Taiwan's Scenic East Coast
[View the slide show which accompanies this piece.]
The Portuguese called Taiwan Ilha Formosa, or "Beautiful Island", when they first visited the mountainous island in the 16th century. Today if you limit your visit to Chiang Kai Shek International Airport and a fleeting glance at the "eggbox" style architecture that characterises so many of Taiwan's large cities you might well be justified in wondering why...
But not if you travel down the island's mountainous spine, surprisingly dominated by the highest peaks in Asia beyond the Himalayas and Sabah's Mount Kinabalu. Taiwan is indeed an ilha formosa, and no more so than down the island's East Coast, falling straight from the dominating heights of the Chungyang Shanmo, or Central Cordillera, into the deep waters of the Pacific. It's a fantastic drive.
Keelung, at the island's northeastern extremity, is a busy and unassuming port. But head east and south and everything changes. Drive through the old gold mining hill settlement of Chiufeh and then down the coast, through the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area and you are already in a different Taiwan. Along the sparsely populated East Coast nature predominates and the industrialised cities of western Taiwan seem - indeed are - far away. The great Pacific Ocean hammers at walls of cliff that rise sheer from the sea to heights of more than 1,000 metres (3,000 ft). The weather is less predictable, the people - not a few of whom are aboriginal Taiwanese, especially the proud Ami - are tougher, and there are few foreign tourists.
Nights fall early here because of the huge mountain range to the west which cuts off the last rays of the sinking sun by 5.00 or 6.00 pm. People rise early and go to bed early, and agriculture and fisheries remain economic mainstays.
Taiwan's most scenic spots are in the East, from the traditional fishing village of Nanfang'ao to the towering cliffs of Chingshui, and from the splendid ravines of the Taroko Gorge to the black sand beaches of the East Coast National Scenic Area. In places it looks like the South Pacific. Elsewhere it might be the rugged shores of New Zealand South Island.
But it isn't - it really is Taiwan's East Coast, and it is indeed Beautiful.
[View the slide show which accompanies this piece.]
Text copyright © Andrew Forbes / CPA 2003.
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