and

Hualien County Stone Sculptural Museum The Hualien County Stone Sculptural Museum () is a museum of stone sculpture in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. History The museum was opened in 2001 as the first stone sculpture museum in Taiwan. Architecture The museum is a two-story b ...

Theme parks

Farglory Ocean Park The Farglory Ocean Park () or Hualien Ocean Park is a water theme park in Yanliao Village, Shoufeng Township, Hualien, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and ...

is in Hualien County.

Places of worships

Hualien Martyrs' Shrine, Hualien Sheng'an Temple, Hualien Chenghuang Temple, Xiangde Temple,

Eternal Spring Shrine Eternal Spring Shrine, also called Changchun Shrine (), is a landmark and a memorial shrine complex in Taroko National Park in Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. It is one of the major picturesque points of the park, with the view of the m ...

and Hualien Al-Falah Mosque are located in the county.

Markets

Night markets in the county are

Dongdamen Night Market The Dongdamen Night Market or Dongdaemun Night Market () is a Night markets in Taiwan, night market in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. It is the largest night market in the county. Name ''Dongdamen'' means ''big east gate'' in English du ...

Transportation

Hualien Airport Hualien Airport (; ami, Pahikukiyan nu Kalinku; Seediq: ) is a commercial airport located in an civilian area of Chiashan Air Force Base in Xincheng, Hualien County, Taiwan. With flights to Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung, it served 235,386 ...

Taiwan Railways Administration Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is a railway operator in Taiwan. It is an agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, responsible for managing, maintaining, and running conventional passenger and freight railway services ...

–

North-Link Line The North-Link Line () is the central section of the Eastern Line of the Taiwan Railways Administration. The length of its mainline is 79.2 km, and there is a 7.4 km long branch between Beipu and Hualien Port. History The high mountai ...

and

Hualien-Taitung Line The Taitung Line (), also known as the Hua-Tung line (), is the southern section of the Eastern Line of the Taiwan Railways Administration. The line starts at the Hualien station and ends at the Taitung station. It is 161.5 km long, includ ...

*Provincial Highway No.8 (

Central Cross-Island Highway The Central Cross-Island Highway () or Provincial Highway 8 is one of three highway systems that connect the west coast with the east of Taiwan. Construction The construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway began on July 7, 1956 and wa ...

) * Provincial Highway No. 9 (Su'ao-Hualien and Hualien-Taitung Highway) * Provincial Highway No. 11 (Hualien-Taitung Coast Highway) *Provincial Highway No. 14 * Provincial Highway No. 16 * Provincial Highway No. 23 (Fuli-Donghe Highway) * Provincial Highway No. 30 ( Yuchang Highway) *County Road No.193 *

Port of Hualien The Port of Hualien () is an international port on the Pacific Ocean in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. Its artificial harbor protected by breakwaters was built in 1930–1939. There are 25 wharves in Hualien Port. The annual container volu ...

*Heping Cement Port

Relative location

References

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