Southern Path
The Southern Path served as a tea path during the Qing Dynasty. It was constructed by early tea farmers for transporting their tea, as the ruling Qing emperor failed to build a road for them. Later on, international port trade began in Taiwan, and tea became the most important export goods. The emperor thus entrusted governor Liu Ming-chuan to build a main road along the farmers’ path, which leads to Yilan. Today, the Southern Path is also known as the Danlan Shortcut.