Ji’an

Jí’ān (吉安), formerly Cikasuan (七腳川) in Amis, sprawls south and west of Hualien City in Hualien, encompassing the fertile alluvial plains at the north end of the Huadong Valley. With approximately 83,000 residents it is the second largest settlement in the county and functions as a satellite city. It is perhaps most widely known for its many relics of the Japanese colonial era, for it was developed as Yoshino Village (吉野村) in 1910, one of the first Japanese immigrant villages in Taiwan. Qingxiu Temple (慶修院), a restored Shingon Buddhist temple from 1917, is its best-preserved remnant, and tobacco barns from the colonial period dot the surrounding villages.