Donggang Township or Tungkang Township () is an urban

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in west-central

Pingtung County Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Located on Taiwan's western coastline, along the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

, it has one of Taiwan's largest fishing harbors. Dapeng Bay with its national scenic area is just south of Donggang. The town also hosts Donglong Temple (), which is dedicated to "Lord Wen" (. The word Wen is pronounced the same as "plague" in both Hokkien and Mandarin Chinese) and is known for its triannual ceremony of "burning lord's boat" (burning plague boat).

History

Donggang was opened as a port by the Chinese admiral

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), born Zheng Sen () and better known internationally by his honorific title Koxinga (, from Taiwanese: ''kok sèⁿ iâ''), was a Southern Ming general who resisted the Qing conquest of Chin ...

in the 17th century. It was a major commercial port for Taiwan until the end of the 19th century. During Japanese rule, it was placed under

Takao Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County. Population Administrative divisions Cities and district ...

as Tōkō town (東港街) and served the Japanese naval facilities in Dapeng Bay.

Administrative divisions

The township comprises 23 villages: Bade, Chengyu, Chuantou, Dapeng, Datan, Dingxin, Dingzhong, Fengyu, Gonghe, Jialian, Nanping, Tunghe, Tunglong, Xiabu, Xinghe, Xingnong, Xingtai, Xingtung, Xingyu, Xinsheng, Zenghai, Zhaoan and Zhongxing.

Economy

Donggang's primary economic activities are

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The town has a tourism industry which peaks during April to June, due to the availability and increasing popularity of the southern bluefin tuna for

sashimi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or Raw meat, meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means 'pierced body', i.e., "wikt:刺身, 刺身" = ''sashimi'', whe ...

. The town's other delicacies include karasumi (desalinated mullet roe) and sakura shrimp.

Tourist attractions

* Dapeng Bay national scenic area * Donglong Temple *

Jinde Bridge The Jinde Bridge () is a bridge connecting Donggang Township and Xinyuan Township in Pingtung County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, als ...

Penbay International Circuit Penbay International Circuit (PIC; ) is a motor sport circuit in Donggang, Pingtung, Donggang Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. The circuit is long with widths from 12m to 20m. It has five configurations. It officially opened on 9 October 2011 ...

* Tongkang Mosque

Notable natives

* Shih Chia-hsin, mayor of Donggang (1953-1959) * Kuo Ting-tsai, member 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 four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

(1993–2002) * Lee Shying-jow, Minister of

Veterans Affairs Council The Veterans Affairs Council (VAC; ) is a branch of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) with "responsibilities to assist in education assistance, employment assistance, medical care, home care and other general services" for retir ...

(2016–2018)

Transportation

The nearest railway stations to Donggang Township are Nanzhou Station or Linbian Station of the

TRA Tra or TRA may refer to: Biology * TRA (gene), in humans encodes the protein T-cell receptor alpha locus * Tra (gene), in ''Drosophila melanogaster'' encodes the protein female-specific protein transformer * Tra gene, a transfer gene * Triple rel ...

Pingtung Line The Pingtung Line () is part of the West Coast line of Taiwan Railway. It is long, of which is double track. The section between Nanzhou and Linbian railway stations will be upgraded from a single-track railway to a double-track railw ...

. Ferry services connect Donggang to Baisha Port and Dafu Port on Lamay Island.

References

External links

Staff (2003) "Tastes and Colors of Pingtung: The Three Treasures of Tungkang" ''Sinorama Magazine''Tunkang Coastline, Pingtung County (Taiwan)
Coastal Photograph by

Hubert Chanson Hubert Chanson (born 1 November 1961) is a professional engineer and academic in hydraulic engineering and environmental fluid mechanics. Since 1990 he has worked at the University of Queensland. Research Chanson completed a Doctor of Philosop ...

, Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 25, No. 5, Sept., p. 1176 (ISSN 0749-0208) {{Townships in Taiwan Townships in Pingtung County