Ruisui

Ruisui Township[1] is a rural township located in southern Hualien County, Taiwan, and has a population of 12,107 inhabitants in 11 villages.

Ruisui Township 瑞穗鄉 Mizuho
The Xiuguluan River near Jimei, Ruisui Township
Nickname(s):  水尾 (Mizuo)
Coordinates: 23°26′0″N 121°30′0″E
Country	Taiwan
Region	Eastern Taiwan
Government
• Type	Township
Area
• Total	135.5862 km^2 (52.3501 sq mi)
Population  (December 2014)
• Total	12,107
Time zone	UTC+8 (CST)
Post code	978
Subdivision	11 Villages
Website	www.juisui.gov.tw (Chinese)

Ruisui Township
Chinese	瑞穗鄉
Hanyu Pinyin	Ruìsuì Xiāng
Wade–Giles	Jui^4-sui^4 Hsiang^1
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ	Lui-sui-hiông
Hokkien POJ	Sūi-sūi-hiong or Sūi-hūi-hiong

The population is composed of Hoklo, Hakka, and Taiwanese aborigines, most of whom are Amis. Agriculture and tourism are major industries.

History

During Qing rule, the headquarters of Taitung Prefecture was located in modern-day Ruisui, known then as Tsui-be,[2] or Tsui-boe[3] (Chinese: 水尾; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chúi-bóe). Those Chinese characters (水尾) were rendered Mizuo in Japanese during Japanese rule of Taiwan, but were later changed to 瑞穗, Mizuho in 1917.[4] This written form was retained after the Kuomintang takeover of Taiwan in 1945; the characters are pronounced Sūi-sūi and Ruìsuì in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese, respectively.

Geography

The township lies in an alluvial plain which located midway up the Huadong Valley between the Central Mountain Range, Coastal Mountain Range and Wuhe Terrace. Rafting activity on the Xiuguluan River often starts from the Ruisui Bridge.

The climate is between tropical and subtropical monsoon with a humid climate.

The Tropic of Cancer passes through the township.

Administrative divisions

The township comprises 11 villages: Fumin, Fuxing, Fuyuan, Hegang, Jimei, Ruibei, Ruiliang, Ruimei, Ruisui, Ruixiang and Wuhe.

Tourist attractions

Wuhe Terrace, known for the cultivation of Wuhe Tea

• Fuyuan National Forest Recreation Area
• Rareseed Ranch
• Ruisui Tropic of Cancer Marker
• Saoba Stone Pillars
• Ruisui Hotspring
• Honyeh Hotspring (Red Leaf Hotspring)
• Wuhe Terrace Tea Plantations
• Ruisui Rafting Tourist Center (Xiuguluan River Rafting)
• Ruisui Range
• Fuyuan Bao'an Temple
• Fuyuan Butterfly Village
• Maliyun Tribal Village
• Ruisui Qinglian Temple

Transportation

Ruisui Station on the Hualien–Taitung Line

Taiwan Railway Administration stations on the Hualien–Taitung Line in Ruisui include:

• Fuyuan Station
• Ruisui Station

Highways in Ruisui include:

• Provincial Highway 9, a north-south route through the Huadong Valley
• County Road 193, a parallel route crisscrossing the Xiugulan River

Sister cities

• Misato, Akita, Japan[5] (friendship city)

Notable natives

• T.H. Tung, businessperson

References

1. 臺灣地區鄉鎮市區級以上行政區域名稱中英對照表 Glossary of Names for Administrative Divisions. Ministry of the Interior. 26 March Minguo 104 (2015). Retrieved 5 November 2017. (in Chinese)
2. Campbell, William (1915). Sketches from Formosa. London: Marshall Brothers. p. 278. OL 7051071M. The eastern prefecture of TAI-TANG, made up of the two sub-prefectures of Pi-lam and Hoe-lian-kang, with head-quarters at the middle-eastern centre called Tsui-be.
3. Campbell (1896), map.
4. 臺灣歷史地圖 增訂版. [Taiwan Historical Maps, Expanded and Revised Edition]. Taipei: National Museum of Taiwan History. February 2018. p. 109. ISBN 978-986-05-5274-4. 水尾 瑞穗 (1917)
5. "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.

Bibliography

• Campbell, William (1896). "The island of Formosa: Its past and future". Scottish Geographical Magazine. 12 (8): 385–399. doi:10.1080/00369229608732903.

External links

• Office of Ruisui Township (in Chinese)