The Lanyang River Basin gave birth to the entire Lanyang Plain. Located between the Mt. Shiluvia range and the Central Mountain Range, the Lanyang Plain is formed by sweeping and accumulating water dominated by Lanyang River for many years. It was not until the construction of levees during the Japanese occupation that the impact of the Three Streams and Two Rivers on the land was restricted to the dikes. Although people have limited control and irrigation of surface water, the unruly power of nature still flows up and down the land: wind, rain, groundwater, and groundcover gradually spread and expand. The south base of National Ilan University is located just in the center of the plain.

Artificial intervention and superimposition

There were already human activities in Lanyang Plain thousands of years ago. The beginning of historical records occurred when the Spanish entered from Keelung in the early seventeenth century. They subdued 44 Kavalan settlements on the Lanyang Plain at that time, including the Baili Society and Zhenzi Manli Society where the Chengnan Base is located. Then, the canals started to be dug by the Hans in the Qing Dynasty. That would lead to the gathering of the Hans — The Bai Li Village and the Si Jiu Village were the examples. Both regions were located at the countryside until the initial stage of Japanese-Occupied Period. There was a stunning history in Chengnan Base till Japanese-Occupied Period during World War II, which was the phase of flying field in Yilan.

The memory of flying against the wind, the landscape of war history

In the period of Japanese occupation, Japanese government commenced expropriating needed land and building Yilan airfield. Yilan airfield was completed on the 25th of July 1936. The Xueshan Range in the photograph of the opening ceremony remains the most gorgeous visual and ecological property. Yilan airfield was the airport where the Kamikaze team took off the most times in Taiwan during the period of Japanese occupation. The South airfield faces towards the Northeast monsoon and Guishan Island (Turtle Island). At the 7th of June in 1945, the last two Mitsubishi A6Ms of the Kamikaze team took off at the Yilan airfield, formally bidding farewell to the WWII history of the South airport.