Attractions

Nothern Taiwan

Taipei: National Palace Museum, The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Lungshan Temple,....

Central Taiwan

Southern Taiwan

Eastern Taiwan

Chinese Festivals

New Attractions

Accommodations

Northern Taiwan

Taipei:

National Palace Museum is the world's largest collection of Chinese art treasures. The immense collection of jade, porcelain, and paintings, is regularly rotated to making each visit unique. English-language tours are given at 10:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M.

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall has beautiful gardens, graceful pavilions, and placid ponds. The National Theater and the National Concert Hall both are classical Chinese buildings that located in the hall's north and south.

The Lungshan Temple is the city's oldest and most famous temple, and it is one of Taiwan's finest examples of temple architecture. The stone columns come alive with historical figures dancing on the backs of intricately carved dragons, and the roof is adorned with more of the cavorting figures.

World of Yesterday offers visitors a guildline of Chinese history and culture with displays of mythology, ancient toys and games, traditional handicrafts, and folk culture. On Sundays and holidays, Chinese opera, folk arts and live demonstrations of crafts are presented. The World of Yesterday is located across from the Taipei Fine Arts Museum on Chung Shan North Road.

Yangmingshan National Park, where visitors can find pristine waterfalls, volcanic craters, picturesque lakes, steaming hot springs and, in the springtime, cherry and azalea blossoms. Well-maintained walkways and trails lead to the park's main scenic spots, and offer ideal hiking for a couple of hours or a full day. Major scenic spots in the park have picnic and recreation areas.

Other areas of northern Taiwan beyond the borders of Taipei municipality are rich in countryside beauty. The natural rock formations at Yehliu "wild willows," on the north coast west of Keelung, are an example: Weather, erosion, and other natural forces have etched the volcanic rocks into many artistic shapes.

The coastline east of Keelung, set aside as the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area, is one of the loveliest regions on the island. A drive through this scenic area offers land- and seascapes of enchanting beauty, an experience enhanced by tranquil, charming rural towns along the route.

A notable feature of this area is the magnificent sandstone promontory that rises from the sea at Lungtung. Pure white sand and azure waters make the Fulung Seaside Park one of Taiwan's best beaches. A system of wooden pavilions and walkways lends an intensely Chinese character to the new Yenliao Seaside Park, which boasts the island's finest seashore leisure facilities. The scenic area also has limestone reefs, steppes, sand dunes, creeks and rivers, terraced rice paddies, rolling green hills, two lighthouses, and a Ch'ing dynasty footpath overlooking the area. Sailing, surfing, camping, and fishing equipment can be rented in places.

Taiwan's largest camping area opened toward the end of 1991 in the most beautiful part of the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area. Lungmen Riverside Park, a short distance from Yenliao and Fulung, provides sightseeing, water sports, camping, and bicycling. Equipment rentals and first aid are available at the service center.

An old fort, fresh seafood, and beautiful sunsets make the quaint seaside town of Tamsui a popular day trip from Taipei. Old-fashioned shops along the main road give visitors a feel for the town's history. Two colleges and a hospital built in the late 1800s by Western missionaries remain to this day. Tamsui has many fine seafood restaurants with large selections of fresh delicacies on display. Some of the restaurants are built along the Tamsui River to provide diners a riverside view of Tamsui's spectacular sunset.

Fort San Domingo, known in Chinese as the Fort of the Red-haired Barbarians, was built by the Spanish in 1629, occupied by the Dutch in 1642, leased to the British in 1867, and bombarded by the French in 1884.

Wulai, just south of Taipei, is an aborigine enclave where visitors can witness the traditional dances and ceremonies of Taiwan's Atayal tribe or savor the sight of a powerful waterfall cascading through lush vegetation.

An hour south of Taipei, you can take a one-stop tour of China's Great Wall, as well as Peking's Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven. The place is Window on China, which captures in miniature 90 of the best-known structures in both Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. A recently added section features famous buildings from all over the world. The careful attention to detail includes thousands of living trees and shrubs which were carefully shaped and grown to the correct sizes to complement the various buildings. Window on China also has a classical Chinese garden, restaurants, snack bars, a tea house, and souvenir shops.

Buddhist temples, shrines, and monasteries, evoking the flavor of ancient China, are perched on the cool, verdant hills of Lion's Head Mountain, about halfway between Taipei and Taichung.

A short trip through the lush countryside southwest of Taipei brings you to a small town that produces hand-painted replicas of elegant Ming (1368-1644) and Ch'ing (1644-1911) vases like those that once graced the palaces in Peking. Yingke is Taiwan's pottery center, and the narrow streets are lined with shops selling an endless variety of porcelain, from simple earthenware tea sets to delicate statues. Some of the factories allow tours where visitors can watch potters working the clay and artists painting vases. One factory that welcomes individual visitors without prior arrangement and provides English-speaking guides is the China Art Ceramic Co., at 19 Lane 223, Chung Cheng 1st Road 22319. The information desk at the Yingke Town Hall can help arrange tours of other factories as well. Call (02) 679-2102.

For tourists who enjoy shopping and savory Taiwanese snacks, night markets are a good choice. The markets offer fun, bargains, and a lot of local color, and generally sell a variety of traditional products, casual clothes, fruit, snacks, and novelty items. Most vendors speak only Chinese, so pen and paper are needed for bargaining. Vendors generally accept only local cash and unsatisfactory products cannot be exchanged.

Night markets with the best bargains on food, fashions, and curios in the Taipei area include the Shihlin night market, north of the Grand Hotel; the Kungkuan night market, near National Taiwan University; the Shihta night market, on Shihta Road, off Hoping East Road; Huahsi Street, also known as Snake Alley; Tunghua Street, near the World Trade Center; Jaoho night market, in the Sungshan district; and Chingkuang market, off Chungshan North Road.

Central Taiwan

The central region of Taiwan displays the full range of the island's beauty: mountain lakes and the shining sea, roaring rivers and steaming hot springs, lofty snow-capped peaks and lush tropical valleys, emerald forests and craggy ravines.

Taichung is the major city in this region and is one of Taiwan's main business centers. Taichung's location, quality hotels, and convenient transportation make it a favorite starting point for trips to many of the island's tourist sites.

Encore Garden, a masterpiece of landscape gardening, is located just 10 kilometers northeast of Taichung. In addition to a tremendous variety of flowering plants, the garden also has snack bars, a children's playground, hiking trails, and camping and barbecue sites. In the evenings, a fountain lit by multi-colored lights pulses in time to music. Encore Garden was the most popular scenic spot in Taiwan and attracted more than a million visitors in 1993.

A statue of the Buddha sits on a hillside park overlooking the small city of Changhua, southwest of Taichung. Inside the hollow statue dioramas illustrate Buddhist teachings, and visitors can view the surrounding area through the statue's eyes. Near Changhua is the brand-new Taiwan Folk Village, which displays buildings from the island's past 300 years, offers demonstrations of traditional handicrafts, and runs a series of folk art performances. Just past Changhua is the quaint old town of Lukang "deer harbor," one of Taiwan's most important historical and cultural towns, noted for its impressive Matsu and Lungshan temples, as well as for the annual four-day Lukang Folk Arts Festival which begins three days before the Dragon Boat Festival.

The Central Cross-Island Highway, Asia's most beautiful mountain road, winds its way from just outside of Taichung through Taroko National Park to the island's east coast. This route offers broad vistas across cloud-filled valleys, mist-shrouded peaks, starry skies, beautiful sunrises, delightful forest walks, rushing mountain streams, hot springs, and even downhill skiing.

Southeast of Taichung lie some of the region's most popular scenic spots. Emerald waters and jade mountains, temples, hiking, boating, and the view from a picturesque pagoda make Sun Moon Lake Taiwan's premier honeymoon resort. At the nearby Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, groups from Taiwan's nine aboriginal tribes perform traditional songs and dances with ancient musical instruments and use traditional tools to make handicrafts and other items. Exceptional beauty and serenity make the Hsitou Forest Recreation Area, south of Sun Moon Lake, a favorite getaway for honeymooners, hikers, and campers.

Nearby Mount Ali is well known for its view of the sunrise over a sea of clouds; blue peaks rise from a fleecy gray ocean which is gradually painted vivid colors by the sunrise as the clouds dispel. Visitors can reach Mount Ali from the city of Chiayi by rail or bus, but the scenery along the 72-kilometer railway from Chiayi is worth the three-hour trip.

Some 15 kilometers away from Mount Ali is Mount Jade which, at 3,952 meters, is Northeast Asia's highest peak. When covered with snow, Mount Jade indeed resembles a piece of white jade, hence its name. Yushan National Park, which is dominated by Mount Jade's massive slopes, is Taiwan's largest national park. Mount Jade's towering Main Peak can be reached from Mount Ali or via an ancient trail known as the Pat'ung Pass Road. The trail crosses lush grasslands and forests, flower-covered meadows, sheer cliffs, and plunging cascades.

Southern Taiwan

Southern Taiwan is a study in contrasts. Bustling modern cities with all the latest amenities are surrounded by the pastoral panorama of ancient China: scenes of water buffalo and farmers plowing rice paddies, and fishermen poling frail rafts out to sea.

Tainan, the island's oldest and fourth largest city, has the unhurried atmosphere of a small country town, where motorized vehicles compete with the occasional oxcart. It is filled with reminders of the city's past: gates, memorial arches, remnants of forts, and temples that date back three centuries or more.

Tainan's more than 200 temples provide some of the best remaining examples of traditional Chinese architecture in Taiwan. They range from the serene Confucius Temple built in 1666 to the elaborate new Temple of the Holy Mother at Luerhmen "deer ear gate," a complex built by some of Taiwan's finest artisans.

Tainan's other major historical sites include Fort Zeelandia and Fort Provintia, both built during the Dutch occupation in the 1600s, and the Eternal Fortress, built by the Chinese in 1876.

Due south of pastoral Tainan is the vibrant city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan's second largest city is the island's major industrial center and largest international port. Kaohsiung is more than just a large industrial center; the cosmopolitan city offers excellent shopping, dining, and night life, and is close to many notable tourist attractions. The hillside temples, pavilions, shaded terraces, and city view make Mount Longevity worth a stop. Cheng Ching Lake, just north of Kaohsiung, features a stately pagoda, islands, pavilions, tree-lined pathways, and a variety of recreational facilities. Both the graceful Spring and Autumn Pavilions and the nearby Dragon and Tiger Pagodas stand in the placid waters of Lotus Lake. Beside the lake are temples dedicated to Confucius and the God of War.

About an hour's drive northeast of Kaohsiung, the island's tallest image of Buddha gazes at the surrounding rice paddies in the countryside. The huge gilt statue is surrounded by 480 life-size golden Buddha images near the entrance to the Light of Buddha Mountain, home to one of Taiwan's largest temple complexes and the island's center of Buddhist scholarship.

The southernmost point of Taiwan--about two hours from Kaohsiung--forms a crescent known as the Hengch'un "eternal spring" Peninsula. Kenting National Park encompasses much of the peninsula and offers spectacular shorelines with interesting coral and rock formations and some of Taiwan's best beaches--clean white sand, seashells, and all kinds of water sports. Pleasant wooded paths wind through a large botanical garden with a variety of exotic plant life. Visitors can wander through unusual coral formations or rest at occasional pavilions and enjoy the view by the sea. Complete facilities include an international-class resort hotel and a variety of more economical lodgings for travelers on a budget.

An interesting contrast between ancient rural life and modern comfort can be seen in the fertile valley east of the town of Hengch'un. Just minutes away from the luxurious tropical resort of Kenting, tourists can glimpse scenes from ancient rural China: farmers working their fields in much the same way as their families have done for hundreds of years.

Moon World is an area of banana and jujube orchards, bamboo groves, and fish ponds. It is named for its lunar landscape of sharp-peaked clay hills with steep, deeply eroded slopes and sawtooth ridges. One of the most interesting sites here is the unpredictable "mud volcano," a small crater filled with thin, cold mud through which gas bubbles occasionally rise to the surface. A deep rumble gives a warning just before the gas bursts through and whips the mud into a bubbling gray mass that spills out of the crater.

The Pescadores (P'enghu Islands) consist of 64 separate islands set in the Taiwan Straits roughly midway between Taiwan and mainland China. Fishing is the major source of income in the Pescadores, and a meal of fresh seafood is a must for visitors. The islands offer a wide variety of sightseeing opportunities, with ancient temples, picturesque farms and windswept fishing villages, friendly people, fine beaches, and rugged coastlines. Fishing, swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, wind surfing, and boating are the major recreational activities in the archipelago. The government is in the process of establishing the P'enghu National Scenic Area here.

Eastern Taiwan

Eastern Taiwan has some of the island's most beautiful and accessible attractions, notably the Taroko Gorge and the East Coast National Scenic Area.

Located at the eastern end of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the small city of Hualien is renowned for producing the best marble products on the island. The vast marble deposits in the area are sculpted into an amazing range of products such as animal figures, chess sets, wine and coffee sets, bookends, ash trays, kitchen utensils, and furniture.

Hualien is also popular for performances of song and dance by the island's aborigines. Nearly 80,000 aborigines reside in the area, most of whom are from the Ami tribe. The annual Ami harvest festival is an elaborate spectacle of color, costume, and native music and dance, and is possibly the largest regular aborigine gathering in Taiwan. The festival is held in Hualien in late August or early September. At other times, traditional tribal dances are performed at the Ami Culture Village, about a 15-minute drive from Hualien.

The coastal road from Hualien to Taitung in the south includes most of the East Coast National Scenic Area, an isolated, unspoiled region where development is strictly controlled to preserve the area's natural beauty. The coastal highway's attractions include picturesque temples inside mountain caves, venerable banyan trees, coral reefs, deserted black sand or pebble beaches that stretch for miles, and fantastic rock formations.

Just south of Taitung is the Chihpen Hot Springs resort which offers several interesting sites for tourists. First is the Chihpen Hot Spring itself, which is open to the public. Five nearby hotels provide more private bathing. A short distance from the hotels, a path leads to the beautiful White Jade Waterfall. On a lane off the main road from Chihpen to Inner Hot Spring is Chingchueh Temple, which boasts two large Buddha images--a bronze one from Thailand and a jade one from Burma. Inner Hot Spring, 2 km down the main road from Chihpen Hot Spring, boasts four newer hotels and a mineral water swimming pool. A suspension bridge leads to the Chihpen Forest Recreation Area, perched on a mountain-side covered with bamboo groves and dense forests. The recreation area offers a riverside picnic spot, campground, bonfire area, a flower garden, and footpath to one of Taiwan's numerous cascades. Near the top is a huge banyan tree with long gnarled roots that half surround a restful pavilion.

Green Island, off the Pacific coast of Taiwan, is now part of the East Coast National Scenic Area. The island is known for its saltwater hot spring (said to be one of only two in the world), fantastic coral formations, and spectacular coastal scenery. The reefs, waters, and beaches around the island are great for fishing, swimming, scuba diving, and collecting seashells. A hostel on the island's southern tip is the center of a recreational complex for camping, picnicking, sightseeing, and hiking in the hills.

Just south of Green Island lies another unique islet named Orchid Island, a name derived from the wild orchids that grow in the hills. The Yami, Taiwan's smallest and most isolated aboriginal tribe, call it home. They do some farming but live mainly by fishing; their cherished wooden boats are built entirely by hand and joined together by wooden pegs. The Yami are a peaceful people--no chiefs head their villages, disputes are settled by negotiation, and fights are few (see Chapter 3, People).

Chinese Festivals

The Chinese lunar calendar is crowded with traditional festivals, most of which are observed with great pomp and ceremony in the Taiwan area. Many festivals, some of which are national holidays, are also used as opportunities for family reunions. These festivals offer visitors fascinating insights into 5,000 years of Chinese culture (see Appendix VII, National and Popular Holidays).

The first major festival of the year is Chinese New Year, often called Lunar New Year, the most important of annual festivals, followed by the Lantern Festival on the first full moon of the lunar calendar. The Taipei Lantern Festival at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall features ceremonial processions, folk art performances, handicraft demonstrations, and thousands of colorful lanterns. The ROC Tourism Bureau estimates that 2.2 million people visited the memorial hall to view the 1994 Taipei Lantern Festival. Next on the calendar is the birthday of Matsu, Goddess of the Sea, celebrated with elaborate rites at Matsu temples throughout Taiwan; tourists should visit Peikang "north harbor" to see the annual pilgrimage and elaborate celebrations. Boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival commemorate the attempt to rescue a drowning poet-statesman. The Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open and spirits have a vacation in the land of the living, is marked by temple ceremonies, feasts for wandering ghosts, and other activities. The Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival celebrates the harvest moon and is marked by moon gazing and eating rich pastries known as "moon cakes." The birthday of Confucius, also celebrated as Teachers' Day, is marked with an ancient dawn ceremony of dances, costumes, music, and other rites.

The last major festival of the year is Double Tenth National Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the October 10, 1911 revolution which led to the overthrow of the Ch'ing dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China. It is marked with huge parades in front of Taipei's Presidential Office Building, displays of martial arts, folk dances, and other cultural activities.

HOME