Hualien County

Hualien County 花蓮 縣
Left to right and top to bottom: Liyu Lake in Shoufeng, Tobacco Store in Fenglin, Cross Island Highway near Taroko Gorge, Qixingtan Beach in Xincheng, Hualien Train Station, Cingshui Cliffs, rice field in Shoufeng off the Taiwanese foothills Central Mountains
emblem flag
State :	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Coordinates :	24 ° 0 ′  N , 121 ° 30 ′  E Coordinates: 24 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 121 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  E
Height :	0 - 3805  m
Area :	4,628.6  km²
Residents :	328,683 (April 2018)
Population density :	71 inhabitants per km²
Time zone :	UTC + 8 (Chungyuan time)
Telephone code :	(+886) (0) 3
Postal code :	970-983
ISO 3166-2 :	TW-HUA
District capital :	Hualien ( 花蓮 市 )
Structure :	1 city ( 市 ), 2 municipalities ( 鎮 ) 10 rural municipalities ( 鄉 )
District Administrator:	Hsu Chen-wei ( 徐 榛 蔚 ) ( KMT )
Website :	www.hl.gov.tw
Circle bird:	Blood pyrole ( Oriolus traillii )
Circle flower:	Indian lotus flower
Circle tree:	Poplar fig

The district of Hualien ( Chinese  花蓮 縣 , Pinyin Huālián Xiàn , Tongyong Pinyin Hualián Siàn , W.-G. Hua-lien Hsien ) is a district of the Republic of China in Taiwan . It occupies the central part of eastern Taiwan and, with an area of ​​4628 km², is the largest of all 22 districts and cities in the Republic of China . Its capital is the city of Hualien .

location

Hualien County is bordered by Yilan County to the north, Taichung City to the northwest , Nantou County to the west, Kaohsiung City to the southwest , Taitung County to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the east .

Most of the county is covered by Taiwan's central mountain range , the Chungyang Mountains, which extend to the sea in the northeast. There, the river is located on the lower reaches Liwu the carved into marble rocks Taroko Gorge , one of the greatest natural attractions of Taiwan. The gorge is the most important tourist attraction of the Hualien County and is embedded in the Taroko National Park , which covers almost the entire north of the county.

A narrow coastal plain extends around the district town of Hualien, to the south of which the Huatung Trench separates the central mountains from the up to 1682 m high Haian coastal mountains . The Yushan National Park extends into the southwest of the district. There is the Xiuguluan Shan ( 秀姑 巒 山 ) on the border to the neighboring district of Nantou , the highest mountain in the district of Hualien with 3805 m.

population

Because of its remote location, Chinese settlers did not reach the Hualien County area until the mid-19th century, later than other parts of Taiwan. Today the mountainous district is one of the most sparsely populated regions on the island. The only larger city with about 110,000 inhabitants is the county seat of Hualien.

Hualien County is the main settlement area for the Yanks , the largest indigenous people in Taiwan . It is also home to members of the Atayal , Bunun , Truku , Sakizaya and Kavalan . In total, the indigenous peoples make up around a quarter of the 330,000 inhabitants, and members of the Hakka make up another 30% .

Transport and infrastructure

Hualien County is the only county in Taiwan that is not connected to the motorway network, along with its southern neighbor Taitung . The main roads as well as the main eastern route of the Taiwanese railway traverse the district in a north-south direction. The Tarakoschlucht is the starting point of a 3275 m high pass road over the Hehuanshan into the district of Nantou , which is the only direct road connection through the interior of the island to central and western Taiwan.

The capital, Hualien, has the most important port on Taiwan's east coast and Hualien Airport , which is mainly used for domestic flights . From the airport there are charter flights to other Asian countries, as well as scheduled flights to Hong Kong since December 2016 .

politics

The district's self-governing body is the district council of Hualien ( Chinese  花蓮 縣 議會 , Pinyin Huālián Xiàn Yìhuì ), which consists of 33 delegates and is elected every four years. Traditionally, the Kuomintang has had a strong position in county politics. In the 2014 election she achieved an absolute majority. The head of the district is the district administrator ( 花蓮 縣長 ) , who is elected directly every 4 years .

Symbols of the district

Some plants and animals have been declared official symbols of the district. The poplar fig is the district's official tree. The tree has a certain religious meaning, since the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama is said to have experienced his enlightenment meditating under a fig. The district's bird is the blood pyrole ( Oriolus traillii ), a Taiwanese songbird that got its German name from its deep red belly color, and the district's official flower is the lotus, which also has a certain meaning in Buddhism as a symbol of purity.

cities and communes

Parishes in Hualien County
Xiulin Xincheng Hualien Ji'an Shoufeng Fenglin Fengbin Guangfu Ruisui Wanrong Yuli Zhuoxi Fuli

The Changchun Shrine in the Taroko Gorge

Monument to the point where the coastal road Hualien- Taitung the Tropic of Cancer crosses

The county town of Hualien is the only town ( 市 , Shì ) in the county. There are also two urban communities ( 鎮 , Zhèn ) and ten rural communities ( 鄉 , Xiāng ).

Some parishes have Japanese names from the time of Japanese rule over Taiwan between 1895 and 1945. All parishes in the district have the status of " regions of indigenous peoples ", in which indigenous cultures and languages ​​are to receive special promotion. According to the official statistics from April 2018, the population figures and area data for the municipalities were as follows:

local community	chin.	Hanyu Pinyin	Taiwanese (POJ)	Area (km²)	Residents	Ew./km²
1 city
Hualien	花蓮 市	Huālián Shì	Hoa-liân-chhī	29.4095	104.003	3536
2 municipalities
Fenglin	鳳林 鎮	Fènglín Zhèn	Hōng-lîm-tìn	120.5181	10,857	90
Yuli	玉里 鎮	Yùlǐ Zhèn	Gio̍k-lí-tìn	252.3719	24,235	96
7 rural communities
Fengbin	豐 濱 鄉	Fēngbīn Xiāng	Hong-pin-hiong	162.4332	4515	28
Fuli	富 里 鄉	Fùlǐ Xiāng	Hù-lí-hiong	176.3705	10,366	59
Guangfu	光復 鄉	Guāngfù Xiāng	Kong-ho̍k-hiong	157.1100	12,868	82
Ji'an	吉安 鄉	Jí'ān Xiāng	Kiat-an-hiong	65.2582	83,646	1282
Ruisui	瑞穗 鄉	Ruìsuì Xiāng	Sūi-sūi-hiong	135.5862	11,694	86
Shoufeng	壽 豐 鄉	Shòufēng Xiāng	Siū-hong-hiong	218.4448	18,016	83
Xincheng	新 城鄉	Xīnchéng Xiāng	Sin-siâⁿ-hiong	29.4095	20,104	684
3 mountainous communities of the indigenous people
Wanrong	萬榮 鄉	Wànróng Xiāng	Bān-êng-hiong	618.4910	6435	10
Xiulin	秀林 鄉	Xiùlín Xiāng	Siù-lîm-hiong	1641.8555	15,888	10
Zhuoxi	卓 溪鄉	Zhuóxī Xiāng	Toh-khe-hiong	1021.3130	6079	6th

Web links

• Hualien County Tourist Website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jim Liu: HK Express adds Hualien service from Dec 2016. routesonline.com, August 15, 2016, accessed December 9, 2017 . 
2. ↑ 花蓮 縣 議會 (Hualien County Council). District council website, accessed June 9, 2018 (Chinese). 
3. ↑ 黨團> 中國 國民黨 (party groups> Kuomintang). District council website, accessed June 9, 2018 (Chinese). 
4. ^ County Tree of Hualien — Religiosa. Hualien County Government website, accessed January 14, 2018 . 
5. ^ County Bird — Maroon Oriole. Hualien County Government website, accessed January 14, 2018 . 
6. ^ County Flower. Hualien County Government website, accessed January 14, 2018 . 
7. ↑ 各 月 人口 資料 （括弧 內 為 資料 起始 年月） 03 鄉鎮 戶數 及 人口 數 (9701) ("Population data for each month (in brackets is the starting month of the data) 03 municipalities and population (9701)"). Taiwan Ministry of the Interior, accessed May 11, 2018 (Chinese).