Four islets south of Penghu County are set to become the nation’s ninth national park on Saturday, the Ministry of the Interior said.
The South Penghu National Park comprises of Dongi (東吉嶼), Sigi (西吉嶼), Dongyuping (東嶼坪), and Siyuping (西嶼坪) islets, as well as their surrounding waters and is to cover a land area of 370 hectares and a sea area of 354.73km2 in the Taiwan Strait.
The national park is set to become the second-largest in Taiwan, with a total surface area of approximately 35,843.6 hectares.
Photo: CNA
The ministry said visitors to the islets are greeted by a view of giant columns of basalt rocks, formed by the rapid cooling of basaltic lava near the Earth’s surface.
Visitors can also see houses surrounded by walls built from coral and basalt, which are used to protect gardens from the Northeastern trade winds which blow through the islets every winter, the ministry said.
It added that scuba diving enthusiasts would not want to miss out on exploring the coasts of these islets, especially those of Siyuping Islet. Graced with an abundance of sea plumes and brain coral, the waters off Siyuping boast the highest seabed coverage rate among the four islets, at more that 50 percent, making the area the perfect habitat for fish, shellfish and crustaceans.
Photo: CNA
According to statistics published by the Marine National Park Headquarters, the population on the four islets has been decreasing over the past several decades due to poor access to transportation systems, the inconvenience of shipping in daily necessities and a lack of jobs. There are currently only about 50 residents living on the four islets, statistics show.
Since there are not yet any direct boats from Taiwan proper, those who wish to visit the new national park can book tours with ferry operators based in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan, from where the journey takes two-and-a-half to three hours.
Marine National Park Headquarters director Yang Mo-lin (楊模麟) said sea conditions between May and August were best for traveling to the islets. He recommend staying with local bed and breakfasts, which he said can accommodate a dozen guests and only cost about NT$200 a day.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
RSS