Houtong’s Prosperity

Houtong is located along the Taiwan Railway Pingxi Line, and its mining industry has been a famous since the Qing Dynasty. Because of the fanfare of the mining industry, more than 6000 people have settled there, and even women had to work in coal plants. Since more and more people went there for work, train stations, clinics, dormitories, woodshops, substations, and a lot of housing were erected.

During the most prosper times of Houtong, many firsts were established. First, Houtong had the most behemoth mining industrial area, with the best coal quality, with a production 674 tons each year, 1/7 of the whole nation’s mining. The largest coal plant was also set in Houtong approximately 95 years ago, and had the only CPP (coal preparation plant) and the first arched coal bridge in Taiwan, and so yielded the first cargo elevator.