Haiduan

Hǎiduān (海端), known as Haitutuan in Bunun, is the largest township by area in Taitung and one of the most sparsely populated in Taiwan. It occupies a vast stretch of the Central Mountain Range with a population that is approximately 95% Bunun Indigenous people. The name, meaning “three sides surrounded by mountains, one side open” in Bunun, describes the valley landform at the township’s administrative center; despite the Chinese characters suggesting a coastal connection, the township does not border the sea. The Japanese colonial government built the Guanshan Traversal Trail (關山越嶺道) through the interior to suppress Bunun resistance, establishing a chain of police garrisons such as the Tarakkis Garrison (1920) and fortifications including the Wulu Old Fort (1927), where Russian-made cannons captured during the Russo-Japanese War were deployed to intimidate local communities.