Shizi Township | |||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 獅子鄉 | ||||||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Shīzǐ Xiāng |
Wade–Giles | Shih1-tzu3 Hsiang1 |
Tongyong Pinyin | Shihzǐh Siang |
Southern Min | |
Hokkien POJ | Sai-á-hiong |
Shizi Township is a mountain indigenous township in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the largest township of the county. The main population is the Paiwan people of the Taiwanese aborigines.
The original Paiwan name for the area was Tjakuvukuvulj (Tjakuvukuvuɬ; historically rendered as Chaobo Obol or in Chinese: 腳歐伯伯). Han Chinese settlers noted a rock outcropping in the shape of a lion's head (Chinese: 獅仔頭山; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sai-á-thâu-soaⁿ; literally: "lion-head mountain") and called the village Sai-a-thau-sia (獅仔頭社; Sai-á-thâu-siā; "lion-head village").
Under Kuomintang rule, the name was changed to the current Shizi, though in Taiwanese Hokkien the name Sai-a-thau is still normally used in spoken contexts.
The terrain of Shizi is mountainous, as the district is located near Taiwan's Central Mountain Range.
The township comprises eight villages:
Agriculture produce in the township includes mango, bird's-nest fern and watermelon.
Places of interest in or around Shizi are Shuangliu Forest Recreation Park, the Cultural Objects Museum, Lilongshan and Neiwen Village.
Shizi is connected via railway through the TRA South-Link Line. Important stations is Fangshan Station. There are also two highways: Provincial Highway No.1 and Provincial Highway No.9 (South-Link Highway).