A Day in Town: Linnei, Cihtong, Gukeng, Douliu (Yunlin County)

I just completed my twelfth trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in my country. My destination this time was Yunlin County, which borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, Nantou County to the east, Changhua County to the north, and Chiayi County to the south. Yunlin is part of the Chianan Plain, the largest plain in Taiwan known for its agriculture, and Yunlin's rivers give it potential for hydroelectricity. Once known as Taiwan's Agricultural Capital City, Yunlin is now one of the least developed counties on the west coast of Taiwan. It suffers from emigration, with its population standing at just over 660,000 now, down from its peak of over 800,000 in 1975. There are 20 townships in Yunlin County, and I visited four of them on this trip: Linnei, Cihtong, Gukeng, and Douliu, the adjoining areas that form the eastern quarter of the county. 

I spent my first day in Linnei, a township situated in the northeastern corner of Yunlin, bordering Ershui Township of Changhua County to the north and Zhushan Township of Nantou County to the east. The name Linnei literally means "within the forest", which reveals its interesting past─when the Han Chinese settlers first arrived here in the late 17th century, the whole area was covered by a forest, so the newcomers had to settle within the forest, hence the name. I first took a train to Linnei Railway Station, the northernmost of the five train stations in Yunlin County. From there, I explored on foot and visited four of the ten villages administered by Linnei Township, before taking a train southward to Chiayi City, where my hostel is located.

Taiwan achieved remarkable success in the agricultural industry due in large part to its well-established irrigation system, including the Douliu Grand Canal that irrigates not only Yunlin County, but also Chiayi County. The main watergate of the canal is located in Linbei, a village of Linnei Township, as shown on the upper part of this merged photo. I couldn't help laughing when I stumbled upon a welcoming sign in the village that humorously references a pun in Minnan Taiwanese, where "Linbei" sounds like "I'm your father," as shown on the lower part of the photo.

Before ending my day in Linnei Township, I walked around the railway station, and discovered two historical spots. Standing there, I could imagine the days when Linnei was truly prosperous. The left side of this merged photo shows the old office building of Mitsubishi Paper Manufacturing, an affiliate of Mitsubishi, which, along with Mitsui and Sumitomo, was the so-called Big Three Zaibatsu─a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertically integrated business conglomerates─in the Empire of Japan. The right side is a selfie taken at Linnei Park, which was originally the site of Linnei Shinto Shrine, the best preserved Japanese Shinto shrine extant in Taiwan.

I spent my second day in Cihtong, a township named after Erythrin─a plant pronounced "cihtong" in Minnan Taiwanese, which thrived in the area when the first Han Chinese settlers arrived. Cihtong is a typical agricultural township, abundant in a variety of produce─ including garlic, which has earned it the nickname "Hometown of Garlic". I began by taking a train from Chiayi to Douliu Railway Station, and transferred to a bus. I got off at Zhuanzi, a bus stop located in Xintong, a village on the west side of the township. From there, I explored on foot and visited ten of the 14 villages administered by Cihtong Township.

In Xintong Village, I visited the Haisali community, renowned for its farming of rice and sunflowers, as shown on the right side of this merged photo. Then, I entered the neighboring Gancu Village, also known for its rich rice fields, as shown in the background on the left side of the photo. Interestingly, the name Gancu literally means "citrus house" because there was once a natural citrus grove there.

After walking for about two hours, I reached Raoping Village─previously known as Shuzejiao─as shown on the left side of this merged photo. After some quick research I learned the interesting stories behind these names: Shuzejiao literally means "beneath the tree", referring to the ferry terminal located beneath a large tree, where people once took the ferry across the Zhuoshui River─the longest river in Taiwan, which divides Yunlin County from Changhua County. It was renamed Raoping because many of the early Han Chinese settlers were from Raoping, part of Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province of China. The right side of the merged photo tells another interesting story: the place is called "Glory Village", one of a few sites where Japanese immigrants settled in Taiwan in the 1930s as part of a rural development campaign by the Japanese colonial government.

On the third day, I visited Gukeng, the largest township in Yunlin County, situated in the southeastern corner of the county. Gukeng borders Zhushan Township of Nantou County to the northeast, Alishan Township, Meishan Township, and Dalin Township of Chiayi County to the east, the south, and the southwest respectively. The east end of the township is part of the Alishan Range, that, along with the Yushan Range, the Xueshan Range, the Central Mountain Range, and the Haian Range, comprises the five major mountain ranges in Taiwan. I started by taking a train from Chiayi City to Dounan Railway Station, and transferred to a bus bound for Huashan Village, which is part of the foothills of the Alishan Range and home to the renowned Gukeng Coffee. From there, I explored on foot downhill, first westward and then northward to reach Shuedui Village. Along the way, I visited six of the 20 villages administered by Gukeng Township.

Endowed with a combination of rainfall, sunshine, fertile soil, and irrigation that is suitable for coffee cultivation, Huashan was selected as the place for coffee growing in 1931. The coffee production in Huashan was so successful that Huashan was once nicknamed "the largest coffee factory in the Far East. " Coming down from Huashan, I came across a coffee factory that caught my eye: "Am Koo Khenn Cafe", as shown on the right side of this merged photo. I quickly checked and learned that "Am Koo Khenn" was the old name of Gukeng.  To break it down, "Am" was a word that the early Han Chinese settlers customarily used in naming places in their hometown, Zhangzhou in Fujian Province, China. "Koo Khenn" refers to the terrain in the area, which looks like a basin.

After walking for about two and a half hours, I reached Yonguang Village, and stumbled upon a historical site: Yonguang Police Dormitory, as shown on the left side of this merged photo. It was built in 1934, which signified the importance of this village as the administration center of the entire Gukeng Township during Japanese rule. About an hour later, I reached another village called Shuedui, which literally means "riverside rice pounder," symbolizing its abundant rice production, as depicted on the painting on the right side of the photo. 

On the fourth day, I visited Douliu City, the most populous and the second largest in area among the 20 townships in Yunlin County. Douliu was named after the Douliu Tribe, the indigenous Hoanya people who had lived there for centuries before the arrival of Han Chinese settlers in the late 17th century. Ideally situated at the intersection of several highways, main roads, and the railway, Douliu has been the economic, political, and cultural center of Yunlin County, and became its county seat in 1950. I started by taking a train to Douliu Railway Station. From there, I explored on foot, visiting about a third of the 40 villages administered by Douliu City. 

Only a 10-minute walk from the railway station, the House of Citizen-Memorial Hall of Attendance symbolizes Douliu's prominence in history. The establishment of the hall originated from the Crown Prince Hirohito's visit to Taiwan in 1923. Completed in 1926, the hall first served as a memorial to Crown Prince's visit. Over time, it also became a public gathering venue for residents for meetings, seminars, banquets, and performances. Shown on the left side of this merged photo is a nostalgic restaurant converted from an old police dormitory building near the hall. The right side of the photo shows a hygiene reminder by the restaurant that humorously mimics the last words of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the R.O.C. and the inaugural leader of the Kuomintang: "The revolution is not done yet. Comrades must work hard."

After walking for about two hours, I arrived at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (NYUST), as shown on the left side of this merged photo. Founded in 1991, NYUST, along with National Formosa University (NFU) and National Taiwan University (NTU), is the three public universities in Yunlin County. About one kilometer down the road stood the Yunlin County Administration Building, as shown on the right side of the photo. Interestingly, the name Yunlin originated from a place that is outside the territory of Yunlin County today. Yunlin, now part of Zhushan Township, Nantou County, was the seat of the county when it was first established in 1887. There have been many changes and adjustments to administrative regions, and Yunlin ended up being part of Nantou, while its name remains with the new county to this day, though its county seat was relocated to Douliu in 1950.

My hostel was located in downtown Chiayi City, with only a 15-minute walk to Chiayi Railway Station, where I caught a train to Douliu and Dounan railway stations to connect to different destinations each day in Yunlin County. Established in 1887, Yunlin County was an offshoot of its two neighbors: Changhua County to the north and Chiayi County to the south. Through this trip I gained new insights into not only Yunlin, but also Changhua and Chiayi. I visited the former a month and will visit the latter 10 days from now.