Cingshuei Township Office, Taichung County 20080610

Qingshui District (), also spelled as Chingshui District, is a coastal suburban

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in western

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Qingshui is located on the Qingshui Plain of Taiwan. It borders the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...

to the west, the

Dajia River Dajia River () is the fifth-longest river in Taiwan located in the north-central of the island. It flows through Taichung City for 142 km. The sources of the Dajia are: Hsuehshan and Nanhu Mountain in the Central Mountain Range. The Dajia R ...

to the north, and the

Dadu Plateau The Dadu Plateau (), also known as Dadu Mountain or Dadushan (), is a plateau that stretches across Taichung, Taiwan. It borders the Taichung Basin in the east and the seacoast of Taichung in the west, and lies between the Dajia River and the Da ...

to the east. Qingshui shares borders with Da'an, Dajia, and Waipu to the north, Shengang to the east, and Wuqi and Shalu to the south.

History

The earliest evidence of humans living in this area is from 4000 years ago in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

Age. The archaeological site is preserved in the Niumatou Site. Before the influx of the

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 distinctive va ...

, this area was known as ''Gomach'' (牛罵頭) by the

Papora people The Papora () are a Taiwanese indigenous people. They lived primarily in the area around Taichung and the Taiwanese western coastal littoral. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Dutch East India Company traded with the Papora and provide reco ...

. In the

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-speak ...

, the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

opened up the area for Chinese settlement. During this time, the area was known as ''Niumatou'', which is an alternative pronunciation of ''Gomach''. The two largest families that moved into this area were the

Yang Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration ...

and the

Tsai Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...

. Today, these two surnames remain as the most prominent surnames in Qingshui. During Japanese Rule, the name was changed to ''Kiyomizu Town'' (清水街), which was administered under Taikō District, Taichu Prefecture. After the Nationalists took over, the Japanese name was preserved but with the Chinese pronunciation ''Qingshui Township''. It was located within

Taichung County Taichung County was a county in central Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Yuanlin Township before 1950 and Fongyuan City after 1950. History Taichung County was established on 26 November 1945 on the territory of Taichū ...

. In 2010, Taichung County was promoted into a

special municipality Special municipality may refer to: * Special municipality (Netherlands) There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands (), representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility fo ...

, and Qingshui was promoted from a "township" to a "district".

Tourist attractions

Gaomei Wetlands Gaomei Wetlands (), officially Gaomei Wetland Preservation Area (), is a wetland in Qingshui District, Taichung, Taiwan. History Gaomei Wetlands was established on 29 September 2005. In August 2015, Typhoon Soudelor destroyed 6 out of 18 wind tu ...

: a 701-acre wetland formed when an embankment was constructed for the

Port of Taichung The Port of Taichung (), also Taichung Port, is a port located in Wuqi District, Taichung, Taiwan. It is the second-largest port in Taiwan after Kaohsiung Port and operated by Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Taiwan's state-owned harbor m ...

, causing the

's sediment to settle in this area. ** Gaomei Lighthouse * Niumatou Site: a

archaeological site dating from 4000 years ago. *

Taichung City Seaport Art Center The Taichung City Seaport Art Center () is an art center in Qingshui District, Taichung, Taiwan. History The construction of the center began in 1993. It was then officially opened in March 2000. Architecture The center was constructed with a ...

Wuqi Fishing Port The Wuqi Fishing Port () is a fishing port and fish market in Qingshui District, Taichung, Taiwan. The port is part of the Port of Taichung. History The fishing port was opened in 1989. Features The port features the fish trading area, food c ...

* Ziyun Temple: a Buddhist temple dedicated to

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

, dating back to 1750 AD.

Transportation

Qingshui is served by the TRA Qingshui and Taichung Port stations. Qingshui is served by the following national roads: * TWHW3

National Freeway 3 National Freeway 3 (), also known as Formosa Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan. It is the second north–south freeway in Taiwan, beginning in Keelung City at Jijin Interchange on the provincial highway 2 (Jijin Road) and ending in Linbian, Ping ...

: The Zhongang System Interchange, which connects to Freeway 4 and the Qingshui Rest Stop are located in the district. * TWHW4

: The Zhongang System Interchange, which connects to Freeway 3 and the Qingshui Interchange are located in the district. * TW PHW1

Provincial Highway 1 * TW PHW10

Provincial Highway 10 ** TW PHW10b

Provincial Highway 10B, a branch of Provincial Highway 10 * TW PHW17

Provincial Highway 17 * TW PHW61

Provincial Highway 61 There is also a railway line.

Notable people

* Liao Tian-ding, a Robin Hood figure during the Japanese rule. *

Cheng Yen Cheng Yen (; born Chin-Yun Wong; 14 May 1937) is a Taiwanese Buddhist nun ( bhikkhuni), teacher, and philanthropist. She is the founder of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, ordinarily referred to as Tzu Chi, a Buddhist humanita ...

, Buddhist

bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

and philosopher * Paul Chu, physicist *

Tsai Chi-chang Tsai Chi-chang (; born 16 April 1969) is a Taiwanese politician. He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in Taichung's first constituency in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He is currently the Deputy Speaker of Legislative Yuan, having served in thi ...

, vice president of

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

* Li Jing, TV hostess and model * Tsai Dui, Minister of Transportation and Communication

References