River Terrace

Dewu River Terrace is located on the east side of the confluence of Xiuguluan River and Fuyuan River in Ruisui Township, Hualien County. It is the starting point where Xiuguluan River cuts through the coastal mountains. 

The traditional name is Lulnu, which means paper mulberry because in the past, there were many wild paper mulberry trees here. It is also an area where the Amis people do dry farming and grazing. Overlooking from the Ruigang Industry Road, it is clear that the Dewu River Terrace descends from south to north. This shows that the river is continuously migrating to the north during the downward cutting process, which results in asymmetric growth meanders on both sides of the river bank. In addition, there is a prehistoric cultural site on the hillside of the Dewu River Terrace as fragments of plain pottery from the Jingpu hamlet have been found. This presumes that this was where the Amis people lived in the early days.

Houzishan (Monkey Mountain) is a river terrace along the Xiuguluan River that is located on the east side of the Dewu river terrace in Ruisui Township, Hualien County. Its traditional name is Kawasan, which means a place where gods and ghosts appear. Therefore, it is also called Ghost Mountain. It is said that macaques came here to forage in the past. Xiuguluan River is the largest river in eastern Taiwan, with a total length of about 104 km. In the process of cutting through the coastal mountains, many steep canyons have also been formed, resulting in developed meanders and river terraces, such as Dewu River Terrace, Monkey Mountain, and Chimei River Terrace. This makes an excellent classroom for observing geology or topography.

The Xiuguluan River begins from the Central Mountain Range. It runs north along the Huadong Rift Valley, and turns eastward at Ruisui Township in Hualien County. Then it cuts across the coastal mountains and finally flows into the Pacific Ocean at Dagangkou (Cepo’) Hamlet. It is the largest river in eastern Taiwan with a total length of about 104 km. Also, it is the only river in Taiwan that cuts through the coastal mountains. During the process of cutting through the coastal mountains, the Xiuguluan River also cuts many steep gorges, resulting in some quite developed meander and river terraces, such as Dewu River Terrace, Monkey Mountain, and Chimei River Terrace. This makes an excellent classroom for observing geology or topography.

Chimei River Terrace of Ruisui Township, Hualien County, is located at the confluence of the Xiuguluan River and Chimei River. The single-sided mountains, circulation mounds and river terraces in this area are quite developed, and the Chimei Hamlet is located on the platform of this river terrace. Chimei River was originally a turbid current that entered the sea. But during the uplift of the coastal mountains, it continued to erode toward the source, which changed its course and converged into the current Xiuguluan River. In addition, the Chimei Fault is the most important active fault in the coastal mountains, with a total length of more than 30 km. The stratigraphic structure of the Chimei River on the west can be seen from Ruigang Industry Road.

The Guanyuan Police Post is located above Guanyuan on the Central Cross-Island Highway, about 2,580 meters above sea level. When the Taroko War broke out, the army sent by the Government-General in Taiwan attacked the Turuku tribe from the east side of Hehuanshan. Guanyuan was the first stop, and when the then Governor of Taiwan, Sakuma Samata, heard that the Turuku tribe had fought here, he named the place after the ancient battleground during the Japanese Sengoku Period, “Sekigahara” (Guanyuan in Chinese character). As a result, the route of Hehuan Traversing Historic Trail was changed in the middle of the Japanese occupation, and the police post was called Guanyuan in honor of the Governor.

In the post-war period, the Central Cross-Island Highway was opened, passing through the small hamlet below Guanyuan Police Post, also known as Guanyuan. The hamlet has a lodge, Hehuan police station, and Guanyuan gas station.