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In end of September 2011, the dream of Taiwan tour come true in the final. This year coincides with the centennial of the 1911 Revolution, it is lucky for me to travel to the island at this time! We spent eight days traveled to the island of Taiwan, and now we are willing to share with you some thoughts  and what we see & hear on the way!

Taiwan’s total land area is only about 36,000 square kilometers (14,400 square miles). It is shaped like a leaf that is narrow at both ends. It lies off the southeastern coast of mainland Asia, across the Taiwan Strait from China– an island on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. To the north lies Japan; to the south is the Philippines. Many airlines fly to Taiwan, helping make it the perfect travel destination.

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake, situated in Nantou County’s Yuchih Township, in the center of Taiwan, and is the island’s largest lake. It is a beautiful alpine lake, divided by the tiny Lalu Island; the eastern part of the lake is round like the sun and the western side is shaped like a crescent moon, hence the name “Sun Moon Lake”.

Its crystalline, emerald green waters reflect the hills and mountains which rise on all sides. Natural beauty is enhanced by numerous cultural and historical sites. Well-known both at home and abroad, the Sun Moon Lake Scenic Area has exceptional potential for further growth and recognition as a prime tourism destination.

Its beauty is created by the combination of mountain and water scenery, and its 760-meter elevation helps give the impression of a Chinese landscape painting with mist-laden water and clearly defined levels of mountains. The constant changes of mists and moods on the lake make it impossible to comprehend in a single look, and thus, visitors like to linger here.

Alishan

Alishan National Scenic Area spans a broad range in altitude. Lower elevations, such as in LeYe Township, share the same subtropical and tropical climate as the rest of southern Taiwan, while the climate changes to temperate and alpine as the elevation increases. Snow sometimes falls at higher elevations in the winter.

The Alishan area was originally settled by the Tsou tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines; the name derives from the aboriginal word Jarissang. Ethnic Han Chinese settlers first settled on the plains near modern day Chiayi as early as the late Ming Dynasty (around the mid 17th century), but did not move into the mountains until the late 18th century, establishing the towns of Ruili , Ruifeng Xiding, and Fenqihu . The resulting armed clashes between the settlers and the aborigines pushed the aborigines even further into the mountains.

Following the cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japanese expeditions to the area found large quantities of cypress. This led to the development of the logging industry in the area and the export of local cypress and Taiwania wood. A series of narrow-gauge railways were built in the area during this time to facilitate the transportation of lumber from the mountains to the plains below, part of which continues to operate as the Alishan Forest Railway. Several new villages also began to sprout up along the railway lines. It was also during this time that the first tourists began to visit the area. Plans were even drawn up to incorporate the area into the new Shintaka (New Highest) Arisan National Park.

With the exhaustion of forest resources by the 1970s, domestic and international tourism overtook logging to become the primary economic activity in the area. The tourism industry continued to expand with the completion of the Alisan highway in the 1980s, displacing the railroad as the primary mode of transportation up the mountain. To combat the problems associated with the growing crowds of tourists and the expanding tea and wasabi plantations, the area was declared a national scenic area in 2001.

Taroko

The name, Taroko, means “magnificent and beautiful”. Long ago a Truku tribesman saw the beauty of the azure Pacific when he walked out of the gorge. On seeing the magnificent scene, he cried “Taroko!”. And so it became the name of the place, in a fashion not dissimilar to how the island, Formosa, got its name.

Taroko Gorge and its surrounding area are well known for their abundant supply of marble, leading to its nickname, “The Marble Gorge”. The rock now seen in Taroko began over 200 million years ago as sediment on the bottom of the ocean. As the sediment collected, it was subject to increasingly large amounts of pressure which eventually hardened it into limestone.

Over the past 100 million years, tectonic compression between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate supplied additional pressure that metamorphosed the limestone into marble. Uplifting forces from the plate collision pushed this rock above the surface of the ocean to where we see it today. In fact, the region is still being uplifted by approximately 0.5cm per year.

The gorge itself was carved into the marble by the erosive power of the Liwu River.

In addition, there are known to be jade in this gorge. This jade is only found in Taiwan and the jade from this area supplies the jade market in Hualien. These mountains can be seen from rafting (a common activity during summer months in Taroko Gorge) through the rivers.

The Tupido Tribe Trail was built by the Batto Bulego family of Taroko some 120 years ago, and now only parts of its ruins remain on the Tianhsyang mesa . Four generations of the family resided there until the Japanese army massacred the tribe and banished the survivors in 1914.

Taiwan lies on the western edge of the Pacific “rim of fire,” and continuous tectonic movements have created majestic peaks, rolling hills and plains, basins, coastlines, and other natural wonders. Taiwan’s tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate climates provide clear differentiation between the different seasons. There are about 18,400 species of wildlife on the island, with more than 20% being to rare or endangered species. Among these are the land-locked salmon, Taiwan mountain goat, Formosan rock monkey, Formosan black bear, blue magpie, Mikado pheasant, Xueshan grass lizard, and many more.