Taiwan

Overview

Taiwan is situated about 160 kilometers off the southeastern coast of the Chinese mainland, and between Korea and Japan in the north and The Philippines to the south. The island has always been known as one of the most beautiful in the Pacific. The Portuguese called it Ilha Formosa, which means "The Beautiful Isle". With its mountains that rise up high above the green-forested foothills, its terraced flatlands and coastal plains and basins and foremost with its friendly generous people, it's almost "paradise" (if you overlook the widespread environmental devastation caused by rapid development). It is not just the breathtaking scenery with waterfalls, lakes, hot springs or misty hillsides that make Taiwan well worth a visit. Pagodas and temples build on a culture that goes back beyond the beginning of western civilization. Next to nature and tradition there's also the modern Taiwan with skyscrapers that almost reach into heaven, with their feet firmly planted in a chaotic stream of traffic. Whatever you're looking for, you can probably find it in here.

If you visit the capital city of Taipei, even if you're just passing through take a day or two to look around and to visit the Yangmingshan National Park. Other major cities are Taichung and the industrial city of Kaohsiung. Sidewalks are poor, but the streets are clean, if not somewhat disorganized.

The most beautiful natural regions are Central Cross-Island Highway, the Hsitou's bamboo forests, Sun Moon Lake, Kenting National Park and the Yushan National Park and of course there's Yushan...more

History

Taiwan's aboriginal peoples who originated in Austronesia and southern China have lived on Taiwan for 12 000 to 15 000 years. Significant migration to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland began as early as A.D. 500. Dutch traders first claimed the island in 1624 as a base for Dutch commerce with Japan and the China coast. Two years later the Spanish established a settlement on the northwest coast of Taiwan which they occupied until 1642 when they were driven out by the Dutch. Dutch colonists administered the island and its predominantly aboriginal population until 1661. The first major influx of migrants from the Chinese mainland came during the Dutch period sparked by the political and economic chaos on the China coast during the Manchu invasion and the end of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1664 a Chinese fleet led by the Ming loyalist Cheng Ch'eng-kung (Zheng Chenggong known in the West as Koxinga) retreated from the mainland and occupied Taiwan. Cheng expelled the Dutch and established Taiwan as a base in his attempt to restore the Ming Dynasty. He died shortly thereafter and in 1683 his successors submitted to Manchu (Qing Dynasty) control. From 1680 the Qing Dynasty ruled Taiwan as a prefecture and in 1875 divided the island into two prefectures north and south. In 1887 the island was made into a separate Chinese province.

During the 18th and 19th centuries migration from Fujian and Guangdong provinces steadily increased and Chinese supplanted aborigines as the dominant population group. In 1895 a weakened Imperial...more