
Pingtung 屏東 (pinyin: Píngdōng) is the southernmost county in Taiwan. The alluvial plains east of the Gāopíng River 高屏溪 are home to the capital, Pingtung City 屏東市, and most of the population of approximately 840,000, many of them descendants of Hakka and Teochew settlers. Head east into the foothills of the Central Mountain Range 中央山脈 and you will find many Taiwanese indigenous groups, primarily Paiwan and Rukai, famous for their slate stone villages, with several extant sites predating the arrival of the European colonial powers in the 17th century. Pingtung also extends south to Héngchūn 恆春, a historic frontier town with well-preserved city wall; the many white sand beaches of Kenting National Park; and Cape Éluánbí 鵝鑾鼻, the southernmost tip of Taiwan.