Hualien County

Hualien County (Chinese: 花蓮縣; pinyin: Huālián Xiàn) has the largest area of all counties in Taiwan, and is located on the country's mountainous eastern coast. It is the northern terminus of the Hualien-Taitung Line and the southern terminus of the North-Link Line of the Taiwan Railway Administration. In the Provincial Highway System, Hualien County is connected to other counties via the Suhua Highway, Huatung Highway, Hualien-Taitung Coast Highway and the Central Cross-Island Highway. Hualien County is famous for tourism. Tourism spots include the Taroko National Park and Yushan National Park and its coastline is well suited for biking purposes.

Hualien City is the county seat of Hualien County and has the largest population.

History

Modern-day Hualien City was originally called "Kiray" (奇萊), after the Sakiraya Taiwanese aborigines and their 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). Han Chinese settlers arrived in 1851. Qing Dynasty records give the name of the region as "Huilan" (洄瀾 "eddies") due to the whirling of waters in the delta.