Shoufeng Township is located in the eastern part of Hualien County, with a total area of ​​approximately 218.4448 square kilometers. It is situated on the East Rift Valley plains, in between the coastal mountains on the east side and the Central Mountain Range on the west side. Branches of the Hualien Stream also flow through Shoufeng, including Papaya Creek, Zhiyagan Creek and Laoxi Creek. Together with the beautiful topography of the coast, these features have made Shoufeng Township a part of the East Coast National Scenic Area and a popular scenic destination for tourists.

Shoufeng Township was formerly the settlement of the Amis indigenous tribe. The Han people's land reclamation activities began around the Ming Dynasty and lasted until the Qing Dynasty, when the North Road, Central Road and South Road were constructed, which improved the traffic in the eastern back hills and launched the development of Shoufeng Township. After the First Sino-Japanese War resulted in the Qing Dynasty ceding Taiwan to Japan, the Japanese governor of Taiwan encouraged Japanese people to emigrate to the eastern areas. Fengtian Village and Lintian Village were established, and Shouyi Farm was set up. Thus began the planned development of the area. After Taiwan’s retrocession at the end of World War II in 1945, in order to seek auspiciousness and hope for local prosperity, the Shoufeng Township of Hualien County was established and 17 villages were placed under its jurisdiction.

When you come to Hualien County’s Shoufeng Township, you can visit Liyu Lake, Chinan Forest Recreation Area, Hualien Ocean Park, Yanliao and Nansi Temple, Shuilian Tourism Orchard, Fengtian Immigrant Village, Jiye Village, and Qingxiu Shrine (also known as Yoshino Shrine), a historical restored Shinto shrine. You will be able to experience the pleasant scenery of Hualien here.



Fengtian Immigrant Village | 豐田移民村

Fengtian Immigrant Village, also known as "Toyota Immigrant Village," is located in the area of ​​Fengli Village in Shoufeng Township. It is the second immigrant village set up by the Japanese colonial government at the time. It has an immigrants’ guidance office, a police station, a medical clinic, a shrine, a Buddhist school, a primary school and other facilities. The place names are the same as they were during the Japanese occupation period. This is one of the best preserved Japanese immigrant villages in Taiwan. The Fengli Elementary School in the village and the small auditorium in the school are both old ruins from that period of time. The torii gate (a traditional Japanese entrance to a sacred place) at Bilian Temple in the village is about 10 meters high and 6 meters wide; it’s the only one of the three original torii gates of Fengtian (Toyota) Shrine, which is completely preserved. Due to the large population of Hakka people in the Fengtian area, the "Fengtian Police Station" during the Japanese occupation period, has been converted into the Fengtian Hakka Cultural Center, to promote Hakka cultural industries


Liyu Lake | 鯉魚潭


© Tourism Bureau (Photo credit: Peng Rong-cai)

Liyu Lake is located at the foot of Liyu Mountain in Chinan Village of Shoufeng Township. It is only 18 kilometers away from Hualien City. It is a scenic spot in Hualien, which was famous in the early days. The longest north-south stretch of Liyu Lake is about 1.6 kilometers; and the widest part running from east to west is about 930 meters.  It’s the largest inland lake in Hualien County. Due to the rich recreational resources in the surrounding area, Liyu Lake has developed into a well-known scenic spot early on. After the establishment of the East Rift Valley National Scenic Area, the local authority actively planned the integration of Liyu Lake into a diversified recreational base that can be used for leisure activities, cycling around the lake or walking along the waterfront.

There is a visitor center in the north side of the lake. Tourists can obtain the most detailed information from this center. At the waterfront recreation area on the west side of the lake, there are various hydrophilic activities and leisure facilities, which are suitable for families and young people to have fun while enjoying the scenery. The round-the-lake bike lane, which is about 5 kilometers long, allows riders to enjoy the pleasant scenery of the lake on two wheels. There are also several forest trails on Liyu Mountain, which is 601 meters above sea level. It is the best hiking route for forest bathing, bird watching and flower viewing.


Qingxiu (Yoshino) Shrine | 慶修院



During the Japanese occupation period, Ji'an Township was the main base for large numbers of Japanese immigrants. In order to help the immigrants settle into Taiwan and to spread religion, in 1917, the Japanese immigrants established the “Yoshino Buddhism School,” which is now the Qingxiu Temple. In addition to being the center of spiritual belief for these Japanese immigrants, Qingxiu Temple was equipped with various functions such as a medical clinic, classrooms, and funeral services.

The shape of the buildings of the Qingxiu Temple mainly follows the form of the traditional Takaya Mountain Temple in Japan. There are cloisters around the courtyard, and all kinds of flowers and trees are planted all around temple. The environment is quiet and the scenery is beautiful. After the Japanese defeat and evacuation, the Qingxiu Temple, which had been silent and dilapidated for a long time, was put under the management of local residents who transformed it into a temple that honors the Sakyamuni Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva.

In August of the 92^nd year of the Republic of China (2003), the Hualien County Government carefully completed the repairs of Qingxiu Temple. It also restored the eighty-eight statues of Buddha, which were rich in historical value and were displayed in the courtyard, to their original state. To this day, the temple it is not only the best preserved shrine from the Japanese occupation period in the eastern region, it is also listed as a third-class historical site and is also one of the sightseeing spots for Japanese people visiting Taiwan.

Jiye (Yoshino) Village | 吉野村

Yoshino Village is the first Japanese immigrant village in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation. It is located in Ji'an Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. It was originally the homeland of the Qituichuan Amis indigenous tribal community, but following an uprising by some Amis people opposed to the impact of policies on their lives, the Japanese colonial government relocated the Amis, confiscated the land and turned it into a Japanese immigrants’ village. In the beginning, there were 61 households with 295 immigrants, mostly from the shore of Yoshino River in Japan’s Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku, hence the name "Yoshino Village.” In the 1920s, the Japanese government encouraged people from the western part of Taiwan to move to eastern Taiwan, and as a result many Hakkas moved to Hualien County. In 1945, Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, the Japanese immigrants left Taiwan, and the Nationalist government received Taiwan; Yoshino Village became Ji'an Township, and Yoshinoya became Ji’an Station (this was the old station that has been demolished, and the current Ji’an Station is the new station). After 1926, Yoshino Village had a total of 330 households with a population of more than 1,700. It is an immigrant village with complete facilities, such as roads, a light rail, irrigation water, medical centers, primary schools, post offices, and police stations.