Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying.
For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興).
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation
Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said.
The area is broadly covered by manmade forests of Japanese cedars and Chinese firs, creating a spectacular landscape under treetops, Lin said.
It also has trace fossils of shellfish and sea urchins that are about 30 million years old, as well as an abundance of bird species that birdwatchers would enjoy, he added.
For travelers in central Taiwan, Lin suggested visiting the Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County’s Renai Township (仁愛).
The area features bald cypresses and lots of indigenous maple woods, which form a colorful natural landscape in the autumn and winter, he said.
There are also many cherry trees in the area, and visitors might be able to catch sight of early cherry blossoms during the Spring Festival holiday, Lin said.
One of the must-see spots is the Aowanda Suspension Bridge (奧萬大吊橋) connecting to the pine woods, and people can enjoy a view of the valley and take photographs on the bridge, he said.
Travelers in the south should visit the Shuangliu Forest Recreation Area in Pingtung County’s Shizih Township (獅子), Lin said.
Shuangliu (雙流, literally double flow) refers to the two rivers — Daren and Neiwun — that intersect to form the upper stream of the Fonggang River (楓港溪), he said.
Visitors gravitate toward the scenic streams and waterfalls, and the negative ion-laden air in the area, Lin said.
The area was once populated by the Paiwan, so it is a rich repository of the indigenous people’s history and culture, including the ruins of a tortoise-shell house, a typical Paiwan architecture, he said.
Bird or butterfly watchers should also visit the area, as there are Formosan blue magpies, Taiwan hwamei and the rare, endangered golden birdwings, as well as more than 100 butterfly species, he added.
As for eastern Taiwan, Lin suggested visiting the Danongdafu Forest Park in Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復), where there are more than 1 million trees of nearly 20 varieties commonly seen in low-altitude regions.
During the Spring Festival holiday, the area is covered in blooming yellow rapeseed against a backdrop of a broad blue sky and the green mountains of Hualien County, making it a popular site for taking photographs, Lin said.
People visiting these forest recreation areas are advised to check the traffic and weather conditions in advance at the Taiwan Forest Recreation Web site to ensure a safe and pleasant journey, he added.
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
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
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