Laiji

Shitzulu
影像為十字路車站及其前方的鐵道

Shitzulu Station was opened in October of the first year of Taisho (1912). It is a stop of the Alishan Forest Railway, with an altitude of about 1,530 meters.  Before the Alishan highway was opened, Shitzulu was the traffic hub in the village, and also the most interacted village and closest to indigenous villages. Since it is located in the midpoint between the Alishan Forest Railway and the Tefuye hamlet of the Cou tribe, the station connects Laiji and Tefuye hamlets. Therefore, the nearby hamlets like Tsatsaya, Shanmei, Lalauya, Laiji, Tefuye had earlier contact with the outside world than other tribes due to their location.

Today, most of the residents of Shitzulu village are descendants of loggers from the Japanese occupation period or employees of the Alishan Forest Railway. In the past, the area was quite developed because there is a train station as well as simple power supply equipment, a post office, and other facilities. However, after the opening of the Alishan Highway, the function of the railway station died away.

Wailaiji (Outer Laiji) Village
從高處眺望外來吉部落

The Wailaiji Hamlet is located on a terrace where the Tashan River merges into the mainstream in Laiji Hamlet in Alishan Township, Chiayi County. It is about 1 km north of the Neilaiji Hamlet and the traditional name is Bon, which means outside pump. During the Qing period, Wailaiji Hamlet was a new community of the Liuliuzi clang, and because it was located in the north of the old site, it was named Wailaiji (Outer Laiji).  In the early days of Japanese Occupation, the Government-General in Taiwan built a police post and an education center indigenous children because this area had relatively large flat land.

Neilaiji (Inner Laiji) Village
從高處眺望內來吉部落

Neilaiji Hamlet is located in the alluvial land on the right bank of the Alishan River, in Laiji Village, Alishan Township, Chiayi County. The traditional name is Bnguu or Pnguu, which means low basin. It is also known as the old Laiji Hamlet. During the Qing period, the people of Neilaiji Hamlet moved from Tfuya to Lalauya and lived there for about 20 years. Then they crossed the Shitzulu and temporarily settled in traditional territories such as Chumana, Meongo, and Fnafnau. Finally, they moved to the current Neilaiji during the Japanese occupation. Relevant documents from the Governor-General in Taiwan noted that the migration road between Shitzulu and Laiji Hamlets was repaired in the middle of the Japanese occupation.

Shitzulu (Laiji Trail)
十字路通往來吉步道的入口指標

Shitzulu (Laiji Trail) is located between Shizi village and Dabang village in Alishan Township, Chiayi County.  It is about 1,530 meters above sea level and was used to be a passage between Tfuya village and Laiji village of the Tsou. The name Shitzulu means crossroad because during the Japanese occupation, this area was marked as a crossroad on the mountain line. At that time, when the Alishan Forest Railway was built by the Governor-General in Taiwan, it was also the residence of the railway workers. After the completion of the railway, the Shitzulu Station was built. Later, due to the development of the camphor industry, they settled in camphor workers and formed a Han settlement.

Today, the Shitzulu Station settlement is only about 50 meters away from the Alishan Highway, which is the closest place between the railway and the highway.