Wufeng

Wùfēng (霧峰) is the southernmost district in Taichung, occupying a transitional zone between the Taichung basin and the foothills of the Central Mountain Range to the east. Originally an Arikun aboriginal settlement called Ataabu (阿罩霧), the area rose to prominence through the Wufeng Lin family (霧峰林家), one of Taiwan’s five great gentry clans, whose Qing dynasty estate remains a national monument. In the 1950s, Cold War tensions prompted the relocation of several provincial government bodies here, including the Provincial Council Hall and a secret underground vault that housed the National Palace Museum collection from 1954 to 1965. The 921 Earthquake in 1999 devastated the district, and the 921 Earthquake Museum, built on the collapsed ruins of a junior high school, remains preserved as a memorial.