Tongluo Specialties

Last updated 2026-11-16 — Nestled amidst verdant peaks and rolling hills, the picturesque township of Tongluo boasts abundant local produce, including Hangzhou chrysanthemums, camphor oil, bamboo shoots, red soil peanuts, perilla, taro, and more. Among these, Hangzhou chrysanthemums and camphor are particularly renowned. Originally from Hangzhou on the Chinese mainland, they are thus named Hangzhou chrysanthemums; their delicate, fragrant aroma makes them a popular choice for making chrysanthemum tea, a highly favored beverage known for its cooling properties. These chrysanthemums can also be used in traditional Chinese medicine and as a flavorful ingredient in cooking. In the past, the camphor industry thrived in the Miaoli region, with numerous camphor oil factories, especially densely concentrated in Tongluo. The entire township was once filled with the refreshing scent of camphorwood. Today, only one or two camphor factories remain in Tongluo, among which the “Donghua Camphor Factory” located on Provincial Highway 13 in Camphor Tree Village has a history of over half a century. It still adheres to the traditional distillation method to produce pure camphor oil. The traditional camphor oil extraction process begins with slicing camphorwood, which is then subjected to high-pressure steam treatment to distill out refined camphor oil and crystallized camphor. The distinctive fragrance of camphor oil not only repels insects and mosquitoes but also has wound-healing and deodorizing properties, making it highly versatile. (Miaoli County)