Heping

Hépíng (和平) is a vast mountainous district in eastern Taichung, the largest in the city by area and home to a Tayal majority. The Dajia River cuts through the district along the route of the Cross-Island Highway (中橫公路), a Cold War era road built at great human cost and commemorated by the Roadworkers Martyrs’ Shrine (路工忠烈祠). Lishan Guesthouse (梨山賓館), designed by the same architect as Taipei’s Grand Hotel, served as a mountain retreat for Chiang Kai-shek. Further downstream, the Guguan Power Plant (谷關水力發電廠), completed in 1961 as the first major hydroelectric project of the post-war era, was abandoned after the 921 Earthquake.