It is located northwest of Hualien City, and is the largest township in Taiwan by area (1,641.86 km²) with 9 villages.

[5][6] Because of its location beside the Central Mountain Range, the climate changes by altitude.

In recent years, people in Xiulin have lobbied to change its name to "Taroko Township" (太魯閣鄉).

The second deadliest train disaster in Taiwan's history happened here in 2021.

The township comprises nine villages: Chongde, Fushi, Heping, Jiamin, Jingmei, Shuiyuan, Tongmen, Wenlan and Xiulin.