Alishan Forestry Village and Hinoki Village

Alishan's forestry industry began in 1899, when the Alishan Forest Railway was built during the Japanese colonial era to tap the forest's hinoki cypress resources, with its starting point at Beimen in Chiayi City. The timber trade brought unprecedented prosperity to Chiayi, which was then counted among Taiwan's four major cities. In May 1906, the Japanese company Fujita-gumi set up a construction office in Chiayi to begin building the railway, but the project was abandoned in February 1908 due to engineering difficulties and ballooning costs. The Taiwan Governor-General's Office took over in 1910 and continued construction, and in 1914 the 71.9-kilometer main line of the Alishan Forest Railway was completed.