Dongshi is situated on a narrow, north–south oriented plain, flanked by the Dajia River to the west and the Xueshan Range to the east.

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, Dongshi was organized as an urban township of Taichung County.

[1] Dongshi is divided into 25 villages , which are Beixing, Zhongning, Tungan[vague] , Nanping, Yanping, Shangxin, Guangxing, Taichang, Zhongke, Fulong, Longxing, Xincheng, Yifu, Shangcheng, Xiacheng, Qingdong, Qingfu, Tungxin, Yuening, Xiaxin, Xinglong, Maoxing, Taixing, Beitou and Mingzheng.

Intensive topwork at the start of each season involves grafting Japanese pear bud slips to the tree stock.

Dongshi Forest Park (東勢林場) and Sijiaolin (四角林林場) are managed by the Changhua County and Taichung City Agricultural Committees respectively.