Shulin

Shùlín (樹林) is an urbanized district southwest of Taipei. The name derives from trees planted along the Dahan River in 1751 to prevent flooding. The hillside settlement of Shānjiǎ (山佳) developed around coal mining; the Shanjia Railway Station, established in 1903 and rebuilt in 1931, was originally constructed to transport ore from mines like the Gaidankeng (蓋淡坑), once the area’s most productive. Mining declined after the disasters and market collapse of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Shulin was also known as the “hometown of red yeast rice wine” (紅露酒). A brewery established in 1909 grew to supply over half of Taiwan’s red wine production by the 1930s under the colonial monopoly system. The factory relocated to Taoyuan in 2004, and much of the red yeast culture has since faded.