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Yunlin County

Coordinates: 23°42′18″N 120°28′34″E / 23.70489°N 120.47607°E / 23.70489; 120.47607
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Yunlin County
雲林縣
County
Top: Xiluo Bridge and Choushui River. Second left: Chaotian Temple in Peigang. Second right: Shinqi Memorial Museum. Third left: Caolin in Tongluo. Third right: Erlun Memorial Museum. Bottom: Dounan Railroad Station.
Top: Xiluo Bridge and Choushui River. Second left: Chaotian Temple in Peigang. Second right: Shinqi Memorial Museum. Third left: Caolin in Tongluo. Third right: Erlun Memorial Museum. Bottom: Dounan Railroad Station.
Flag of Yunlin County
Flag
Official seal of Yunlin County
Logo
Coordinates: 23°42′18″N 120°28′34″E / 23.70489°N 120.47607°E / 23.70489; 120.47607
Country Republic of China (Taiwan)
ProvinceTaiwan Province (government suspended)[1]
RegionWestern Taiwan
SeatDouliu City
Largest cityDouliu City
Boroughs1 cities, 19 (5 urban, 14 rural) townships
Government
 • County MagistrateChang Li-shan (KMT)
Area
 • Total
1,290.84 km2 (498.40 sq mi)
 • Rank13 of 22
Population
 (Sep. 2022)
 • Total
664,963
 • Rank9 of 22
 • Density520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (National Standard Time)
ISO 3166 codeTW-YUN
Websitewww.yunlin.gov.tw
Symbols
BirdFormosan blue magpie (Urocissa caerulea)
FlowerMoth orchid (Phalaenopsis)
TreeCamphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora)
Yunlin County
Traditional Chinese雲林縣
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYúnlín Xiàn
Bopomofoㄩㄣˊ   ㄌㄧㄣˊ   ㄒㄧㄢˋ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhYunlin Shiann
Wade–GilesYün²-lin² Hsien⁴
Tongyong PinyinYúnlín Siàn
MPS2Yúnlín Shiàn
IPA[y̌n.lǐn ɕjɛ̂n]
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳYùn-lìm-yen
Southern Min
Hokkien POJHûn-lîm-koān
Tâi-lôHûn-lîm-kuān

Yunlin County (Mandarin pinyin: Yúnlín Xiàn; Taigi POJ: Hûn-lîm-koān; Hakka PFS: Yùn-lìm-yen) is a county in western Taiwan. Yunlin County borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, Nantou County to the east, Changhua County to the north at the Zhuoshui River, and Chiayi County to the south at the Beigang River. It has a population of 664,963 as of 2022.

Yunlin is part of the Chianan Plain, a flat land known for its agriculture. Agricultural products of Yunlin County include pomelo, tea leaves, suan cai, papaya and melon. Yunlin's rivers give it potential for hydroelectricity. Douliu is the largest and capital city of Yunlin. It is the only county on the main island of Taiwan where no city with the same name exists. Yunlin is one of the least developed counties on the West coast, and suffers from emigration.[2]

History

[edit]

Dutch Formosa

[edit]

During the Dutch Formosa era, Ponkan (modern-day Beigang) was an important coastal castle.[3]

Qing Dynasty

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Yunlin County was established during the Qing Dynasty. Liu Mingchuan was in charge of Taiwan, which had been divided into three counties since 1683, Yunlin being part of Zhuluo County. Mountains made transportation and communication between bordering counties (Changhua and Chiayi) difficult, so Liu suggested a new county, called Yunlin, for easier management. In 1887, Yunlin became one of the four counties of the new Taiwan Prefecture.[3]

Empire of Japan

[edit]

During Japanese rule, Yunlin (as Unrin) County was again abolished due to the resistance from the local people and combined with Tainan Prefecture. However, Toroku Town (斗六街, modern-day Douliu) continued to be an important city of central Taiwan.

Republic of China

[edit]

The Yunlin area remained under Tainan County after the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945.[4] On 16 August 1950, Yunlin County was separated from Tainan County, with Douliu Township as the county seat. On 25 December 1981, Douliu Township was upgraded to a county-administered city. Yunlin is the only county on Taiwan island without a city of the same name. Like the rest of Taiwan, Yunlin is nominally a part of Taiwan Province, Republic of China, although the provincial level of government is functionally obsolete.[5]

Geography

[edit]

Yunlin County is located in the central-south portion of western Taiwan and is at the northern tip of the Chianan Plain. The county is bordered by Nantou County to the east, the Taiwan Strait to the west, Chiayi County to the south separated by the Beigang River, and Changhua County to the north separated by the Zhuoshui River. Its widest distance from east to west is 50 km (31 mi) and from north to south is 38 km (24 mi), with a total area of 1,290.83 km2 (498.39 sq mi).

Geology

[edit]

Around 80% of Yunlin County are plains and the other 10% are hills.[6] Generally the county is covered with high green space.[7] In 2015, the county experienced 75% of Taiwan's total land subsidence, over an area of 600 km2 (230 sq mi) due to its groundwater overuse.[8]

Climate

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The weather in the county is tropical, with an annual average temperature of 22.6 °C and an average annual rainfall of 1,028.9 mm.

Administration

[edit]
Chang Li-shan, Magistrate of Yunlin County
Yunlin County Council

Yunlin County is divided into 1 city, 5 urban townships and 14 rural townships.[9][10][11][12] Douliu City is the county seat and home to the Yunlin County Government and the Yunlin County Council. Chang Li-shan of the Kuomintang is the incumbent Magistrate of Yunlin County.

Type Name Chinese Taiwanese Hakka
City Douliu City (Douliou) 斗六市 Táu-la̍k Téu-liuk
Urban
townships 		Beigang 北港鎮 Pak-káng Pet-kóng
Dounan 斗南鎮 Táu-lâm Téu-nàm
Huwei 虎尾鎮 Hó͘-bóe Fú-mî
Tuku 土庫鎮 Thô͘-khò͘ Thú-khù
Xiluo (Siluo) 西螺鎮 Sai-lê Sî-lô
Rural
townships 		Baozhong (Baojhong) 褒忠鄉 Po-tiong Pô-chûng
Cihtong (Citong) 莿桐鄉 Chhì-tông Tshṳ̀-thùng
Dapi 大埤鄉 Tōa-pi Thai-phî
Dongshi (Dongshih) 東勢鄉 Tang-sì Tûng-sṳ
Erlun 二崙鄉 Jī-lūn Ngi-lûn
Gukeng 古坑鄉 Kó͘-kheⁿ Kú-hâng
Kouhu 口湖鄉 Kháu-ô͘ Khiéu-fù
Linnei 林內鄉 Nâ-lāi Lìm-nui
Lunbei 崙背鄉 Lūn-pòe Lûn-poi
Mailiao 麥寮鄉 Be̍h-liâu Ma̍k-liàu
Shuilin 水林鄉 Chúi-nâ Súi-lìm
Sihu 四湖鄉 Sì-ô͘ Si-fù
Taisi (Taixi) 臺西鄉 Tâi-se Thòi-sî
Yuanzhang 元長鄉 Goân-chiáng Ngièn-tshòng

Color indicates the statutory language status of Hakka in the respective subdivisions.

Politics

[edit]

Yunlin County elected two Democratic Progressive Party legislators to the Legislative Yuan during the 2020 legislative election, represented by Liu Chien-kuo and Su Chih-fen. The majority seats of Yunlin County Council is independent but headed by speaker Shen Tsung-lung (Chinese: 沈宗隆; pinyin: Shěn Zōnglóng) of the Kuomintang.

Demographics and Culture

[edit]
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1985 791,186—    
1990 753,639−4.7%
1995 753,998+0.0%
2000 743,368−1.4%
2005 728,490−2.0%
2010 717,653−1.5%
2015 699,633−2.5%
Source:"Populations by city and country in Taiwan". Ministry of the Interior Population Census.

Cultural activities in the county is regulated by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs of the Yunlin County Government, which holds exhibitions, speeches, performances and studies to promote the arts and related activities.[13]

Sports

[edit]
Douliu Baseball Stadium

The county government promotes many sports. The Douliu Baseball Stadium and Yunlin County Stadium are two of the international-level sports facilities in the county.

The first for-all-people games were held in Yunlin County in 2000. The county also hosted the 2005 National Games. In the 2011 National Games at Changhua, Yunlin ranked 11th out of the 22 counties and cities of Taiwan, with 10 gold, 8 silver and 8 bronze medals.[14]

Recent major sporting events held by Yunlin include:

Economy

[edit]
Formosa Plastics Group plant at the Mai-Liao Industrial Complex.

Yunlin County's economy relies mainly on agricultural production, including fresh-water fisheries, although there are also industrial parks. As of 2006, the land use for agriculture, forestry and fishery production accounts about 66.45% of its area.[7] As of July 2015, the county had a total debt of NT$64.8 billion.[15] Monthly, the county government spend NT$600 million for staffs salary and another NT$600 million for retirement funds.[16]

Agriculture

[edit]

Farmlands accounts for around 68% of Yunlin County's area. Good weather and fertile lands allows various seasonal crops. Among the agricultural products are coffee, hard clams, horseshoe calms, Taiwan tilapia, shaddock, soy sauce, pickled cabbage, peanuts and sesame oil.[17]

Fishery

[edit]

Yunlin County boasts excellent fishing grounds along its coastline. There are several leading fishing ports, at Boziliao, Santiaolun, Taixi, Taizicun, and Jinhu. Several institutions were established in the county to help the development of the county's fishing industries: the Taixi Experimental Fishing Grounds, the Seawater Fish Farming Research Center, the Aquaculture Experimental Station, and the Agriculture Council.

Livestock

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Livestock farming includes pigs, cows, chickens, geese and ducks. The county government has been aggressively helping the dairy farmers to upgrade their feeding techniques, and also set up modern meat-packing facilities.

Tourism

[edit]

The county government plans to develop the tourism and recreational industries within the county, such as by establishing a holiday fish market at the Boziliao Fishing Port in the hopes of attracting more visitors.[18]

Food

[edit]

Beigang: Duck meat soup is the most famous breakfast in Begiang.

Gukeng: Bucket Chicken

Kouhu: Mullet roe, eel

Lunbei: Meatballs

Shuilin: Sweet potatoes

Sihu: Eel Noodles

The eel fried noodles have about 10 slices of eel. The noodles are soft but strong.

Tounan: Fried buns

Tuku: Angelica Duck Noodles, a traditional tonic snack. The red noodles are more fragrant the more you chew.

Xiluo: Carrot cake

The filling of the cake is unlike ordinary cakes. The taste is dense and has pieces and the aroma of carrots. It is a common place for gatherings.

Education

[edit]
National Formosa University

The county is home to four universities: the China Medical University Beigang Campus, the National Formosa University and National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. There are 8 public senior high schools, 9 private high schools, 32 junior high schools and 156 elementary schools, as well as the National Yunlin Special Education School.

To promote lifelong learning, the Yunlin County Government established a community university in 2001 with 6 learning centers to offer county residents more opportunities.

Senior High Schools

Public Schools

National Beigang Agricultural & Industrial Vocational Senior High School

National Beigang Senior High School

National Huwei Agricultural & Industrial Vocational Senior High School

National Huwei Senior High School

National Tou-liu School Of Home Economic & Commerce

National Tou-liu Senior High School

National Tuku School Of Home Economic & Commerce

Yunlin County Mailiao High School

Yunlin County Tounan Senior High School

Private Schools

Bliss And Wisdom Senior High School

Da-cheng Vocational High School

Dader Industrial And Commercial Vocational High School

Perpetual Help High School

Ren High School

Sacred Hearts High School

St.Vincent High School

Victoria Academy

Yang-tze High School

Yi-feng Senior High School

Energy

[edit]

Power generations

[edit]

Yunlin County houses one power plant, the Mailiao Power Plant, in Mailiao Township. Commissioned in July 1999, it has a capacity of 4,200 MW and is the third largest coal-fired power plant in Taiwan.

Water supply

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Currently, most of the county residence use groundwater as their water supply. However, in 2016 the Hushan Dam was opened in Douliu City in which its reservoir will soon supply the water needs for the county residence.[19]

Tourist attractions

[edit]
Yunlin Story House
Caoling
Yunling Hill

Historical buildings

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Historical buildings in the county include the House of Citizen-Memorial Hall of Attendance, Jhen Wen Academy, Erlun Story House and Xiluo Theater.

Ma Min Shan Park Labyrinth

The first and largest temple theme park in Taiwan, the park is full of unique mountains and rocks. It features a large courtyard landscape of high mountain and stone forests, matched with scenic surroundings. There are a total of 73 characteristic landscapes in the area. The park includes the steep and eye-catching Rainbow Bridge. Tourists can climb up to a panoramic view of the park.

Xiluo Bridge

Xiluo Bridge is a highway bridge in Taiwan. During the Japanese Occupation, it was called Zhuoshuixi Bridge. It connects Yunlin County and Changhua County, and straddles the lower reaches of Zhuoshui River. It is designed with a Warren-style truss bridge. When it was completed in 1952, the Xiluo Bridge was the second longest bridge in the world after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in the United States. At that time, it was known as the "Far East First Bridge."

Scenic spot

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  • Caoling is a popular mountain scenic spot in Yunlin County.
  • Yunling Hill is located at the intersection of three counties: Yunlin, Chiayi County, and Nantou County. It is a new mountain scenic spot, with an altitude of about 1,650 meters, offering a great view of sunrise, sunset and the sea of clouds.
  • Green Tunnel Park is a long and narrow roadside park with a brick walking/biking path lined with mango trees. Next to the tunnel are tracks of a small sugar plantation railway. Its tracks, stations, and carriages were quite unique. The Gukeng Township Government has plans to restore the space as a cultural landscape park.

Temples

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Prominent Temples in the county include;

  • Beigang Chaotian Temple: one of the most important Mazu temples in Taiwan and known for its magnificent temple architecture, visited by more than a million pilgrims every year
  • Beigang Wude Temple (北港武德宮): one of the largest temple dedicated to Xuan Tan Zhen Jun (玄壇真君), Martial God of Wealth
  • Xiluo Guangfu Temple: prominent Mazu temple in Xiluo township
  • Xiluo Fuxing Temple (西螺福興宮)： prominent Mazu temple in Xiluo township, have an annual procession during Mazu's Birthday
  • Yong'an Temple: a popular temple dedicated to the Deity known as Kai Zhang Sheng Wang (開漳聖王)

Museums and cultural centers

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Yunlin County is home to several museums and cultural centers, such as the Beigang Cultural Center, Farming and Irrigation Artifacts Museum, Honey Museum, Museum of Beigang Story, Soy Sauce Brewing Museum, Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum, Yunlin Story House and Zhaoan Hakka Cultural Hall.

Cheng Lin Agarwood Forest Museum

Chenglin Agarwood Forest Museum is located in Huwei Town, covering an area of about 5.8 hectares. It was the first largest agarwood forest park in the county. It has a Japanese Zen-style like Kenroku Garden and a simple style of ecological landscape pond. The garden is covered with more than 80 species of trees for viewing. The venue has a professional guided introduction and many thousand-year-old cypress artworks, as well as Chenglin's exclusive collection of the world's largest 3,000-year-old sacred wood.

Honey Museum

The Honey Museum (Bee Story House) is located beside Gukeng's Green Tunnel Park. The museum has exhibits on honey, bees, and honey tasting.

Festivals

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Festivals, such as the Beigang International Music Festival, are regularly held in the county.

Theme parks

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The Janfusun Fancyworld is a theme park in the county.

Chan Chau Ku is a dairy farm. Although there were quite a few dairy farmers in the area, there was no way for tourists to visit the parks. So the founder decided to build a leisure farm and open the park for free to encourage everyone to get close to nature.

Nature

[edit]

Yunlin County houses the Chenglong Wetlands, Erlun Sports Park, Penglai Waterfall and Ten Thousand Year Gorge.

Hushan Reservoir

Hushan Reservoir is located in Douliu City and Gukeng Township, 10 kilometers southeast of Douliu City. Due to the small catchment area, the Tongtou River Barrage was built in Qingshui Creek. Water was diverted to supplement the water source.

Penglai Waterfall

Penglai Waterfall is located in Penny's Water Creek Valley on the east side of the Caoling settlement in Gukeng Township. It belongs to the Zhuoshui River Basin. The altitude of the waterfall is about 920 meters, and the drop is about 70 meters. It is listed as one of the ten scenic spots in Caoling.

Transportation

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Yunlin HSR station
Xiluo Bridge

Rail

[edit]

Taiwan High Speed Rail Yunlin Station is located at Huwei Township. Taiwan Railways Administration has stations at Linnei, Shiliu, Douliu, Dounan and Shigui.

Roads

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National Highway No. 1 and No. 3 pass through Yunlin County. Famous bridges in the county are the Xiluo Bridge, connecting the county to the neighboring Changhua County, and the Beigang Tourist Bridge, connecting the county to the neighboring Chiayi County.

Air

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Yunlin County does not have any airport. The nearest airport is the Chiayi Airport located in neighboring Chiayi County.

Relative location

[edit]

Notable person

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  • Teresa Teng (1953-1995), famous Asian singer. (born in Baozhong, Yunlin)
  • Jason Wu, fashion designer.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Abraham Gerber (16 September 2017). "Groups demand end to Provincial Government". Taipei Times. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  2. ^ 陳其育 (2012-01-01). "社會網絡、人力資本對社會流動的影響──以新北市雲林同鄉會為例 [The Impact of Social Networks and Human Capital on Social Mobility: A Study of the Yunlin County Association of New Taipei City]". 臺灣大學國家發展研究所學位論文 (in Chinese): 1–58. doi:10.6342/NTU.2012.01244. Retrieved 2020-03-05. According to the Taiwan government's internal migration data, Yunlin County is one of the regions with the largest emigration. About 400,000 Yunlin County's residents moved to new Taipei county. The people from the Yunlin county organized the Yunlin Association of New Taipei City. This study focused on these Yunlin Association members. Why the group of people from the same hometown are differing within later social mobility. This study is trying to verify either the social network or the human capital is the main factor behind it.
  3. ^ a b "Historical Evolution". The Roots of Yunlin. Yunlin County Government. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Rezoning Taiwan". Taiwan Today. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  5. ^ Sherry Hsiao (29 June 2018). "Provincial-level agencies to be defunded next year". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  6. ^ "The Roots of Yunlin-Geographical Location-Yunlin County Government". Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  7. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Hushan Reservoir operation in July to ease land subsidence in Yunlin - Society - FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS". focustaiwan.tw. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  9. ^ "Village, Township and City offices". 雲林縣政府 YUNLIN COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2020. Title PostDate Shueilin Township{...}Linnei Township{...}Kouhu Township{...}Cihtong Township{...}Sihhu Township{...}Dapi Township{...}Yuanchang Township{...}Gukeng Township{...}Taisi Township{...}Beigang Township{...}Baojhong Township{...}Tuku Township{...}Dongshih Township{...}Siluo Township{...}Mailiao Township{...}Huwei Township{...}Lunbei Township{...}Dounan Township{...}Erlun Township{...}Douliou City{...}
  10. ^ "Geographical Location". Yunlin County Government. 2019-05-15. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  11. ^ 地理介紹. 雲林縣政府 (in Traditional Chinese). 2018-03-29. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  12. ^ 1.7-鄉鎮市區戶口數 [Population for Township and District]. Ministry of the Interior (in Chinese (Taiwan) and English). August 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020. 雲林縣 Yunlin County斗六市 Douliou City斗南鎮 Dounan Township虎尾鎮 Huwei Township西螺鎮 Siluo Township土庫鎮 Tuku Township北港鎮 Beigang Township古坑鄉 Gukeng Township大埤鄉 Dabi Township莿桐鄉 Cihtong Township林內鄉 Linnei Township二崙鄉 Erlun Township崙背鄉 Lunbei Township麥寮鄉 Mailiao Township東勢鄉 Dongshih Township褒忠鄉 Baojhong Township臺西鄉 Taisi Township元長鄉 Yuanchang Township四湖鄉 Sihhu Township口湖鄉 Kouhu Township水林鄉 Shueilin Township
  13. ^ "City development-Industrial and Commercial Construction-Yunlin County Government". Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  14. ^ "City development-Education and Culture-Yunlin County Government". Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  15. ^ "Yunlin facing funds shortfall, but vows to address issue". Archived from the original on 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  16. ^ "Yunlin County to face fund shortage in October". Archived from the original on 2015-08-22. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
  17. ^ "Attractions > Hot Spots > Yunlin County >". Archived from the original on 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
  18. ^ "City development-Local industries-Yunlin County Government". Archived from the original on 2014-09-14. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  19. ^ "Hushan Reservoir to be completed in 2014". Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
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