Alishan was included in the New York Times’ “2025 Travel Destinations: 52 Places to Go This Year,” a collection of 52 idyllic places to visit around the world.
The only Taiwanese destination to make the list, Alishan ranked 19th.
Its inclusion on the list is an important international recognition of Alishan’s rich natural beauty and cultural heritage, Chiayi County Commissioner Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) said yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Chiayi County Government
The Alishan National Scenic Area Headquarters, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, the Alishan Forest Railway, the Cultural Heritage Office and the Chiayi County Government have worked to improve Alishan, enhance its environment and create an international tourist destination, the county government said in a statement.
With 112 years of history, the 71.4km Alishan Forest Railway was finally reopened in July last year after 15 years of repairs.
The railway’s reopening has attracted domestic and international media attention, bringing Alishan once again onto the global stage and introducing Chiayi to the world, Weng said.
Alishan was included in the Tourism Administration’s list of Taiwan’s top 100 highlights, as well as the New York Times’ list, receiving both domestic and international recognition, he said.
Alishan not only has enchanting natural scenery, but is also famous for its high-quality tea and coffee, Weng.
Local tea and coffee farmers have won awards at international competitions, which shows their products’ quality and competitiveness, he said.
Chiayi is also home to an indigenous group with a unique culture, the Tsou, whose distinctive villages are well worth visiting, he added.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
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