The rice produced in Fengyuan is famous for its high quality and the bakery industry prospered in later decades.

In 1920, the Governor-General of Taiwan gave the town its name, Toyohara (Japanese: 豐原), meaning flourishing plain.

After World War II in 1945, the area was renamed to Fengyuan and was organized as an urban township of Taichung County.

[1] In the 1970s, citizens created the Miaodong Night Market (廟東夜市), that is full of Taiwanese street foods.

The district is also home to the Fengyuan Museum of Lacquer Art and the Taichung Municipal City Huludun Cultural Center.