Sanyi, Miaoli 3.51

Sanyi Township is a rural township in southern Miaoli County, Taiwan. It is famous for its mudiao (woodcarving) industry earning it the name the Woodcarving Kingdom of Taiwan (台灣木雕王國).GeographySanyi is located in the mountains of northwestern Taiwan. On its northeastern boundary is Sanjiao Mountain at 567 meters, and to the east lies Huoyan Mountain at 602 meters. As of January 2017, its population was estimated at 16,788.Administrative divisionsThe township comprises seven villages: Guangcheng, Liyutan, Longteng, Shengxing, Shuanghu, Shuangtan and Xihu.EconomyEarly exploitation of the Sanyi township area was for timber and hides. Later tung oil was extracted from the abundant tung trees and camphor from the camphor trees. Concurrently the wood carving industry developed. At one point over 80% of local families were employed in wood carving. At the end of the 20th century Sanyi began developing a tourist industry.