Lably
Skip to content

Hualien County

County of Taiwan

  • 8 min read
  • 12 chapters
Montage of various Hualien County images.
Sleepingstar · CC BY-SA 4.0

Related on Lably

Through Terrain, Organic farming and River delta

LabFibre to FabricLab · Class 5–9Rivers & LandformsLab · Class 3–7Water Cycle Simulation

Most of its population resides in the Huadong Valley, which runs north to south between the Central and Hai'an mountain ranges. Hualien's natural environment attracts many visitors and some of its natural attractions include Taroko Gorge, Qingshui Cliff, and Qixingtan Beach.

Much of modern-day Hualien County was populated by the Sakizaya people before the arrival of the Spanish, Dutch, and Han Chinese under Qing annexation. The region was renamed Karenkō Prefecture in 1895 during Japanese colonial rule. In 1945, after the end of World War II, the Republic of China took control of Taiwan and renamed the former Karenkō Prefecture as Hualien County of Taiwan Province. Taiwan Province would be reorganized once again in 1998 and Hualien County fell under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan.

As of February 2023, Hualien's organic cultivation area was 3,175 hectares (7,850 acres), the largest of any county in the country. Hualien is the largest organic agricultural production base in Taiwan.

History

Early history

Modern-day Hualien City was originally called Kilai (Chinese: 奇萊; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kî-lâi), after the Sakizaya Taiwanese indigenous peoples' settlement.

Spanish settlers arrived in 1622 to pan for gold. Picking up the sounds of native words, these settlers called the area Turumoan (多羅滿; To-lô-boán). Han Chinese settlers arrived in 1851. Qing dynasty records give the name of the region as Huilan (洄瀾; Hoê-liân; 'eddies') due to the whirling of waters in the delta.

Empire of Japan

During Taiwan's Japanese colonial period (1895–1945) the island's Japanese governors opted not to transliterate the name "Kiray" because the Japanese pronunciation of the word resembled the Japanese word for "dislike, disgusting" (嫌い, kirai). The official name became Karenkō (花蓮港, Karenkō). Karenkō Prefecture consisted of modern-day Hualien County. Toward the end of World War II the Governor-General of Taiwan moved many Japanese residents of Taiwan to the area to develop agriculture. The county was named after lotus flowers.

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in October 1945, Hualien was established as a county named Hualien County of Taiwan Province on 9 January 1946. In 1951, Hualien was the first county in Taiwan to be governed according to the ROC local autonomy law. Today the Hualien area serves as the key population center on the east coast it is one of the five main 'life circle' regions in Taiwan, together with Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

2021 train derailment

On 2 April 2021, a Taroko Express derailed at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel after striking an unattended flatbed truck that had fallen onto the tracks. The incident is the deadliest train accident in Taiwan since 1948, with at least 50 passengers reported dead and more than 150 injured.

2025 severe flooding

On September 23, 2025, severe flooding caused by Typhoon Ragasa left 19 people dead and 5 missing. The Taiwanese government stated that each family that suffered from the flooding would obtain at least 50,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 1,800 USD) in compensation.

Sign in to keep reading

11 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Regions and countries

British ColumbiaProvince of CanadaKeralaState in southwestern IndiaMassachusettsU.S. stateVirginiaU.S. stateNative Americans in the United StatesIndigenous peoples of the United StatesKarnatakaState in southwestern India