Datong

Datong (大同) is a mountainous township in southwestern Yilan County primarily inhabited by Tayal Indigenous people. During the Japanese colonial period, the region was extensively developed for timber extraction, establishing the Luodong Forest Railway system and numerous Shinto shrines in Indigenous communities as part of cultural assimilation policies. The area features well-preserved forestry infrastructure including Taipingshan Clubhouse (1937) and the famous Jianqing Huaigu Trail, which follows abandoned railway tracks through moss-covered mountain forests. Development in the post-war era included Taiwan’s first geothermal power plant (1981) and the transformation of former timber infrastructure into popular tourist destinations within Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area (太平山國家森林遊樂區).