Fengyuan District is a district located in north-central Taichung, Taiwan on the south bank of the Dajia River. Fengyuan district is the third most populated district among former Taichung County, ranking after Dali and Taiping district. Fengyuan was recognized as Huludun in early times, meaning "gourd" in Chinese, for a gourd-shape pile of mud that was found in Fengyuan by the aborigines. The rice produced in Fengyuan is famous for its high quality and the bakery industry prospered in later decades. Because of the extraordinary location of the intersection of Taiwan railway west trunk and Dongshibranch line, Fengyuan quickly expanded after World War II. It soon became one of the political, economic and communication centers of central Taiwan, playing an important role in the development of the central part of this island. Recently, Fengyuan faces the challenge of being marginalized after the amalgamation of Taichung County and Taichung City in December 2010.
History
Before the arrival of the Han Chinese, the area of Fengyuan city was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines. Their name for the area, meaning "thriving pine forest", was transcribed into Chinese characters as 泰耶爾墩. Before the mid-18th century, the area was a territory of the Pazeh people, which they called Haluton. This name was adapted into Hokkien as Haloton. Han immigration to the area began during late Qing rule. Liu Mingchuan gave the area a nickname of "little Suzhou" due to its prosperity and scenic beauty.
Empire of Japan
In 1905, during Japanese rule, the Holotun Station was erected, putting the area along a main thoroughfare. In 1920, the Governor-General of Taiwan gave the town its name,, meaning flourishing plain. Emperor Meiji′Emperor Taishō′Hirohito ate rice supplied from Fengyuan City.
After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, Fengyuan was organized as an urban township of Taichung County and was made the capital of the county. On 1 March 1973, Fengyuan was upgraded to a county-administered city due to its population. On 25 December 2010, Taichung County was merged with Taichung City and Fengyuan was upgraded to a district of the city with Xitun District was made as the capital of the city.
