Wulai District (
Atayal: Ulay; ) is a
mountain indigenous district in southern
New Taipei City
New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...
in northern
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 sits near the border 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 ...
and is famous for its
hot springs.
It is the largest district in New Taipei, as well as the most mountainous, and is home to the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
Atayal people
The Atayal (), also known as the Tayal and the Tayan, are a Taiwanese indigenous people. The Atayal people number around 90,000, approximately 15.9% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the third-largest indigenous group. The pre ...
.
Name
The name of the town derives from the
Atayal 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
Taihoku Prefecture (台北州; ''Taihoku-shū'') was an administrative division of Taiwan created in 1920, during Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Keelung, New Taipei City, Taipei and Yilan County. Its government office, ...
during
Japanese rule. After the
handover of Taiwan from Japan to the
Republic of China in 1945, Wulai was organized as a
rural township of
Taipei County
New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...
.
On June 22, 2001, President
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
visited a local school and hosted the graduation ceremony.
On 25 December 2010, Taipei County was upgraded to a
special municipality named
New Taipei City
New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...
and Wulai was upgraded into a
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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
.
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
The Nanshi River (; DT: Lamsiw kev) is a river in Taiwan. The river is governed by Water Management Office of Taipei City Government overseen by the Water Resources Agency.
Geography
The river flows through Wulai District and Xindian District o ...
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
*
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
: (average)
*
Area
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an ope ...
:
*
Population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
: 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
hot springs, 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
*
Neidong National Forest Recreation Area
*
Wulai Atayal Museum
*
Wulai Forestry Life Museum
*
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
*
Wulai Hot Spring – visitors often go to the numerous hot spring hotels, public baths, as well as the
Nanshi River
The Nanshi River (; DT: Lamsiw kev) is a river in Taiwan. The river is governed by Water Management Office of Taipei City Government overseen by the Water Resources Agency.
Geography
The river flows through Wulai District and Xindian District o ...
.
* Waterfalls – Several waterfalls exist in the Wulai gorge, but the largest is
Wulai Waterfall.
* Wulai Gondola – the gondola takes visitors to the top of Wulai Waterfall, where it accesses the Yun Hsien Resort.
*
Atayal 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
Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, which also operates the Maokong Gondo ...
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, a converted mine train built during the Japanese era that takes visitors from downtown Wulai to the attractions at the base of
Wulai Waterfall.
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, Yun Hsien Resort
File:Tonghou River in Wulai.jpg, A view of the buildings around theTonghou River.
See also
*
New Taipei
New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...
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')
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Taiwan placenames originating from Formosan languages