Wulai District (

Atayal Atayal may refer to: * Atayal people * Atayal language The Atayal language is spoken by the Atayal people of Taiwan. Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’) are two major dialects. Mayrinax and Pa’kuali’, two subdialects of C’uli’, are uniqu ...

: Ulay; ) is a mountain indigenous district in southern New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. It sits near the border with Taipei and is famous for its

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

. It is the largest district in New Taipei, as well as the most mountainous, and is home to the indigenous Atayal people.

Name

The name of the town derives from the

phrase ''kilux ulay'' meaning "hot and poisonous" when an Atayal hunter hunting by a stream saw mist coming from the stream.

History

Formerly classified as "Aboriginal Area" under Taihoku Prefecture during Japanese rule. After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the

Republic of China 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 northeast ...

in 1945, Wulai was organized as a rural township of Taipei County. On June 22, 2001, President Chen Shui-bian visited a local school and hosted the graduation ceremony. On 25 December 2010, Taipei County was upgraded to 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 ...

named New Taipei City and Wulai was upgraded into a district. In August 2015, Wulai was devastated by

Typhoon Soudelor Typhoon Soudelor, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Hanna, was the third most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2015 after Hurricane Patricia and Cyclone Pam as well as the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2015 Pacific typhoon season. Sou ...

, wiping out several hotels and destroying hot springs in the region. Course of the Nanshi River that passes through the district has changed and the riverbank was eroded heavily by surging water. Heavy landslides were attributed to the

overdevelopment In international economics, overdevelopment refers to a way of seeing global inequality and pollution that focuses on the negative consequences of excessive consumption. It exists as the mutually constitutive counterpart to the more commonly known ...

of the mountain areas around the river which damaged the soil and watershed along the slope lands.

Geography

Txu-pclmaps-oclc-6550512-kakubanzazn-2321-ii

* Elevation: (average) * Area: * Population: 6,165 People (December 2014)

Administrative divisions

Wulai District is divided into five urban villages: * Zhongzhi/Jhongjhih (), Wulai (), Xiaoyi/Siaoyi (), Xinxian/Sinsian () and Fushan () Village.

Tourist attractions

Wulai is a tourist town most renowned for its

, sightseeing, and aboriginal culture. Other activities include hiking, camping, swimming, fishing, and birdwatching. During the spring, visitors come see the cherry trees bloom. According to locals, bathing in the odorless hot springs can cure skin diseases (such as ringworm, eczema, and herpes). *

Fushan Botanical Garden The Fushan Botanical Garden () is a botanical garden in Yuanshan Township, Yilan County and Wulai District, New Taipei in Taiwan. It is managed by Taiwan Forestry Research Institute. History The area used to be inhabited by the Atayal people. ...

* Neidong National Forest Recreation Area *

Wulai Atayal Museum Wulai District ( Atayal: Ulay; ) is a mountain indigenous district in southern New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. It sits near the border with Taipei and is famous for its hot springs. It is the largest district in New Taipei, as well as the m ...

Wulai Forestry Life Museum The Wulai Forestry Life Museum () is a museum about forest in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. History The museum was formerly the Wulai Tram Museum or Wulai Log Cart Museum (). Exhibitions The museum exhibits the history of logging in Wula ...

Wulai Old Street The Wulai Old Street () is a street in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. Architecture The street is a shopping district located along Huanshan Road and Pubu Road. It is located at Atayal aboriginal village filled with many food stalls and re ...

Yun Hsien Resort The Yun Hsien Resort () is a resort in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. History The resort was originally opened on 6 August 1967 and constructed as the first theme park in Taiwan. Architecture The resort features a zoo and theme park. Tra ...

Wulai Hot Spring The Wulai Hot Spring () is a hot spring in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. Name The name ''Wulai'' comes from Atayal language “Ulay” which means ''streaming water''. Geology The hot spring town situates in the Xueshan Range, and spread ...

– visitors often go to the numerous hot spring hotels, public baths, as well as the Nanshi River. * Waterfalls – Several waterfalls exist in the Wulai gorge, but the largest is

Wulai Waterfall The Wulai Waterfall () or ''Kuân-tsuí'' (lit. high water) in Taiwanese Hokkien, is a waterfall in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. Geology The height of the waterfall is around 80 meters. It has a width of around 10 meters. Transportation ...

. * Wulai Gondola – the gondola takes visitors to the top of Wulai Waterfall, where it accesses the Yun Hsien Resort. *

aboriginal culture – many shops in Wulai specialize in aboriginal foods, arts, crafts, and clothing.

Transportation

Road

Wulai District is accessible by Xindian Bus from Xindian Station of Taipei Metro to Wulai Bus Terminus. The 9A branch line of the Provincial Highway 9 passes through the district.

Rail

The district also has the

Wulai Scenic Train The Wulai Scenic Train (), also known as Wulai Trolley, is a 1.6 km railway line in Wulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan. History The rail cart was originally designed by the Japanese government in 1928 to transport timber, logging tools, tea an ...

, a converted mine train built during the Japanese era that takes visitors from downtown Wulai to the attractions at the base of

Notable people

* Tony Coolidge (1970-), Atayal-American filmmaker

Gallery

File:Wulai IMG 0291.JPG, Children playing in the Wulai River File:Wulai IMG 0310.JPG, Wulai Falls as seen from above from the Gondola File:Wulai IMG 0315.JPG, Wulai Gorge as seen from the Gondola File:Wulai IMG 0276.JPG, Aboriginal Shops on the main street File:Dreamland Park, Wulai.jpg,

File:Tonghou River in Wulai.jpg, A view of the buildings around theTonghou River.

References

External links

*
台北縣烏來鄉簡介 - 烏來四季1
('Introduction to Wulai Township, Taipei County - The Four Seasons in Wulai, Part 1') {{coord, 24, 52, N, 121, 33, E, display=title, region:TW_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Taiwan placenames originating from Formosan languages