© Tourism Bureau (Photo credit: Chu Li-hua)
Luodong Town is located in the central part of Yilan County and in the center of Lanyang Plain. It is the smallest town-level administrative district on Taiwan's main island. The terrain in Luodong Town is dominated by plain lowlands. Luodong Town was originally an undeveloped mountain forest. There are many wild monkeys living here. The local indigenous people call monkeys "Lao Dong." Later, when the Han people moved into the Lanyang Plain, this name was used to call the area Luodong.
The annual Luodong Fringe Festival is a large event. With the basic concept of forestry culture as the main theme, it combines historical connotations, culture, education, art, industry and other activities to let the people experience the forestry culture of Luodong. The activities held at the festival are quite rich; there are roughly street activities, forestry culture experiences, and nostalgic photo exhibitions. It’s a fun activity for people to participate in during their weekend and leisure time.
In addition to the Luodong Fringe Festival, the public can take a tour of the famous tourist attractions in Luodong, such as Luodong Sports Park, Zhongshan Park and Luodong Night Market. They can also taste the most delicious snacks, such as “a string of hearts” (snacks on skewer sticks), angelica mutton soup, sweet glutinous rice balls, and so on.
Luodong Night Market | 羅東夜市
The Luodong Night Market is a good place to go shopping in Luodong City. The surrounding shops are bordered by Minsheng Road, Minquan Road, Park Road and Xingdong Road. The market is the center of local street-strolling and shopping. It spurred the development of the nearby business circle. Luodong Night Market sells a variety of traditional food and goods, including low-priced clothing, shoes, and snacks such as “dragon and phoenix legs (chicken legs),” sweet glutinous rice balls, salty rice noodles, smoked duck, meat soup, tofu rolls, rice noodles, and seafood. These are snacks that are famous throughout Taiwan.
Yuan Mountain |員山
Located in the western part of Yilan County, near the city of Yilan, and with a beautiful landscape, this mountain is a good place for holiday and leisure in the Greater Taipei area.
© Tourism Bureau (Photo credit: Yilun Culture Communication Co.)
The annual Lantern Festival is a major local event. It has been held in Yuanshan Park since 1999. It uses traditional hand-made lanterns as the main focus and combines them with modern technology lanterns. It also offers a good chance to see traditional Chinese performances, such as the clothed horse act, Taiwanese opera, lion dance, and gongs and drums, as well as folk orchestra performances, musical instrument performances, indigenous dances, puppet shows and modern dance performances. At night, there is a fireworks show. Under the bright sparks and lights of the fireworks and lanterns, visitors to the Lantern Festival can enjoy the most beautiful night on Yuan Mountain.
In addition to the Lantern Festival, there are many characteristic tourist attractions, such as the Jhentoushan Agricultural Leisure Area, Fushan Botanical Garden, Happy Valley, Great Lakes Scenic Area, Shuanglianpi, Dashugong, Zhentou Yuanyang Creek, Yuanshan Hot Spring, Bizitou Recreation Area, and Taiyangpi. They are the natural features of Yuan Mountain town.
In addition, when you visit Yuan Mountain town, do not forget to taste the most famous fish ball rice noodles. In the short stretch of Yuan Mountain Road Section 1, dozens of vendors selling fish balls and rice noodles are gathered. So come and have a taste.