During the Rule of the Qing Dynasty over Taiwan, the government adopted a lockdown policy, hence very few Han people entered Hualien to engage in land reclamation. Rumor has it that the Han people’s development in west Taiwan was approaching saturation during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (late 18th century), hence the first group of settlers moved into the Xikou area of Hualien from the Kehma-lan region. When the Han people witnessed the rampant flow of the Hualien river into the ocean, where it mingles with the Kuroshio current in the east coast of Taiwan and clashes with the coastal terrain to form spectacular waves, they decided to name the area Huilan (meaning churning waves), which is homophonous with the name Hualien we know today.