The Amis are distributed in the Taitung longitudinal valley and on eastern coastal plains. With a population of 138,000, they are the largest of all the Formosan aboriginal tribes. The Amis can be subdivided into five groups from north to south: the Nanshih, Hsiukuluan, Coastal, Peinan, and Hengchun groups. These Amis communities are mostly scattered on the plains, close to the sea and along river banks. Unlike other tribes, the Amis are characterized by matriarchy and a male hierarchy determined by age. These are two key elements in maintaining a balanced distribution of labor and power among men and women. The male hierarchy underscores reverence for the elderly and stresses obedience. The chieftain and senior tribal members work together on deciding village affairs, and villagers are assigned different duties according to their age. The younger are required to undertake a larger portion of menial labor. The harvest festival, generally held in every village in July or August, used to be a military exercise designed to only play minor role in the harvest festival, which actually highlights athletic contests, fishing at sea, and several days devoted to singing and dancing in celebration.

Harvest festival is the most important and extraordinary ceremony aborigines. In Hualien Region, Amis (阿美族) is the major tribe. Harvest Festival of Amis Tribe is considered the most sacred and holy festival by Amis. They consider it as the persistence of the life of the tribe. It is similar to Chinese New Year to Han people. After the harvest every year, they hold the festival to thank gods, that are the spirits of their ancestors. Usually, the festival is held between July and August. It is based on the times of harvest and it is different from northern to southern Taiwan. Amis believes there are spirits in everything and you have to treat everything with respects. Dancing is a way to show their respects. The dance can only be performed in the festival and it was separated to four parts: preparation, spirits welcoming, the feast, spirits sending away. The whole festival lasts for four days. The welcoming part can only be done by males and the sending away part can only be done by females. Please notice about all the restrictions of the festival and cooperate with the staff. It is a serious matter to violate the rules.

Harvest Festival The Amis (Chinese: 阿美族; pinyin: āměi-zú; also Ami or Pangcah) are an indigenous people of Taiwan. They speak Amis, an Austronesian language, and are one of the sixteen officially recognized peoples of Taiwanese aborigines. The traditional territory of the Amis includes the long, narrow valley between the Central Mountains and the Coastal Mountains (Huatung Valley), the Pacific coastal plain eastern to the Coastal Mountains and the Hengchun Peninsula. In 2014, the Amis numbered 200,604.[1] This was approximately 37.1% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the largest tribal group.[2] The Amis are primarily fishermen due to their coastal location. They are traditionally matrilineal.[3] Traditional Amis villages were relatively large for indigenous groups, typically between 500 and 1,000. In today's Taiwan, the Amis also comprise the majority of "urban aboriginals" and have developed many "urban tribes" all around the island. In recent decades, Amis have also married exogamously to Han as well as other indigenous people.[4]