Fishing, hunting, and slash-and-burn agriculture were the traditional occupations, and the main crops were sweet potatoes and millet. In the fall of 1957 a wilderness cultivation team of 100 military veterans hiked over the Central Mountain Range to Lishan from Taichung and began cultivating a rather flat area they found on the top that was watered by springs.
民國四十六年秋天，由一百名國軍退除役官兵組成的農墾隊，從台中出發，徒步攀越中央山脈到達梨山，在山頂上找到一塊有水源且較平緩之地從事開墾，從此改變了這個山區的一切。