The rescue excavation of the Peinan Site led to the construction of National Museum of Prehistory(NMP).

In July 1980, during the construction of today's Taitung Railway Station of South Link Line (formerly Peinan Railway Station of East Link Line) and a marshalling yard, rich prehistoric remains of Peinan Site were discovered. A number of slate coffins and exquisite grave goods in the coffins were dug out and exposed on the ground, which attracted great public interest and grave robbery.

Media exposure of the robbery urged the government to halt the construction. The construction was suspended after Taitung County Government reported the issue to the authorities concerned. Furthermore, the rescue excavation of the site was delegated to Professor Wen-hsun Sung of Department of Anthropology of National Taiwan University with students of the department, who then formed the Peinan Culture Archaeology Team.

In the next decade, more than ten rescue excavations were carried out during summer and winter vacations by the team led by Professor Sung and Professor Chao-mei Lien. The Peinan Site was recorded as the biggest site on the history of Taiwanese archaeology, where the range of excavation was no less than 10,000 square meters, and more than 2,000 burials and tens of thousands of potteries and stone tools were discovered. The site is academically considered representative of the upper and later Neolithic period, and the biggest site of slate coffins and burial remains around the Pacific Rim and across Southeastern Asia.

Professor Sung suggested that if we were to preserve the Peinan Site, an outdoor museum of the site should be built nearby. This was the first proposal for building a museum based on the Peinan Site. After considerable efforts, NMP Planning Bureau was finally founded on February 1, 1990. NMP started trial operation on July 10, 2001, and was officially opened on August 17, 2002. Since then, NMP has become the foundation of research and preservation of Taiwanese prehistoric sites and cultures.

The predecessor of the Botanical Garden was an afforestation nursery. In the early days, it mainly produced seedlings for the promotion of afforestation. As Chinese people began to pay attention to the greening and beautification of the environment, the function gradually transformed into a nursery for cultivating greening and beautifying the environment and promoting seedlings. Because the park is not far from the urban area and the transportation is convenient, it is an excellent place for mountaineering and rest. The Yilan County Government has actively planned the park since 2001, and it is divided into oriental garden plant display areas (Ai Garden, Lanting), Western garden plant display areas (English, French), and exotic plants of the Great Voyage (African Area, Australia region, South Asia region, South America region), low-altitude forest industry exhibition area (camphorliao, charcoal kiln), and is expected to become a botanical garden that combines leisure, life, ecology and education.