Taiwan is an ideal travel destination. Prepare the holiday of your dreams as it has all: good food, a beautiful ocean, stupendous mountains and lots of sunshine!

Hot Spots

Sun Moon Lake

The Sun Moon Lake, located in the middle of Taiwan, with an elevation of 748 meters above sea level, is the only natural big lake in Taiwan. The southern part of La Lu Island is shaped like a new moon, and the northern part is shaped like a sun; hence the name Sun Moon Lake.

The most famous sights around Sun Moon Lake are the Itashao, Lalu Island, the Syuentzang Temple, the Tsen Pagoda, the Wenwu Temple and so on. The natural forests bordering these roads are good places for bird watching. There are a lot of birds that live on the mid-elevation, such as the Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Grap-throated Minivet, Formosan Yuhina, Gray Tree Pie, Bamboo Partridge, Chinese Bulbul, Muller's Barbet, and the Black Bulbul.

Colonies of Black-crowned Night herons and Egretta garzettas , and birds such as the common kingfisher and the Green-winged Teal can be seen at the Dajhuhu water reservation, situated around the water gate. Besides these birds, fish, insects and wild vegetables are flourishing in the region as well. These are all natural resources of the Sun Moon Lake region.

The Shao Clan is the earliest clan that lived in the Sun Moon Lake region. The Harvest Festival, Sowing Festival and their special handicraft fair every year, as well as their articles have helped to preserve the particular culture of the Sun Moon Lake region.

Taroko Park

Taroko became a "national park" in 1986, including Hualien County, Nantou County and Taichung County. It is the second largest national park in Taiwan. Taroko is famous for its spectacular mountains and marble canyons. Cliffs and canyons stretch along Li Wu River.

Four million years ago, the island of Taiwan was formed by the collision of plates. After millions of years of wind erosion, the marble rocks were exposed and cut by Li Wu River, creating impressive grand canyons. From Tsing Shui to Nan Hu Peak, the drop height is 3,742 meters. Such special geography has also bred special flora and fauna in this area.

The waterfalls characterized Taroko National Park and the most famous ones are Pai Yang Waterfall, Yin Tai Waterfall, Chang Chun Waterfall, and Lu Shui Waterfall. Yen Tze Kou and Chiu Chu Tung are the most impressive natural scenes in Taroko and the canyons here are the narrowest.

Tourists can appreciate the natural beauty along the tour track. Swallows nest on the cliff, chirping and flying back forth. The Taroko monumental is designed in Chinese style and Chang Chun Temple is to remember those who sacrificed their lives for building the central highway.

Taipei Palace Museum

One of the world's greatest collection of Chinese art and relics is housed by the Palace Museum in Taipei, including around 240,000 objects that once were part of the Beijing Palace Museum.

The Taipei museum, which opened in 1965, contains around 650,000 objects, but only 1,700 of them can be displayed to the public at a given time. The collection is rotated every few months so that all the key objects can be viewed.

Culture &People

Mazu Pilgrimage

Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, migrated to Taiwan with the people of Fujian Province in the 17th century to become one of the most revered deities on the island, where today about 870 temples are dedicated to her worship. Mazu's birthday falls in the third lunar month; during this time, temples around the island, including Taichung County Dajia Jhenlan Temple, Changhua County Lugang Tianhou Temple, Yunlin County's Chaotian Temple, Tainan City's Grand Tianhou Temple, and Chiayi County's Fongtian Temple, hold ceremonies, with incense burning, tours by the deities around their domains and other festivities. Among these temples, Jhenlan Temple in Dajia, Taichung County has the largest celebration and also the oldest.

The pilgrimage from Dajia's Jhenlan Temple takes place during the third lunar month. All sorts of festive activities are arranged at this time, including puppets and theater performances, displays of embroidered banners, float parades, dragon and lion dances, and other events as the procession passes through Changhua and Yunlin counties, and proceeds to Fongtian Temple in Singang, Chiayi County. Many devotees walk the whole trip, which lasts eight days and seven nights.

The Mazu image which the pilgrims carry along with them is warmly welcomed at Fongtian Temple. The devotees prepare meat, fruits, and vegetables as offerings; firecrackers are discharged and incense is burned. Another high point of the activities occurs when Mazu returns home to Dajia in her palanquin; along the route, one can see hundreds of thousands of devotees holding parties for friends, relatives, and the returning pilgrims.