Dongshi

Dōngshì (東勢), formerly Dongshicuo (東勢厝), is a small rural township in west-central Yunlin, not to be confused with Dongshi in Taichung or Dongshi in Chiayi. The name, meaning “eastern settlement”, reflects its position east of the coastal villages from which it was separated in 1946. Dongshi produces roughly half of Taiwan’s carrots and is a major goose-farming center; it is also known for an annual “eating rice basket” (吃飯擔) festival, a Lantern Festival tradition in which villagers carry prepared food on shoulder poles into the fields for an open-air communal feast.