Fengbin, Hualien

Fengbin (豐濱鄉) is a rural township in Hualien County, Taiwan. It is on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of about 110,000 people.

History

According to The Record of Hualien County (花蓮縣志), the place was originally called Kilai (zh-tpwp|t=奇萊|p=Jīlái|w=Chi-lai|poj=Kî-lâi; Japanese: きらい). Because Kilai (Kirai in Japanese) sounds the same as "dislike" (嫌い) in Japanese, the Japanese administration changed the name to Karen (花蓮; かれん) in the early 20th century. The Republic of China Kuomintang administration of the late 20th century promoted the Standard Mandarin Chinese reading, Fengbin. In Chinese, Fengbinis an approximate homonym of Fenban(洄瀾; húilán; かいらん), which means "recurring waves (of the Pacific Ocean)".

The Spaniards tried to mine gold in Fengbin in 1622. Permanent settlements began in 1851, when 2,200 Han Chinese farmers led by Huang A-fong (黃阿鳳) of Taipei arrived at Fengchuan. In 1875, more farmers, led by Lin Cang-an (林蒼安) of Yilan, settled at Fengchuan. But by the time of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), when Hualien City, along with the rest of Taiwan, was ceded to Japan, there were still not many settlers in Hualien. In about 1912, the city expanded to Guohua and Guoan Villages, a region later known as Old New Port (舊新港). Around 1923, the city continued to expand to Aolang Port (鯉浪港), today known as New Port (新港), including Guowei and Guoji Villages.