About Changhua

A county whose name means to manifest refined civilization.

Changhua County (彰化縣) was founded in 1723 — its very name comes from the Qing-era phrase "建學立師以彰雅化": establish schools and teachers to manifest refined civilization. Education isn't an afterthought here. It is built into the county's identity.

彰化縣於 1723 年（清雍正元年）設縣，得名於「建學立師以彰雅化」。 教育在彰化從來不是邊角，而是縣的本名與本心。三百年來，這片台灣中部最小、人口最多的平原，孕育了鹿港的商埠文化、八卦山的信仰地景、賴和的新文學，以及一代又一代守在課堂裡的老師。

1,074km²

Total area

Taiwan's smallest county · 全台最小縣

1.2million

Population

Most populous county · 全台人口最多縣

1723

Founded

清雍正元年設縣

"Establish schools and teachers, so that refined civilization may be made visible."

「建學立師以彰雅化」——這八個字是雍正皇帝為新設立的縣賜下的期許，也是「彰化」二字的出處。三百年來，這份命名一直是這片土地的本心。

Emperor Yongzheng · 1723

Geography & landscape 地理

Sitting on Taiwan's west-coast plain between the Dadu and Zhuoshui Rivers, Changhua is 87.69 % plain with the Bagua Plateau rising on the eastern edge. The Taiwan Strait shoreline on the west forms one of the country's largest tidal flats — home to oyster farms, mudskippers, and fiddler crabs. This is Taiwan's lowest county by average elevation: every village is reachable within an hour from the county seat.

座落於台灣中部西岸，介於大肚溪與濁水溪之間，87.69% 為平原，東緣為八卦台地。西側緊鄰台灣海峽，擁有全台最大潮間帶之一——蚵田、彈塗魚、招潮蟹皆在此繁衍。全台海拔最低的縣，從彰化市出發一小時內可達任一鄉鎮。

Three landscape zones in one county: coastal tidal flats (Fangyuan, Dacheng, Wanggong) feed Taiwan's oyster & clam industry; the central plain (Yuanlin, Tianzhong, Tianwei) is the rice-and-flower heartland; the Bagua Plateau (Bagua Mountain, Eight Trigrams Mountain) holds the county's spiritual landmarks.

一縣三貌：西海岸潮間帶供養全台蚵業，中央彰化平原是稻米與花卉重鎮，八卦山則是信仰與文化地景的所在。

What Changhua is famous for 在地物產與產業

Eighteen townships, eighteen specialties. From bawan to bicycles, this is what Taiwan thinks of when it thinks of Changhua.

🥟

Bawan · Meatball彰化肉圓

The translucent steamed-then-fried pork dumpling that Taiwanese kids associate, by reflex, with Changhua. Two rival traditions: Changhua City (deep-fried) and Beidou (steamed).

🍇

Grapes & wine溪湖／大村葡萄

Xihu and Dacun townships produce most of Taiwan's table grapes — black Kyoho in summer, Golden Muscat in winter — and run small-batch wineries open to visitors.

🌸

Tianwei flowers田尾公路花園

Taiwan's largest cluster of nurseries and florists. Six kilometres of greenhouses along Highway 1, supplying flowers to the entire island.

🧦

Shetou socks社頭織襪

One small town. ~70 % of Taiwan's socks. Family-run knitting mills have made Shetou the sock capital of the country since the 1960s.

🌊

Wanggong oysters王功蚵

Ox-cart rides take you out across the tidal flats at low tide to harvest oysters. Wanggong Fishing Port is the place to eat them — oyster omelette, oyster vermicelli, fried oysters.

🚲

Bicycles & baking員林食品與工業

Yuanlin and Dacun host bicycle-component factories and snack giants (think pineapple cakes, mochi, and Taiwan's biggest pineapple-tart maker). A small-town manufacturing powerhouse.

🍚

Rice & agriculture米鄉

Called "Taiwan's rice basket." The Zhuoshui-fed paddies of Ershui, Tianzhong, and Xizhou yield some of the island's most-praised rice — and pomelo, asparagus, lychee on the side.

🪟

Lukang glass & crafts鹿港玻璃／工藝

Stained-glass mazu temples, hand-blown glass shrines, lantern-makers, tin-smiths, woodcarvers. Lukang remains Taiwan's densest concentration of traditional craftspeople.

🍜

Street-food culture小吃文化

Changhua scallion pancake-wrapped braised pork rice (爌肉飯), Lukang oyster vermicelli (麵線糊), Yuanlin chicken-foot jelly (雞腳凍), Beidou rice dumplings (肉粽). A whole atlas of regional snacks.

Iconic places to visit 必訪景點

If you only have a weekend in Changhua, start here.

🪷

Bagua Mountain Great Buddha八卦山大佛

A 22 m bronze Buddha overlooking Changhua City since 1961 — the county's most-photographed landmark. The skywalk behind it gives the best sunset view of the central plain.

🛕

Lukang Old Street & Longshan Temple鹿港老街、龍山寺

Once Taiwan's second-largest port (一府二鹿三艋舺). Today: Qing-era brick lanes, hand-made pastries, and the 1786 Longshan Temple — often called "the Forbidden City of Taiwan" for its woodwork.

🚂

Changhua Roundhouse彰化扇形車庫

Taiwan's only surviving fan-shaped locomotive depot (1922). A working turntable rotates real steam and diesel engines for railway fans. Free to visit.

🌊

Wanggong Fishing Port王功漁港

Sunset over the oyster farms, ox-cart rides at low tide, and the red-and-white Wanggong Lighthouse. The west-coast Changhua experience in one afternoon.

🏛️

Changhua Confucian Temple彰化孔廟

Built in 1726 — Taiwan's second-oldest Confucian temple. A five-minute walk from the county's Department of Education building. Confucius would approve.

🌷

Tianwei Highway Garden田尾公路花園

Six kilometres of nurseries and flower farms — a slow drive past every orchid, rose, hydrangea, and bonsai you can imagine. Best in spring and autumn.

Cultural figures & festivals 人物與節慶

A county's character lives in the people it produces and the rituals it keeps.

✍️

Lai Ho (賴和, 1894–1943)「台灣新文學之父」

Doctor, poet, and social-reformer born in Changhua City. Wrote in Taiwanese and Chinese during the Japanese era to give voice to ordinary farmers. His former clinic is now the Lai Ho Memorial Hall.

📜

Chen Hsu-ku (陳虛谷, 1896–1965)和美詩人

Poet and resistance writer from Hemei. With Lai Ho, anchored the Changhua literary circle that pushed back against colonial censorship through verse and short fiction.

🌾

Wu Sheng (吳晟, 1944–)當代田園詩人

Contemporary poet and environmentalist who still farms in Xizhou. His poems about Taiwanese soil, mothers, and trees are taught in classrooms across the country.

🐉

Lukang Dragon Boat Festival鹿港慶端陽

Changhua's signature summer festival. Dragon-boat races on the Fulu River, lion dances, lantern parades, and Lukang's old streets at full festival pitch. Mid-June.

⛩️

Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage白沙屯媽祖進香

Each spring, the Baishatun Mazu palanquin makes a nine-day pilgrimage that traditionally crosses Changhua — drawing tens of thousands of pilgrims through Lukang and Yuanlin.

🪔

Lukang Lantern Festival鹿港燈會

Old Street lit by thousands of hand-painted lanterns for two weeks after Lunar New Year. A century-old tradition that draws photographers from across Asia.

Administrative divisions 行政區

26 divisions: 2 cities (Changhua City & Yuanlin City), 6 urban townships, 18 rural townships.

Education ecosystem 教育生態

Changhua's bilingual education runs on a tri-partite partnership:

  1. Department of Education, Changhua County Government (教育處) — sets policy and funds the bilingual program through the Student Affairs & Curriculum Development Division (學務管理及課程發展科), via initiatives like the Teaching Enhancement Program (精進教學計畫) and the Teaching Excellence Awards (教學卓越獎).
  2. CIEETRC (彰化縣國際教育暨英語教育資源中心) — produces shared resources and runs the SIEP testing program.
  3. My Culture Connect (人師教育協會) — recruits and places foreign English teachers in Changhua schools. Serving the county since 2009.

The county is home to 3 universities — National Changhua University of Education (NCUE, 國立彰化師範大學, one of Taiwan's three flagship teacher-training universities), Da Yeh University, and Chienkuo Technology University — plus 12 senior high schools and a dense network of junior high and elementary schools, over 100 of which participate in this Hub.

彰化縣擁有 3 所大專院校（國立彰化師範大學、大葉大學、建國科技大學）、12 所高中，以及綿密的國中小網路——其中超過 100 所學校加入本資源網。

Why this Hub exists 本平台緣起

The bilingual sites of more than 100 Changhua schools were scattered across Google Sites, Canva, and dozens of subdomains. This Hub gathers them into one searchable directory, alongside the resources, foreign-teacher profiles, and 3,000 classroom videos that connect them.

彰化縣 100 多所學校的雙語網站原本散落在 Google Sites、Canva 與數十個子網域。本平台把它們收進同一份可搜尋的索引，並串接共用資源、外師檔案，以及 3,000 部課堂影片。