From Taitung, the plane ride to Orchid Island takes only about 20 minutes. Yet, however short the journey, it brings one to a place so entirely different from modern Taiwan that it seems of an altogether different era.

Flying fish culture

The aborigines of Orchid Island refer to themselves as the "Tao," which is derived from their term for the island: "Pongso No Tao." There are seven tribal villages on the island, and the total population stands at over 4,000. Like the aborigines of Taiwan proper, the Tao are members of the Austronesian ethno-linguistic group. Because they are isolated at sea, they have retained their traditional culture better than any other group of Taiwanese aborigines.

The "flying fish season" of the spring and summer is the best known Orchid Island tradition. The migrating flying fish, an important source of food for the Tao (or Yami, as they are known to the Han Chinese), are like a gift from God. Most of the traditional ceremonies throughout the year are somehow related to the catching of flying fish. The significance of these migrating fish to the Tao has influenced their entire way of life, determining their calendar of holidays and informing their unique aesthetic sensibility, which can be seen in their architecture, boats, and implements.

Every year from the second Tao month (around June and July) to the fifth Tao month (around August and September), when the flying fish season ends, the island's ocean culture is fully revealed. The season attracts many anthropologists to come and conduct research.

According to observations by anthropologists from the Aca-demia Sinica, the Tao depend upon fish for a high share of their diet and designate the fish they catch as either "spring fish" or "reef fish." "Spring fish" refer to the fish that pass by Orchid Island in the spring during their seasonal migrations. Flying fish, dolphin fish, and tuna represent the bulk of the spring fish. According to traditional belief, these fish usually live in Heaven with the gods, but descend in the spring to be caught by the Tao. At the end of the season, they return to Heaven. Because the migratory fish are regarded as being of heavenly origin, the catching and eating of them are invested with great ceremony and numerous taboos.

The Tao divide fish into several categories, and each person, in accordance with age and gender, must eat only fish from a suitable category. "Good fish" can be eaten by anyone irrespective of their sex. Only males can eat "bad fish," and only those who are grandfathers can eat "old men's fish." In addition there are various types of fish that are regarded as being particularly suitable for boys, girls, pregnant women, women who are breast-feeding, men whose wives are pregnant, fathers of newborns, and so forth.

At one with nature

Apart from respecting their rules involving the catching and consumption of fish, the Tao have also invested their chief means of catching fish-their boats-with great social significance. Even ashore, Tao men are often grouped socially according to the boat crews to which they belong. The boats themselves are works of art, giving full expression to the Tao's aesthetic talents. Some boats are known as "plain boats" and others as "fancy boats." The latter have red, black and white patterns created with natural traditional paints.

The ceremony for launching new boats is very important for the fishing culture on Orchid Island. For each ceremony, people cut over 1,000 taro roots and slaughter some dozen pigs and goats. Taro also plays an important role in Tao ceremonial culture. Tao families grow the root in large quantities that vary depending upon their number of friends and relatives. When relatives or good friends launch a new boat, they make offerings of taro at the ceremonial feast. And when a new house is finished, friends and relatives stack taro on the roof and along the walls.

Located in a tropical climatic zone, Orchid Island is subject to great heat and violent typhoons. As a result, most of their settlements face the sea with their backs to the mountains. The gentle slopes along the coast are dotted with the Tao's cave-like dwellings, which are warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Before building these structures, the Tao first prepare a water drainage system. The drainage spout is hidden from view by a rock. To the side of every dwelling entrance are "backrest stones." The residents often sit and chat here, and they erect as many of these stones as there are members of the household. If someone dies, they pull down a backrest stone from its upright position.

The Tao of Orchid Island, so good at harnessing nature for their comfort, are also a people with a lively story-telling tradition, so that they needn't fear for boredom as they lean against their stone backrests. Furthermore, the fertility of their imaginations is matched by the fertility of Orchid Island's volcanic geology. Clearly, this is a place that enjoys the double good fortune of possessing equally rich natural and cultural heritages. Nevertheless, in the eyes of the CCA's World Heritage Commission, the pollution arising from tourism and the storage of nuclear waste on Orchid Island are serious blemishes on that heritage. "We must develop controls on the number of tourists and remove the nuclear waste," says Wang Shin, a professor of geography at National Taiwan University . "Only then will Orchid Island live up to its billing as a Shangri-La of the sea."