Suhua highway

Suhua highway

Suhua highway is a highway on the east coast of Taiwan. It is a section of Taijiu line, a provincial highway. It was built during the period of Japanese invasion and colonization. Along the North Road of Qing Dynasty, it is a coastal road.

It was opened to traffic in May 1932. After the war, it was renamed Suhua highway. Later, it continued to build new tunnels and widen to asphalt pavement. On October 25, 1990, it was opened to traffic in two directions. The northern starting point is Suao Town, Ilan County, and the southern ending point is Hualian City, Hualian County. The total length of the coastal road is 118 km. It is built roughly along the coastline, and sometimes winds into the hinterland of the flat estuary Delta. Along the road, you can see the sea view of the Pacific Ocean and the cliffs, which is a world-famous landscape highway.

Practical information

Safety tips

1. Although Suhua highway is a famous landscape highway, the east coast of Taiwan is rich in marble, limestone, sand and other industrial materials. Therefore, gravel trucks and trucks are often seen on this highway at high speed, and there may be rockfall along the road regardless of weather. Therefore, it is necessary to be careful when the locomotive's following vision is limited. Especially after heavy rain or typhoon, there are often rockfalls and landslides, so it belongs to the highway system that often needs maintenance and care.

2. The sea floor drop along the Suhua highway has dropped sharply. In addition, the Kuroshio Current has a strong velocity, which is not suitable for hydrophilic activities. A number of accidents have been recorded. Special attention should be paid.

Traffic information

Mass transportation: you can take Guoguang passenger transport to Suzhou, Macao and Ilan.

Self driving: 1. Taipei → Beiyi highway (provincial highway tai9) → Jiaoxi → Yilan → Suao → Suhua highway. 2. Taipei to Binhai Highway (Provincial Highway 2) su'ao to Su Hua highway. 3. Taitung → provincial highway tai11 → Hualien → Suhua highway.

Main attractions

Along the Suhua highway, you can see the sea view and cliff. On one side is the blue and vast Pacific Ocean, and on the other side is the cliff. The scenery along the road is beautiful and there are many scenic spots.

Chingshui Cliff

The most famous scenic spot is Qingshui cliff, which is mainly between Chongde and Helin, about ten kilometers. Qingshui mountain at the top of the cliff is 2407 meters above sea level. The north end of Qingshui cliff is 168 kilometers away from Taijiu line, which is the northern boundary of today's Taroko National Park.

In the colonial period of Japan, Shimizu cliff was elected as one of the 12 best scenic spots in Taiwan by the readers of Nippon news. In different periods, Shimizu cliff and taruge gorge were also listed as one of the eight scenic spots in Taiwan.

Guanyin Pavilion

There are also "Guanyin Pavilion" and other scenic spots. In September 1984, a huge Avalokitesvara fell 2.5 meters into the earth, which is a miracle. Because the place name is the edge of Avalokitesvara, a statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was engraved on the Avalokitesvara, and a Avalokitesvara Pavilion and a lotus pond were built.

Highway history

The history of Suhua highway can be traced back to the 13th year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1874). It took two years for Daoxia Xianlun of Taiwan and Luo Dachun, the land governor of Fujian Province, to open up a road with "a flat road of ten feet and a mountain of six feet" to pass through Yuma. At that time, it was called "North Road". Along the road, Suo - (20) - Dong'ao - (30) - da'nan'ao - (35) - da'zhuoshui - (25) - da'qingshui - (35) - deqili - (10) - Xincheng - (50) - qilai Hualian Port - (20) -Wuquancheng - (39) - dabalang - (22) - zhoulongshe - (22) - xiuguluan Shuiwei. The total distance is 308 Li.

Before the opening of the North Road, transportation and trade depended on the sea, while the land road was only the East-West migration route and hunting route for the aborigines. The North Road, which runs along the cliff, is quite narrow and tortuous. However, under the policy of opening mountains to pacify the Tibetan people in the Qing Dynasty, it has multiple functions, such as promoting national prestige, preventing and blocking pirates, emigrating and reclaiming, and obtaining resources. However, after the construction of the road, it is still invaded by the aborigines from time to time. In addition, it has many problems, such as long distance between the head and tail, brave garrison, difficult maintenance, severe epidemic disease and so on. Less than a year and a half after the completion of the road, it was moved to camp and allowed to be abandoned Abandon. In 1881, he Xiulin, a battalion officer of the Qing Dynasty, led the troops to rebuild it, and in 1889, Liu chaodai, Liu Mingchuan's deputy general, dredged it again. However, the latter, Bian Yong and other officers and soldiers, who were killed and injured more than half of them, were defeated by Liu Mingchuan's army. Although the aborigines surrendered after the encirclement and suppression of Liu Mingchuan's army, the road section south of Dongao in the late Qing Dynasty was actually abandoned.

During the Japanese colonial period, seven police stations were set up along the line, which were renovated and widened many times. From 1916 to 1923, the road was 12 feet wide, which took seven years and was damaged by natural disasters. In 1925, in order to make the road passable, gravel pavement was laid from su'ao to tai'lugekou. In some sections, two layers of concrete were laid for wheels, with a width of 3.56 meters. From tai'lugekou to Hualian port, gravel pavement was used, with a width of 14 meters. There are 9 large bridges and 14 tunnels along the line, with a total length of about 120 km. The whole line was completed and opened to traffic in 1932, known as "coastal road".

After the war, the road was renamed "Suhua highway". The narrowest road was only 3.5 meters, and the minimum radius of the curve was only 15 meters, which was quite steep. It began to expand gradually in the 1980s, and opened to traffic only in 1990.

In the early single track traffic period of Suhua highway, vehicles going from south to North had to be released at each control station according to the regulations. From north to south, there were Dongao, Nanao, Heping and Chongde. At this time, most of the motorcade passed in the daytime, and the first car must be the Jinma bus of the Highway Bureau. When passing through the cliff section, the passengers in the car often can't see the edge of the narrow road, only the blue and white sea at the bottom. Driving left and right turns makes people panic and the impression can't be erased. However, after the opening of the north loop line of Taiwan Railway Administration, the railway, with the advantages of safety, comfort, speed and low cost, has gradually made the regular passenger transport route of Suhua highway into history. Although there was once a private passenger transport operator operating the Taipei Hualien passenger transport route, just like the Hualien ferry on the sea route in the 1970s, the important passenger and freight transport has turned to the railway, while the Suhua highway has turned to the landscape Highway, Quarrying and transportation and regional transportation are the main.

Highway collapse

In late October 2010, affected by Typhoon "Silurus" and the northeast monsoon, it rained heavily all over Taiwan in recent days, especially in the northeast mountainous areas. As a result, there were many landslides along the su (AO) Hua (Lian) highway, and a large number of tourists were trapped by landslides, including about 120 mainland tourists.

Address: Suhua highway, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan

Longitude: 121.65757222685

Latitude: 24.183342101901

Ticket information: no ticket required.

Chinese PinYin : Su Hua Gong Lu