| Official Name: | Toucheng Township |
| Settlement Type: | Urban township |
| Parts Type: | Urban villages |
| Parts Style: | coll |
| Parts: | 25 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | County |
| Subdivision Name1: | Yilan |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Tsao Qian-shun (Chinese: 曹乾舜) |
| Area Total Km2: | 100.89 |
| Population As Of: | September 2023 |
| Population Total: | 28334 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | National Standard Time |
| Utc Offset1: | +8 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 261 |
| Other Name: | Tōi |
Toucheng Township is an urban township in Yilan County, Taiwan. The township includes Guishan Island and Guiluan Island in the Philippine Sea. The Senkaku Islands, known in Mandarin as the Diaoyu Islands, are claimed as part of the township.[1] [2]
Toucheng was formerly called Thau-ui . Toucheng Township (Chinese: 頭城鄉) was established on 9 September 1946. Toucheng Township was upgraded to an urban township (Chinese: 頭城鎮) on 1 January 1948.[3]
Toucheng includes twenty-five urban villages:[4]
Toucheng is one of the two cable landing points of Taiwan island (the other one is Fangshan). Four submarine communication cables, including APCN, APCN2, RNAL, and SEA-ME-WE 3, connect here.
The township has several fresh seafood restaurants and also black sand beach for surfing activities.
Several boat operators offer trips from the Wushish Harbor to Guishan Island and also for whale and dolphin watching.
The Juh-an River Bird sanctuary is another attraction of Toucheng.
Once the economic center of the area, the Ho-Ping street in Toucheng is one of the few unaltered and typical Qing dynasty Taiwanese urban structures.
Toucheng is served by the Yilan Line of Taiwan Railway Administration on Dali Station, Daxi Station, Dingpu Station, Guishan Station, Sicheng Station, Toucheng Station and Wai-ao Station. Toucheng has more rail stations (three) than any other townships in Taiwan. There are seven stations along the route.
The township has recently seen a marked increase in tourism due to the opening of the Freeway 5 linking it with western Taipei. The freeway consists of a series of tunnels dug through the Snow Mountains, the longest of which measures 12.7km (07.9miles). The distance between western Taipei and Toucheng is now 30km (20miles) and takes roughly thirty minutes of driving, compared to several hours in the past.
Wushi Harbor is located in the township.