Checheng Visitor Center

Checheng is a rustic little village close to Mingtan Reservoir. As the terminus of the Jiji tourist railroad, the village prospered for a while in early days due to the construction of the reservoir as well as the logging industry; today, its economy relies on the railroad, logging, power generation, and winery cultures. It is now a recreation area with both leisure and educational functions.

In earlier times, Shueili was a transshipment point for timber, and with its large level space there were often one-hundred or more log carts parked here. Because of that its name originally meant "car yard."

During 1919, as the Japanese who occupied Taiwan were building a hydroelectric power plant at Sun Moon Lake, they built the Jiji Branch Railway to transport equipment and materials they needed for the construction work. Checheng is the terminal station of the Jiji Line, and during the hydroelectric project many of the construction workers lived here. This brought a period of prosperity to the town. In the 1960s, the Jhenchang Logging Co.. run by timber magnate Sun Hai, built a plant at Checheng, and the town became a major hub for timber transport. This caused such a hum of activity that the Checheng and Shuili areas came to be known as "Little Taipei."

But the timber industry declined, and Checheng declined along with it. In recent years, though, tourism has prospered along the Jiji Line, and Checheng, with its rich history of hydroelectric power construction and logging shipment, has received increasing attention. If you ride the train from Jiji to Checheng, you will go through a little tunnel and when you come out, the town of Checheng will be spread before you like a green vision. Today, Checheng is beautifully nicknamed a "secret garden."