Island Taiwan

Taiwan Panorama

Island Taiwan

Taiwan, surrounded by ocean, is intimately connected with the sea in many ways, including climate, environment, biology, and culture. The ocean has sculpted Taiwan’s form over millions of years, and continues to shape its fate and future. At the center of the Western Pacific island chain, off the eastern edge of the Eurasian landmass, Taiwan’s marine environment is affected by the interaction of the Kuroshio Current, humid airflows from the South China Sea, and the China Coastal Current. With such unique geographic conditions, Taiwan has played a critical role in the course of human civilization and the expansive migrations of the Austronesian peoples. But if you ask ordinary citizens to characterize Taiwan’s coastal areas or describe the underwater world, few can respond. We go down to the sea, to take some first steps toward understanding, valuing, and embracing the ocean.

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Island Taiwan

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Not Just the Queen's Head

Geology and History in Yeliu

A host of oddly shaped, jagged hoodoo outcrops are strikingly arrayed on Yeliu Cape, which extends 1.7 kilometers into the ocean. With a landscape virtually unmatched elsewhere, in 2003 it became the site of Taiwan’s first-ever “geopark.” Endowed with rich wildlife, sea life and bird life......

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Reawakening Nanfang’ao: A Fishing Harbor’s Cultural Star Rises

An old fishing harbor that is nearing its centennial, Nanfang’ao is at a crossroads. Like a setting sun, its former glory once reflected gorgeous colors against the clouds as it sank into the horizon. The night sky brought the joys of new growth. Now, as dawn arrives with a rising tide lappin......

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At the Front Lines of Local Revitalization

Yilan Ban and Big Hill North Moon

Some 20 years ago, fishponds in one area of Taiwan and an elementary school in another were abandoned. But what do those places look like now? Whether in fishing villages on the coast or farming villages deep in the mountains, some farmers and fishermen have recently found success by turning t......

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Time Capsules Beneath the Sea

Underwater Archaeology in Taiwan

In 1995, fisherman Huang Jiajin, who was hailed by Penghu residents as a master scuba diver, happened upon a forgotten sunken ship and ancient treasures on the ocean floor while diving in the waters off Penghu’s Jiangjun’ao Islet. After the authorities were informed, they began an investigatio......

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The Campaign for Sustainable Fisheries

Taiwan Declares War on Illegal Fishing

Taiwan is the world’s sixth largest fishing nation in terms of hauls from international waters. Every year our fishing fleet catches upwards of 700,000 metric tons of fish, more than 80% of which is exported—to the tune of NT$30 billion in foreign earnings. Yet with declining oceanic stocks an......

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Learning Lessons from the Sea:

The Race to Protect Our Marine Biodiversity

In the Age of Discovery, when Portuguese explorers saw Taiwan from their ships, they exclaimed “ilha formosa,” meaning “beautiful island.” And in the preface to his General History of Taiwan, written nearly 100 years ago, Lien Heng described Taiwan as “a beautiful island in a swirling sea.” Re......

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Starting the Day Fresh and Early:

Fish Markets of Southern and Northern Taiwan

In Chinese the word for “fish” (yu) sounds the same as the word for “surplus,” so fish has always been an auspicious symbol. Fish is de rigueur at Lunar New Year, and the older generation will say it’s best not to eat it all, so that there is a “surplus” in the new year. Taiwan is surrounded b......

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Restoring the Ocean

Azure Alliance’s “Marine Vacuum Cleaner”

In October 2020, when Taiwan’s Azure Alliance launched a fundraising campaign aimed at removing trash from the ocean, the public responded. With more than 5000 people donating in excess of NT$15 million to the endeavor, the alliance vowed to go every step of the way to achieving the campaign’s......

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Saving the Sea

Wang Ming-hsiang and His Squid Birthing Suites

While many people make a living from the sea, there are few who speak out on its behalf. Many people know how to exploit the sea, but don’t understand the problems of overfishing and marine trash that are making the once beautiful oceans a scene of devastation. Wang Ming-hsiang loves the sea ......

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Saving the Ocean for Children

Dylan Chen and the Taiwan Dive Center

The Taiwan Dive Center, the largest institution for diving instruction in Taiwan, has a mission: “To bring the ocean into your life.” They want to enable every Taiwanese person to experience this island’s beautiful sea up close, and to make everyone who has gotten to know it into a protector o......

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The Wind in Their Sails

Taiwan’s Asia-Leading Yacht Builders

Taiwan’s “megayacht” industry—building yachts 80 feet or more in length—is the largest in Asia and the fourth largest globally. Taiwan long ago earned the nickname “yacht kingdom,” but in truth the sector experienced contraction in the 1990s and was hit hard by the global financial crisis in 2......

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Life Is Where the Sea Is

Su Tar-zen’s Ocean Dreams

Surrounded on all sides by water, Taiwan’s residents enjoy nearly 1600 kilometers of coastline, and few live more than a short distance from the sea. But Taiwanese people have long been taught about the dangers of the ocean, which makes them keep their distance from it. Professor Su Tar-zen br......

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The Wisdom of a Maritime People

Keeping Lanyu’s Tao Culture Alive

Lanyu (Orchid Island) is internationally known as a diving hotspot, with clear ocean water, a rich undersea ecology, and the maritime culture of the Tao indigenous people who live there. Underlying traditional indigenous culture one can find great wisdom and the concept of sustainability, mak......

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Guardians of Land and Sea

The Rangers of Kenting and South Penghu

Kenting National Park, Taiwan’s first national park and its most visited, covers some 32,000 hectares equally split between land and sea. South Penghu Marine National Park is Taiwan’s newest national park. Covering an even larger 35,000 hectares, 99% of which is at sea, it features rare colum......

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Kezailiao

The Music Is Not Over

Kaohsiung’s Kezailiao fishing village, which at first glance looks no different from many communities along the western seacoast of Taiwan, seemed to come out of nowhere in 2012 when it hosted the independent music festival “Small Oyster Rock.” The festival became an overnight sensation, att......

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The Island in Microcosm

Ever-Changing Caoling

Have you ever seen a mountain fly? In the early hours of September 21, 1999, when the huge Jiji Earthquake caused roughly 3.5 kilometers of the south face of Mt. Jueduo in Caoling, Yunlin County, to break loose in a landslide, an estimated 120 million cubic meters of earth and rock “flew” f......

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Roaming Xiaoliuqiu

“Sea Turtle Isle”

On the coral isle of Xiao-liu-qiu off the coast of Ping-tung County, follow the island’s perimeter road and you can admire the distinctive, jagged reef terrain. Drawn by legend, you stroll through renowned attractions such as Beauty’s Cave and Wild Boar Ditch, observing the fantastical scenery......

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Bounty of the Seas

Seeking Sustainability for Taiwan's Marine Resources

In his poem “Do You Want to Be a Mermaid?” the poet Yu Kwang-chung asks, “Do you know that the mountains are not as high as the sea is deep? / Do you know that the land is not as broad as the sea is wide? / Do you know the volume of the ocean’s magnanimity? / Do you know the capacity of its......