Hot Spring

Huanshan Hamlet is located in Heping District of Taichung City, at the 61km point on the Provincial Highway 7A and is about 1,600 meters above sea level. The hamlet was established in 1913, when a group of Atayal people migrated here from the Mashitobaon community (マシトバオン社) in Ren’ai Township, Nantou County.  The hamlet got its name from its geological location. As it is surrounded by high mountains such as Nanhu Mountains and Xueshan range, the name “Huanshan” means surrounded by mountains. Its previous name was Shikayau community (シカヤウ社).

During the Japanese occupation, the Governor-General in Taiwan planned to relocate the people from Huanshan hamlet closer to the flat land for the sake of management. However, this plan had failed and so they began to plant non-tropical fruit trees. This continued on into the post-war period. To this day, tribal people still use high-mountain agriculture as a business, but are greatly affected by import competition and traffic interruption.

The current Zhiliang Police Station is located about 3 km north-east on Huanshan in Heping District of Taichung City. It is the former Zhiliangjie Police Post that was set up by the Governor-General in Taiwan on the Pyanan Historic Trail during the Japanese occupation.

This trail was originally the path that Atayal people travel between north and south. However, for the purpose of transportation and management control, the Governor-General has resolutely built roads especially for managing and relocating the Atayal group to other villages (aka Indigene Management Route). Afterwards, the Nitto Research Institute of Domestic Oil Production tried to use the fallen wood roots of the cedar in the Zhilioangjie area to distill turpentine oil. However, due to limited profits, the production was suspended the following year. The present Zhiliang area has been included in the Big Lishan High Mountain Agriculture area.

Antong Hot Spring is located on the north bank of Antong River in Yuli Township, Hualien County. Natural hot spring was discovered in 1904 by a Japanese, who went up the mountain to gather camphor. In the middle of the Japanese occupation, the Government-General in Taiwan built a police hostel here and set up public baths, which gradually developed into a hot spring resort. In the post-war period, the private industry bought and operated it in 1974 and changed its name to Antong Hot Spring Hotel.

To this day, the building itself still retains part of the wooden bungalows that were built in the Japanese Occupation period. The Japanese sliding doors and tatami floors are well preserved. In 2014, the Executive Yuan Cultural and Construction Council announced it as an important historical building.