Yilan County Government - 宜蘭縣政府全球資訊網

Situated in the west of Lanyang Plain, Yuanshan Township got its name from a round hill within the area of the town, which is the place where the Yuanshan Memorial Hall is located today. With an elevation of about 43 m, the hill looks like a dome when looked from the distance and is therefore named Yuanshan. Habituated primarily by farmers, Yuanshan Township is a place of beautiful natural landscapes surrounded by green hills and blue waters where the people are simple and sincere.

Located at the southern end of the Xue (Snow) Mountain Range and bounded by the Lanyang River on the south, Yuanshan Township comprises mostly of hills. As a result of the climate, temperature, humidity and day-night temperature difference offer favorable basic conditions for the growth of a wide variety of fruit trees, including citrus tankan, pineapple, bamboo shoof, ginger, star fruit, chives, guava, wax apple, green onion and Le Shan pear, all of them are distinctive local farm products, which may be pricked by the visitors personally during the full fruiting period to enjoy the happiness between parents and children. Abundant field landscapes and countryside industries make Yuanshan Township a nice place to promote most diversified farm recreation activities.

According to the history of Yilan, Yuanshan Township was first cultivated in the 58th year of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty (1793), the Han people from Zhangzhou and Buanzhou Province led by Wu Hua (nephew of Wu Sha), who was the leader of the people that first cultivated Lanyang plain and arrived here to cultivate the native land. The areas cultivated by people from Quanzhou Province were named “Jie” while the areas cultivated by people from Zhang Zhou Porvince were named “Jiu”to distinguish from each other. In Aug of the 17th year of the Jiaqing Emperor regime (1812), Kavalan Department was established and had jurisdiction over Yuanshan Township. In the 21st year of the Guangxu Emperor regime (1895), Japan occupied Taiwan, divided Yilan into 3 prefectures, Yuanshan was changed into a village and put under the jurisdiction of Taipei State, Yilan Prefecture. After the recovery of Taiwan, the government demarcated the regional administrative division and Yuanshan Township was established in 1946; soon after, on the Double Tenth Day in 1950, Yilan county was established officially, Yuanshan Township still belonged to it and was put under the jurisdiction of Yilan county and was named Yilan County, Yuanshan Township.