Yilan County Government - 宜蘭縣政府全球資訊網

Located in the southeast of Yilan County situated in the northeast of Taiwan, Su'ao township lies at 122° east longitude and 24.8° north latitude, has a twisted and long topography, faces the Pacific on the east, borders Dongshan Town and Wujie Town on the northwest, Nan'ao township on the northwest, is separated by the Central Mountain Range on the south, and forms a closed area that is surrounded by hills on 3 sides and faces the sea on one side. The town features a narrow and long topography more than 40 km in total length, the mountains wriggle their ways to Hua Lien and the geographic structure is special. The region is abundant in mineral resources and special and rare cold spring resources ranked 1st in Taiwan. The town is under the effect of an east Asia tropical climate with hot summers and rainy winters. Due to the effects of the monsoon, Su'ao township is abundant in precipitation, which is an important resource for the growth of crops, resulting in good harvest each year.

Geographically, Su'ao is bounded by the Central Mountain Range on the south, surrounded by hills on 3 sides and faces the sea on 1 side. The town features a narrow and long topography more than 40 km in total length; the mountains wriggle their ways to Hualien and the geographic structure is special. The region is abundant in mineral resources and special and rare cold spring resources ranked 1st in Taiwan. The town is under the effect of an east Asia tropical climate with hot summers and rainy winters. Due to the effects of the monsoon, Su'ao township is abundant in precipitation, which is an important resource for the growth of crops, resulting in good harvest each year. This region comprises mostly of hills, has a northeast monsoon season that commences in Oct and ends in Jan of the following year, is subject to sea-land breeze in summer, with the peak of typhoon season in Jul, Aug and Sep each year, which hits Su'ao Township quite frequently.

Su'ao was known as “Gang Kou” in ancient times and “Shi Ba Keng” in the mainland. It is said that during the Jia Qing regime of the Qing Dynasty, a man named Su Shi Wei from Quan Zhou led 44 village militias here to cultivate the native land; later, in order to commemorate the contribution of the ancestors of the Su family cultivating the land, people combined the surname "Su" with "Ao", a word used to refer to the bays, and named the region "Su'ao". Su'ao Township belonged to Lizejanbao prior to 1889, changed to Yilan Department Lizejian in 1901, Lizejian Office in 1904, belonged to Luodong Branch in 1908 when Lizejian Office was abolished, changed to Taipei Prefecture Su'ao Branch Su'ao Village in 1920, renamed Su'ao Streets in 1943, put under the jurisdiction of Taipei County immediately after the recovery of Taiwan in 1945 and was then renamed Su'ao Township, Yilan County in Oct, 1950 when the administrative division of Taiwan was readjusted and the name has been used since.