Luodong Township () is an urban township in the central part of Yilan County, Taiwan. Luodong is the smallest township in the county. Naming Its name and former name () derive from the Kavalan word rutung, meaning "monkey", referring to a large population of monkeys there half century ago. History Qing Dynasty In 1804, Pingpu tribe chiefs Pan Xian Wen and Maoge from Changhua led a group of people to settle in the Luodong area, where they established Alishih and Ashushih communities and developed agriculture on a large scale. In 1812, Qing Dynasty officer Fan Bang Gan was assigned to Luodong. Two years later, Han settlers entered the region to begin clearing and developing the area. The Pingpu tribe and Han settlers fought over land ownership but eventually they ended up working together to develop Luodong. Years later, Luodong became a developed region with a combination of aboriginal and Han cultures. Japanese Empire Under Japanese rule, Luodong was developed into the base for industries established by the Taiping Mountain logging business. In 1916, the Japanese government established the Giran Branch Office of the Forest Administration Bureau in charge of logging, transportation and storage of Taiping Mountain area timber with a log pond set up in today's Yuanshan Township. The branch office was then later on moved to Luodong due to the change in the lumber transportation from waterway to railway. Finally in 1924, upon the completion of railway connecting Luodong and Tuchang (土場 in Datong), the branch office was officially moved to . From that moment onward, Luodong became a commercial center. From 1920-1945, Lutung was administrated as of Taihoku Prefecture. Geography Luodong is located on Lanyang Plain. It covers an area of and as of 2014 had a population of 72,533 people. It has a large, landscaped sports park. Administrative divisions Luodong Township consists of 25 villages and 524 neighborhoods. Villages in the township are Kaiming, Daxin, Tungan, Xinqun, Luozhuang, Nanchang, Nanhao, Chenggong, Rende, Renhe, Zhongshan, Hanmin, Weiyang, Xian, Beicheng, Guohua, Xianwen, Gongzheng, Jixiang, Xinyi, Shulin, Zhulin and Renai Village. Tourist attractions Luodong has a large night market - Luodong Night Market - containing many varieties of local food, such as scallion pancakes. Luodong has a large community which organizes dance clubs and recitals for the elderly. It is also the home of the locally famous Meihua Lake. Luodong has an excellent natural environment, and is close to both