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Yilan City
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Jioucyong Town
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28.0483 km²
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95,300
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38 Villages, 478 Neighborhoods
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Yilan City is located at the heart of the Lanyang Plain at 21.4511 E, 24.4518 N. It has an average elevation of 7.38 meters above sea level, connecting with Zhuangwei Township in the east, Yuanshan Township in the west, neighboring Wujie in the south, and Jiaoxi in the north of which it is separated by via the Lanyang River.
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Yilan City is located at the heart of the Lanyang Plain. In 1802, Han settlers entered and cleared Yilan, and called the area Wuwei. In 1812, Kavalan Hall, the administrative unit for the area was formally established and the construction of a city was started. Walls were put up around the city and Jiuqiong (koehne) trees were planted along the walls. Later on "Hall" was replaced by "County" and the place name "Yilan" was formally given. In 1950, Yilan was formerly established as a county with Yilan City acting as government headquarters for all county matters. Today, highly populated Yilan City is the political, cultural, and educational center of Yilan County, and the most important city in the Xibei (the area north to the Lanyang River) area. Along the street of the old downtown area of Yilan City, you can see plenty of buildings from the Qing and/or Japanese colonial eras, including Zhaoying Temple, and the Bank of Taiwan, etc., all of which are rare and well-preserved Taiwanese historical sites.
In addition, in the old downtown area of Yilan City, some special industries, from the Qing and/or Japanese eras can be found. In the past, most people living on Wuying Street (generally called the Blacksmith Street by the locals) made their living engaged in traditional handicrafts such as the blacksmith business. Following the passing of time, the population engaged in traditional handicrafts decreased. However, stores making traditional agricultural tools can still be found on this street. Moreover, as in recent years it has become trendy for people to remember the good old days, traditional local delicacies such as Ox tongue-shaped Cookies and Yashang (dried and smoked duck) have regained their popularity and revitalized the local food industry.
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Yilan was brought into Mainland China's sphere of control by the Qing court in 1810. In 1812, an administrative unit was formally established in Wuwei, known today as Yilan City. In 1813, construction of Yilan City was completed, with internal facilities following closely after, making Yilan City the center for government, the economy, culture, and education on the Lanyang Plain. After Taiwanese retrocession, Yilan was formerly established as a county with Yilan City acting as government headquarters for all county matters. For the last 180 years, Yilan City has continuously been the political, economic, cultural, and educational center for Yilan County.
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