For 200 years the people have just relied on the supposedly "inexhaustible" hot springs to get by. Wulai's spring water is colorless and odorless, containing carbonic acid and sodium hydride rather than sulphur. About 80 spring resorts are now in operation, 85 % of them funded and built by non-locals.
烏來鄉的溫泉屬於碳酸氫鈉泉，無色無味，目前有將近八十家溫泉業者，其中 85％都是外地人來此投資興建的。