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Jiaoxi Township
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Dry Pit, Reef Pit
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99.3793 km²
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35,128
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18 Villages, 301 Neighborhoods
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Jiaoxi is located in the northeast corner of Yilan at 121.50 to 121.37 E, 24.46 t0 24.51 N. It covers an area of 101 km².
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Provincial Hwy No. 9 following the railway traverses Jiaoxi Township dividing it into east and west areas, giving Jiaoxi an unique look.
The area wests of the railway features the famous Jiaoxi hot springs. The hot springs here are of the ordorless, colorless, carbonic type and contain rich minerals. Outside of their healing properties, the slightly alkaline hot spring water can actually neutralize chemical fertilizers, making soil better for farming. Because of this, a "Hot Springs Industry" has developed. Outside of the hot springs, "hot spring vegetables", "hot springs mineral water", and "hot springs fisheries" are vigorously promoted by the local Farmers' Association to make every use of the hot springs resources. Also by virtue of the fact that hot springs can be found via digging anywhere within a 1-kilometer radius of the Jiaoxi Railway Station, the villages of Yushi, Deyang, Liujie, and Dazhong are overflowing with hot spring hotels, granting Jiaoxi the name of the "Land of Hot Springs". To the other side of the railway is the shallow area of the Dezi River downstream section. In the past, the majority of the residents in this area were aquafarmers. Today, with the advent of the trendy bio-organic industry, the superior water quality of the Jiaoxi area assisted in evolution from the aquaculture industry to the imerging bio-organic industry. Currently the Academia Sinica's Institute of Cellular and Organismic (formerly the Institute of Zoology), has set up a Marine Station here, aiding in the development of the bio-organic industry.
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More than 200 years ago, before large groups of Han settlers arrived to explore the land, this area was inhabited by the people of the Kavalan Tribe. According to Yilan County History, there were 20 Kavalan tribal clans dispersed north of the Zhuoshui River to the south of Wushi Harbor in Touwei. Among the 20 clans, 7 inhabited the flatland area of Jiaoxi.
In 1796, the famous Han pioneer, Wu Sha, entered Toucheng, moving south and exploring the land for development along the way. By 1799, Jiaoxi Tangwei (today's Deyang Village), Baishiwei (today's Baiyun and Yushi Villages), Sanwei (today's Sanmin Village) and Siwei (today's Wusha Village) were fully developed. As they opened the Jiaoxi, the settlers from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou called this place the "Dry Pit" in ther dialect because the land was surrounded by mountains with very limited water resources. The pronunciation sounds like the current name Jiaoxi in the Minnan dialect. This is believed to the origin of the name.
During Japanese ruling, the Japanese were the first to discover and develop the rich hot spring resources in the Jiaoxi area. The hot springs bath and associated drinking establishments were the result of Japanese influences. After Taiwanese retrocession, the hot springs continued to bring in visitors to Jiaoxi. During the 80s and 90s, American soldiers based in Taiwan and Japanese businessmen were attracted by the fame of the hot springs and the bars flowed into Jiaoxi, earning Jiaoxi the name "Little Beitou". Since then, Jiaoxi has been viewed through a pornographic prism.
However, in recent years the Yilan County Government has dedicated itself to recreating the image of Jiaoxi. Today's Jiaoxi is a dynamic tourist town crammed with newly renovated hot spring resorts promoting heath benefits and hot spring gourmet delicacies.
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