The Cimin Temple was founded in 1932 as the first earth mother temple in Yilan. The founder, Ms. Ajin Yang Lee, was adopted as a foster daughter after her birth. Her marriage was tough and she decided to be a vegetarian with self-cultivation. One day, she dreamed the earth mother, so she left her husband and moved into a small guardhouse on the Yilan River side with her daughter. She dedicated herself to the earth mother. The statue of the earth mother was placed in other temples at the beginning, and then moved to the current site around 1953 by the rich women and believers who donated money to buy the land.

During the Qing Dynasty, there were strict regulations for women to become a nun, so in order to accommodate unmarried, widowed, or disabled women, the Yilan gentry funded the vegetarian hall as a home for women of the family to cultivate their morals and to live in peace. The Qichang Hall was founded in 1825 during the time.

During the Qing Dynasty, there were strict regulations for women to become a nun, so in order to accommodate unmarried, widowed, or disabled women, the Yilan gentry funded the vegetarian hall as a home for women of the family to cultivate their morals and to live in peace. The Qichang Hall was founded in 1825 during the time.

There are nearly 20 family temples in Yilan, most of them are male dominated, except the Zhonghe Hall is tied for men and women, which is rare in the traditional society. The hall was built in 1921 by Chao-Zong Zhong, son of Ms. Chiu-Kin Ho (a widow stayed in her husband's house to marry her later husband). Ms. Ho assisted her husband and son to become the largest rice merchant in Yilan. She involved in the purchase of land and property in Jiaoxi, Toucheng, and Dongshan. She often took the lead in making deeds of trust and property rights. A hundred years ago, women did not leave their homes and had no rights in property ownership. She was the forefront of the times.

The Yilan Hospital was established in 1897 and was the largest western-style medical institution and the birthplace of modern nursing staff during the Japanese colonial period in Yilan. In the early days of its establishment, nurses were from Japan. Since 1924, the Yilan Hospital established a nursing school by the law to train nurses locally. After the world war, Japanese nursing staff were withdrawn and the hospital held three nursing training courses in need. The hospital is now the Xinmin Hospital of the Yang Ming University.

During the Japanese colonial period, there were various types of female porn workers such as geisha, courtesans, and prostitutes in Yilan. Taiwanese geisha who were good at singing were commonly called geidan. At that time, the highest class restaurant was the Kaihua building located on the moat and was mainly frequented by Japanese to be accompanied with geisha. The Kaihua building was originally a two-level wooden building, which has been demolished and remodeled as the Christian Yilan Church.

During the Japanese colonial period, women in Taiwan had fewer opportunities for education, and it was even more difficult for them to study abroad in Japan. Dr. Pi Lin broke constraints to work at the National Taiwan University Hospital after completing her studies in Japan, and returned to the Yilan Hospital being a gynecologist then opened the Weiren Hospital. The Weiren Hospital was the first gynecological hospital in Yilan to be headed by a female doctor, providing medical care for local women. The old building is still in good condition and is now known as the Jin Gu Yuan Silver House.

The Nanxing Temple is the earliest and the only temple of the Goddess of Child Birth in Yilan over 100 years. The temple is also dedicated to the Guanyin (the Bodhisattva of Compassion) and the God of Good Fortune, but the Goddess of Child Birth is the authority

During the Qing Dynasty, it was common for the Han Chinese to have concubines and maidservants, especially most of whom were commonly known as "tsa-bóo-kán" imprisoned for her life. The government officers repeatedly abolished this corrupt custom, even imposed the penalty of rods, still could not forbidden the custom.

During the early years of the Japanese colonial period, it was promoting all boys and girls to be educated, but only a few girls could go to school because of the custom of foot-binding and gender equality. Until 1918, the Yilan Girls' Elementary School, the first school in Yilan to recruit girls, was established. At that time, the goal of education was to develop girls' skills in tailoring and domestic work. The school was renamed as the National Yilan Elementary School when the history of the school only for girls ended in 1996.

During the Japanese colonial period, it was not easily accessible to other places from Yilan. The girls who wanted to study in senior high schools had to travel to Taipei and Keelung. Due to the economic condition and the stereotypes of giving preference to sons over daughters, only a very few girls from the families of gentry were able to fulfill their wishes. After ten years of campaigning by the local people, the Lan-Yang Girls’ Senior High School was established in 1938. After the world war, the school was renamed as the Taiwan Provincial Lan-Yang Girls’ Senior High School, and now is the National Lan-Yang Girls' Senior High School. The gate of the school is the only founding facility of the school, and was declared a county-designated historical site in 2011.