Visiting the palace of the gods in Taiwan

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Taipei

For many of us, high-tech Taiwan is simply a world famous producer of manufactured goods. We know the label all too well, and some of us younger souls are now familiar with it as the land of Asian boy band F4, but our thoughts do not exactly turn to it as a place to visit and see the sights.

Not that we would know what to look for anyway.

My own narrow impression of this island changed thanks to a week spent touring Taiwan's tourist destinations.

It turned out to be a beautiful island, rich in scenic panoramas and wonderful attractions which should be part of any travel itinerary in Asia.

Along with 18 other reporters from Indonesia, I took my seat on Taiwan-based airliner China Airlines on the trip from Jakarta to Taipei. We were part of tour sponsored by the government of Taiwan to show the island's recovery after the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) earlier this year.

Taiwan was classified as free from the disease on July, 5, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak contained worldwide.

Although tourism is not the prime mover economic mover in the country, the government shouldered a hefty US$10 million campaign to help its tourism industry recuperate from the ravages of SARS.

In Taipei, we were welcomed at our eye-catching hotel, painted in red and built in the style of an old wooden Chinese temple.

A giant welcome board in front of the hotel assured us that we were receiving first-class treatment, as it proclaimed the visit of the president of Panama.

We then got to eat lunch at a prestigious restaurant in the small town of Hualien, reportedly a favorite dining spot for Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian.

But all this surfeit of royal treatment was no comparison to getting to see the beauty of Taiwan for myself.

High mountains, deep gorges, rushing streams, tranquil coastlines and lakes make this a majestic palace of the gods, a perfect place for poets to recite their awe to wonderful and breath-taking beauty of the nature.

Taiwan is a relatively young island, created about four million years ago by a collision of tectonic plates. It hosts two of the world's largest continental plates, the Eurasian plate and largest oceanic plate, the Philippine plate, fostering that special geographic environment and a string of peaks along the central mountain range.

Locals say that such beauty inspired ancient Portuguese mariners who, spying Taiwan's mountainous landscape with an apparent paucity of flatlands, sighed in awe and utter the name by which it was known for centuries, "Ihla Formosa" (beautiful island).

Mountains occupy 65 percent of its land area of 36,000 square kilometers and more than 200 peaks soar above 3,000 meters due to the ever-changing tectonic activities. The highest of these mountains is Yushan, or Mount Jade, which reaches up to 3,952 meters, the highest in northeast Asia, and is also considered the symbol of Taiwan's indomitable spirit.

With a population of 21.8 million, it has six national parks: Kenting, Yushan, Yangmingshan, Taroko, Shei-Pa and Kinmen.

We had the opportunity to visit Taroko and Kenting. Taroko Gorge, which is located in eastern central Taiwan, near the city of Hualien, is one of the best-known natural attractions in Taiwan, boasting vast colorful marble layers and a V-shaped gorge.

The scenery of the gorge is dominated by sheer cliff walls that are about a thousand meters high and just 10 meters apart at the narrowest point, with the gushing crystal waters of the Liwu River far below.

The tourist guide said such spectacular scenery resulted fromn counteracting natural forces: the uprising of the sea floor 70 million years ago, followed by further uplifting caused by tectonic activities some two million years ago. Combined with this was the erosive power of the Liwu River cutting through the rising marble to create the V-shaped narrow Taroko Gorge.

It was not only the natural wonders that stunned us. The hard- working people of Taiwan have carved a remarkable 20 kilometers of road into the side of the gorge. They have even bored several kilometers of tunnels into the gorge to make it more accessible to tourists.

Tour guide Sandra said that Taiwan soldiers had built the road and tunnels with explosives following the end of war to free Taiwan from Japan in 1947.

Zipping through the roads and tunnels while enjoying the scenery of the deep gorge and colorful marble walls was a truly awesome experience, showing the harmony of blending natural wonders with human ingenuity and determination.

"Such colorful, pristine walls won't be safe in Indonesia because they will be vandalized by idiots who will immediately litter the place with garbage," one of our group murmured.

It's true that many Indonesians, so accustomed to treating their own natural wonders with contempt, would be surprised by the example of Taiwan's people, confined to a small island and learning to give it respect.

Kenting National Park, on the country's southernmost tip, is a mix of natural wonders, ecological preservation, pasturelands and points of historical interest.

Tour guide John said that the park was not only dedicated to recreational purposes, drawing from 4,000 to 10,000 visitors a day, but also environmental research.

"The park hosts 300 species of bird, 18 species of mammals, 300 species of coral reef, 800 species of tropical fish, and there are strictly preserved," he said.

A noticeboard placed on the beach of a coral islet -- nicknamed Nixon's head for its resemblance to the craggy visage of the former U.S. president -- testifies to the importance of natural resources to the people of Taiwan.

"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures," it warns.

The enduring lesson for us visitors was that, unlike back home, the local population actually takes the words to heart.