The Huadong Valley or Hualien–Taitung Valley (), also known as East Rift Valley or the Longitudinal Valley, is a long and narrow valley located between the
Central Mountain Range
The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. Due to this separation, connecting between the west and east is not very convenient. The tallest peak of th ...
and the
Coastal Mountain Range. It is also recognized as a plain area which stretches for about 180 kilometers near the eastern coast of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
, passes from
Hualien City
Hualien City (; Wade-Giles: Hua¹-lien² Shih⁴; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-chhī'' or ''Hoa-liân-chhī'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Hualien County, Taiwan. It is located on the east coast of Taiwan on the Pacific Oc ...
at the north to
Taitung City
Taitung City () is a county-administered city and the county seat of Taitung County, Taiwan. It lies on the southeast coast of Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean. Taitung City is the most populous subdivision of Taitung County and it is one of th ...
at the south. It was called or simply Nakasendō during the
era of Japanese rule.
The valley is believed to be part of the northern terminus of the
Philippine Mobile Belt, a complex collection of tectonic plate fragments and volcanic intrusions. There are three large river systems flowing through this valley, including the
Hualien,
Xiugulan and
Beinan Rivers, all of which flow into the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
.
The
Huadong Highway
Huatung Highway () is a section of the Provincial Highway No. 9 in Taiwan. It starts at Hualien City and ends at Taitung City, thus its name. The highway runs the entire length of the Huatung Valley and is flanked by the Central Mountain Range ...
, a section of
Provincial Highway No. 9, runs the entire length of the valley from north to south.
Gallery
Image:Haian Range, Taiwan.jpg, Huadong Valley, the Coastal Mountain Range can be seen in the distance
Image:Taiwan 2009 HuaLien Rice Paddy at Foot of Mountain FRD 6130 Book Back Cover.jpg, Rice paddy
A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Au ...
in Fengli, Shoufeng Township
Image:Taiwan 2009 Bike Touring FuLi Town FRD 8072.jpg, Bicyclists on Highway 23 in Fuli Township
Image:Taiwan 2009 HuaTung Valley Decommissioned Railway Tracks by Rice Paddy FRD 8154.jpg, Decommissioned railway tracks by the Huadong Highway
Huatung Highway () is a section of the Provincial Highway No. 9 in Taiwan. It starts at Hualien City and ends at Taitung City, thus its name. The highway runs the entire length of the Huatung Valley and is flanked by the Central Mountain Range ...
in Ruisui Township
See also
*
Geology of Taiwan
The island of Taiwan was formed approximately 4 to 5 million years ago at a convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In a boundary running the length of the island and continuing southwards, the Eurasian ...
References
External links
East Rift Valley National Scenic Area Administration
Valleys of Taiwan
{{Taiwan-geo-stub