The outstanding impression from a visit to Hualien, an international seaport on the Pacific coast of Taiwan, is that it is a city with a predictably great future.
Contributing to this exciting prospect is the economic development of the eastern half of the island in which tourism is playing an increasingly prominent part.
Hualien, 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of Taipei, provisional capital of the Republic of China, is the principal city in eastern Taiwan.
It is the capital of Hualien county, by far the largest but the least densely populated of the 16 counties into which the province of Taiwan is divided. The area of the county is 4,628.57 square kilometers (1,803.94 square miles), and the population 380,000, or less than one-fifth that of Taipei. The inhabitants include 80,000 aborigines, most of whom belong to the Ami tribe, the largest in Taiwan. The remainder belong to the Atayal tribe.
One reason for the low density of the population is the mountainous nature of the county.
Hualien first began to attract the attention of domestic and international travelers in 1960, when it became the eastern starting point of the then newly completed East-West Cross-Island Highway, which the Chinese so graphically and poetically call the Rainbow of Treasure Island.
Since then the population of Hualien has doubled from 60,000 to 120,000, largely because the highway opened up the mountains of central Taiwan to vegetable and fruit farming, cattle raising, forestry and tourism.
An average of 120,000 persons a month now use Hualien as the starting point for visits to the East-West Highway, most of them traversing only the 12-mile stretch along Taroko Gorge, internationally acknowledged as one of the natural wonders of Asia. Taroko is a fitting name for the gorge: it means "beautiful" in the language of the Ami, the earliest inhabitants of the region.
An immense fillip to the growing importance of Hualien will be the completion in October next year of one of the most spectacular engineering feats ever carried out in Asia. This is the north link railroad that will connect Suao on the northeast coast of Taiwan with Hualien.
The line, which will be 82.3 kilometers long (51.14 miles), will bore through 15 tunnels with a total length of 31.137 kilometers (19.35 miles) or 37.8 per cent of the total length of the line. The longest of the tunnels will extend for 7.757 kilometers (4.82 miles). The line also involves the construction of 22 major bridges with a total length of 5.359 kilometers (3.35 miles).
Several other developments will contribute to the importance of Hualien as a tourism center.
One is the conversion of Shihtiping (Stone Stairs Land), 57 kilometers (35 miles) south of Hualien, into a sea park unofficially known as the Rockland Sea Park. The park covers an area of 500 hectares (1.9 square miles). It is dotted with fantastic rock formations which, like those at Yehliu, on the northern coast of Taiwan, have been sculpted by the elements through the ages.
Another is the widening of the narrow gauge railroad that links Hualien with Taitung on the southeast coast of Taiwan. Work on the project, which will be finished in June, 1982, was started last July 1. When it and the Suao-Hualien line are completed, it will be possible to travel by rail all the way from Kaohsiung via Taipei and Suao to Taitung. Another development for the future will be a south link line that will give Taiwan a complete round-the island railway.
And still another is the projected development of the impressively beautiful Lake Carp, 19 kilometers (12 miles) west of Hualien, into a resort area with new hotel and other facilities.
The lake, shaped like a carp, abounds with fish, including the species after which it is named. It is an idyllic spot for rowing and motorboating.
Among the attractions of Hualien itself is the seaside park overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The park, covering a long strip of land, is a favorite vantage point. It is adorned with coconut trees, pavilions, sculptures and marble seats, and features a promenade surfaced with marble flagstones.
Other attractions in Hualien include the lively song and dance shows performed by aborigines at the Ami Culture Village and the South Seas Garden; and a big marble plant in which all the processes of converting huge slabs of the stone into a thousand-and-one products can be witnessed.
One of the most famous temples in Taiwan is situated at Hualien. It is the Tze Hui Tang or Temple of Motherly Devotion, a Taoist complex that attracts pilgrims" not only from Taiwan but also from Japan and other countries.
It is not unusual to witness the arrival, in the course of a single day, of 20 or more busloads of the faithful from every part of Taiwan.
Although it is Taoist, the temple also enshrines images of Buddhist deities, most notably that of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy. Prominent among the Taoist deities enshrined there is the image of Matsu, Goddess of the Sea.
Hualien is the site of one of the oldest golf courses in Taiwan. The Hualien Golf Club, a nine-hole, 3,269-yard course, was opened in 1928 during the half-century Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945). At that time there was only one other golf course in the island, that at Tamsui near Taipei.
During Japan's eight-year war against China, the Hualien course was closed and was not reopened until 1970, fifteen years after the conflict had ended and the island had been restored to Chinese rule.
Tours to Hualien for a visit to the Taroko Gorge usually include attendance at one of the aborigine song and dance shows, a visit to the marble plant and a tasty Chinese lunch at the Tienhsiang Lodge at the western end of the gorge. The tours, which can be made from Taipei between morning and evening, include a round trip by plane to Hualien, only 25 minutes each way.
Hualien can also be reached overland from Taipei via Suao, which is connected to the seaport by a cliffside road best avoided by persons with acrophobia.
There is also ferry service between Keelung on the north coast, near Taipei, and the small east coast city with a big future.
China Post - Underwater scenery
An underwater garden off Kenting at the island's southern tip will be developed as Taiwan's first marine park.
Stretching from Nanwan to Maopitou, it will be part of a bigger national park along 60 kilometers of shoreline. The area includes Chialoshui, Oluanpi, Nanwan, Maopitou and Wanlitung.
"It is hard anywhere in the world to find an area with such colorful scenery and rich marine life," said Dr. Yang Rong-tszong, chief of the division of marine biology of the Institute of Oceanography of National Taiwan University.
Dr. Yang has eight years of diving experience and has studied coral reefs off Hawaii, Fiji, Spain, Capetown and Abidjan. He led a team of 10 young people exploring the Kenting area.
The underwater garden has extensive marine life and is not polluted.
There are 257 species of coral and 396 kinds of fish, including moray eels, butterfly fish, lion fish, colorful sponges and many shellfish.
Only a few people now enjoy diving, swimming, surfing and water skiing in the area.
It is expected the park will be opened within a year. Glass-bottomed boats will be available.
A laboratory has been established to conduct research and encourage conservation. (Susan Huang)