Ilan is a county in Northeastern Taiwan. It is on the north side of Lanyang River. The first Han nationality settled there in 1802. Its name comes from the Kavalan tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. The area of Ilan is about 29.40 km˛ and the population is about 94,188. Nestled tranquil pocket of pastoral farms, clean beaches and rugged beauty, Ilan is the first major town one encounters heading south down Taiwan’s east coast. It is approximately two hours by train to Ilan from Taipei.
The night market is a good place to eat. The night market is really unremarkable from any other; it offers the share of tasty snacks. The Ilan specialty seems to be ice cream wrapped in a light pancake with shaved peanut brittle and coriander.
Local delicacies include fruit of all varieties, but especially the kumquat. This small oblong orange fruit is grown extensively in Ilan and is thought to be good for the throat, among other things. You can buy kumquat preserves, dried kumquat, kumquat juice, candy and "cow's tongue biscuits".
Apart from these sites, Ilan itself is unremarkable as a city, looking much like any other smallish Taiwan city. However, Ilan redeems itself as a jumping off point to other places. While Ilan City may not be a great tourist destination in itself, one can imagine it being a nice place to live. The whole area is very laid back, small, quieter and the air much better than the big cities. Where Ilan excels is as a jumping off point to visit other places around the county, of which there are many. So, it will be a good choice to feel the clean and peaceful landscape of Yilan County and meet the hospitality of Yilan people in your vacaiton.
