Taitung

About Taitung

Taitung City is a county-administered city and the county seat of Taitung County, Taiwan. It lies on the southeast coast of Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean, southwest of the Beinan River estuary. Taitung City is the most populous subdivision of Taitung County and it is one of the major cities on the east coast of the island.

Taitung City is served by Taitung Airport. Taitung is a gateway to Green Island and Orchid Island, both of which are popular tourist destinations.

Before the 16th century the Taitung plain was settled by agriculturalist Puyuma and Amis aboriginal tribes. Under Dutch rule and during Qing rule, a large part of eastern Taiwan, including today's Taitung, was called "Pi-lam". Many artifacts of the prehistoric sites of the city are located at Beinan Cultural Park, which was discovered in 1980 during the construction of Taitung Station.

In the late 19th century, when Liu Mingchuan was the Qing Governor of Taiwan, Han Chinese settlers moved into the Taitung region. Pi-lam Subprefecture (卑南廳) was established in 1875, and was upgraded and renamed to Taitung Prefecture...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.