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Hualien County annals (花蓮縣志) record that the city was called "Kilai" (Chinese: 奇萊; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kî-lâi) until the early twentieth century. This name refers to the SakirayaTaiwanese aborigines and their settlement.[4]
After Taiwan came under Japanese rule in 1895 its governors sought to change the name because "Kilai" is pronounced the same as the Japanese word for "dislike" (嫌い, kirai). The name was eventually changed to Karen Harbour (Japanese: 花蓮港, Hepburn: Karenkō). After World War II the incoming Kuomintang-led Republic of China retained the Kanji spelling but shortened the name to just Karen (花蓮), or Hualien via Chinese romanization.
History
The Spaniards built mines for gold in Hualien in 1622. Permanent settlements began in 1851, when 2,200 Han Chinese farmers led by Huang A-fong (黃阿鳳) from Taipei arrived at Fengchuan (now the area near Hualien Rear Station). In 1875, more farmers, led by Lin Cang-an (林蒼安) from Yilan, settled at Fengchuan.[citation needed]
Settlements in the area remained small by the start of Japanese rule. The city was expanded circa 1912 by its Japanese governor to incorporate Guohua (國華) and Guoan (國安) Villages, a region later known as Old New Port (舊新港街). In 1920, Karenkō Town (花蓮港街) was established, and around 1923 it was extended to Riran Port (鯉浪港), today known as "New Port" (新港),[5] including the Guowei and Guoji Villages. In 1940, the town was upgraded to Karenkō City, Karenkō Prefecture.
Hualien City has 9,000 aboriginal people, making it the city with the largest aboriginal population in Taiwan. The majority of the aborigines that reside in Hualien include the Amis, Atayal, Truku and Bunun.[7] Hualien City is also the most densely populated area in Hualien county.[3]
Climate
Hualien experiences a tropical monsoon climate (Am) with frequent cyclones, as it borders the Pacific Ocean. It closely borders on a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with the average temperature of the coldest month being just above 18 °C, as well as a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with the driest month's precipitation narrowly missing the 60 mm mark. The city experiences significant rainfall year-round and the temperature there averages 23.4 °C (74.1 °F). Precipitation in the city averages 2,177 mm (85.7 in). January is the city's driest month, while September tends to be the wettest.
Hualien is most famous as the jumping off point for Taroko Gorge National Park. Taroko Gorge is billed as the largest marble canyon in the world. Tours from Hualien City are available in large bus tours or smaller group or private tours. Taroko Gorge features suspension bridges, trails, rivers, waterfalls and more.
1 The provinces are merely retained as nominal entities within the constitutional structure, as they have no governing power following the formal dissolution of the provincial administrative organs in 2018. Cities and counties are de facto regarded as the principal constituent divisions of the ROC.
Sarah Shair-Rosenfield (November 2020). "Taiwan Combined"(PDF). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 29 May 2021.