Taiwan

The National Palace Museum is the undisputed guardian of the world’s largest and most priceless collection of Chinese imperial artifacts, a treasure trove spanning over 8,000 years of continuous civilization. Housed in a grand, modernist palace in the hills of Taipei, the museum holds nearly 700,000 objects, from ancient bronze ritual vessels and luminous Song Dynasty landscape paintings to the most famous pieces of carved jade in existence. The ‘Jadeite Cabbage’ and the ‘Meat-shaped Stone’ are the perennial crowd-pleasers, but the true connoisseur will lose themselves in the quiet, scholarly galleries of calligraphy and rare books. It is a place where the weight of history is palpable, and a single visit can only scratch the surface of its profound depth.

Forty nautical miles off Taiwan’s southeastern coast rises Lanyu — Orchid Island — a volcanic jewel where time moves to the rhythm of the Kuroshio Current and the ancient cadence of the Tao (Yami) people. This is not a resort island; it is a living cultural landscape. Traditional semi-subterranean homes, designed to withstand typhoons and summer heat, cluster in coastal villages beside coral-stone walls. The Tao’s seafaring soul is etched into every hand-carved tatala (canoe), its prow painted with protective eyes and wave motifs. Beneath the surface, coral gardens bloom in crystalline water, hosting hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, and kaleidoscopic reef fish. Above, sheer cliffs plunge into the Philippine Sea, and endemic orchids — the island’s namesake — cling to misty ridges. Nights bring a canopy of stars untainted by light pollution, and the haunting melody of the ‘hair-swinging dance’ performed during the Flying Fish Festival. Orchid Island demands surrender to its pace: slow, salty, and profoundly human.

Taiwan’s largest and most enchanting alpine lake, Sun Moon Lake is a place of profound tranquility and spiritual resonance. Its name derives from its unique shape—round like the sun on one end, crescent like the moon on the other—and its waters shift from deep sapphire to jade green depending on the light and season. The lake is sacred to the Thao indigenous people, and their cultural presence is woven into the landscape, from the Ita Thao village to the annual harvest festivals. A network of cycling paths and boardwalks circles the shore, while the Ci’en Pagoda, perched atop a nearby hill, offers panoramic views that stretch across the Central Mountain Range. For the discerning traveler, Sun Moon Lake is not just a scenic stop; it is a meditative retreat where nature, culture, and quiet luxury coexist in perfect harmony.

Once the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101 remains an icon of modern engineering and cultural fusion, its pagoda-inspired silhouette a defiant statement against the city’s frequent typhoons and earthquakes. Ascending to the 89th-floor observatory in one of the world’s fastest elevators is a thrill in itself, but the true magic lies in the view: Taipei sprawls beneath you, a glittering tapestry of neon and concrete framed by the distant, mist-shrouded mountains. The building’s most famous feature is its massive tuned mass damper, a golden sphere suspended between the 87th and 92nd floors, a marvel of physics that sways to counteract seismic and wind forces. Below, the luxury mall buzzes with high-end brands and gourmet dining, making Taipei 101 not just a viewpoint, but a vertical city where commerce, culture, and cutting-edge design converge.

Often called the “Grand Canyon of Taiwan,” Taroko National Park is a geological masterpiece where marble and gorges collide in a symphony of raw, elemental power. The Taroko Gorge, carved by the Liwu River over millennia, presents vertiginous cliffs that plunge into turquoise waters, creating a landscape so dramatic it feels almost otherworldly. Walking the Shakadang Trail or the Swallow Grotto path, visitors are dwarfed by walls of metamorphic rock, their surfaces streaked with veins of quartz and jade. Beyond the gorge, the park unfolds into misty highland forests, ancient cypress groves, and the serene Eternal Spring Shrine, a temple perched precariously above a waterfall. This is not merely a park; it is a pilgrimage for those who seek the sublime, a place where the earth’s tectonic drama is laid bare in breathtaking, humbling detail.

Rising above the clouds at over 2,000 meters, Alishan is a realm of ancient forests, ethereal mists, and one of Asia’s most beloved narrow-gauge railways. The Alishan Forest Railway, a relic of Japanese colonial engineering, chugs through tunnels of towering cypresses and camphor trees, some over a thousand years old, their gnarled roots gripping the mountainside like sentinels of time. At dawn, crowds gather at the Zhushan viewing platform to witness the “sea of clouds” phenomenon, where the sun rises above a vast, undulating blanket of white, painting the sky in hues of gold and rose. Beyond the famous sunrise, Alishan offers serene hiking trails, sacred Sister Ponds, and the haunting beauty of the Sacred Tree, a 3,000-year-old red cypress that has become a symbol of resilience. This is a destination for those who seek solace in nature’s grandeur and the quiet majesty of ancient woodlands.

The roof of Taiwan’s highway network, Hehuanshan crests at 3,275 metres where the Central Cross-Island Highway pierces the cloud layer. Alpine meadows ripple above the tree line, dotted with Yushan cane grass and, in early summer, the ethereal white blossoms of Taiwan lily. The mountain is a stairway to the stars: minimal light pollution and high elevation make the Hehuanshan Parking Lot a pilgrimage site for astrophotographers chasing the Milky Way arching over jagged ridges. Dawn reveals a sea of clouds spilling into the Taroko and Nenggao valleys, while the distant pyramid of Nanhu Mountain—Taiwan’s fifth highest—floats on the horizon. In winter, the slopes dust with snow, drawing city dwellers for their first (and often only) snowball fight of the year. A network of boardwalk trails—Wuling, East Peak, and the gentle Mt. Hehuan Main Peak loop—lets even casual hikers taste true alpine terrain without technical gear.

Rising near-vertically from the turquoise Pacific to heights of 800 metres, the Qingshui Cliffs form the dramatic gateway to Taroko National Park’s southern reaches. Marble and schist faces, streaked with mineral oxides in shades of rust, ochre, and charcoal, plunge straight into the surf—no beach, no footholds, just raw geology on a titanic scale. The Suhua Highway (Provincial 9) threads a narrow ledge along the cliff base, offering a heart-stopping drive where tunnels punch through headlands and viewing pull-outs frame the ocean dropping into the abyss. At Xiaozhuilu Trail, a short boardwalk leads to a glass-floor platform projecting over the void—stand there at dawn and watch the first light ignite the cliff face while Pacific swells explode against the rocks below. Migratory raptors—grey-faced buzzards and Chinese goshawks—ride the updrafts each autumn, turning the cliffs into a sky highway.

Step through the vermilion gates of Taiwan’s oldest and most revered Confucian temple, a serene sanctuary that has anchored Tainan’s spiritual and scholarly life since 1665. Known as the ‘First Academy of Taiwan’, this architectural masterpiece is a living monument to the island’s deep-rooted Confucian heritage. Wander beneath the sweeping eaves of the Dacheng Hall, where intricate wooden carvings and stone inscriptions whisper tales of imperial examinations and philosophical devotion. The temple complex, with its tranquil courtyards, ancient banyan trees, and the adjacent Minglun Hall (once a school for scholars), offers a profound glimpse into the intellectual soul of old Taiwan. Unlike the bustling night markets nearby, this is a place of quiet contemplation—where incense curls lazily in the humid air and the weight of centuries feels both tangible and peaceful.

Standing sentinel over Tainan’s historic harbor, Anping Fort is a palimpsest of empire. Built by the Dutch East India Company in the 1620s as Fort Zeelandia, its massive brick walls—bonded with a mortar of sticky rice, sugar, and oyster shells—have weathered sieges by Koxinga, Japanese reconstruction, and the erosion of time. Today, the semi-ruined ramparts and a reconstructed observation tower offer a tactile journey through Taiwan’s colonial layered history. Climb to the tower’s summit for a sweeping view across the Taiwan Strait; wander the courtyard where ancient banyan roots strangle old cannon emplacements, a vivid metaphor for nature reclaiming history.