It lies between the Taiwan Strait on the west and mountains on the east.

The town was formerly called Thunsiau (Chinese: 吞霄; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Thun-siau).

[2] The township comprises 24 villages: Baitung, Baixi, Chengbei, Chengnan, Fengshu, Fulong, Fuxing, Fuyuan, Meinan, Nanhe, Neidao, Neihu, Pingan, Pingding, Pingyuan, Tongnan, Tongtung, Tongwan, Tongxi, Wubei, Wumei, Wunan, Xinpu and Zuntou.

The township is part of Miaoli County Constituency I electoral district for Legislative Yuan.

Taiwan High Speed Rail passes through the central part of the township, but no station is currently planned.