Travel Guide to Taiwan Province: Stretching across Temperate and Tropical Zones, Known as the “Beautiful Treasure Island”

Taiwan Province, abbreviated as “Tai”, is a provincial-level administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, with Taipei as its capital. It is situated on the continental shelf along the southeast coast of China, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the east, facing Fujian Province across the Taiwan Strait to the west, the East China Sea to the north, and the Philippine Islands across the Bashi Channel to the south. It stretches across the temperate and tropical zones.
The “Taiwan region of China” generally refers to Taiwan Island, its affiliated islands such as Lanyu, Green Island, and the Diaoyu Islands, the Penghu Islands, as well as Jinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and other islands under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province. Among them, Taiwan Island is the largest island in China.
The administrative divisions of Taiwan Province include 6 prefecture-level cities: Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City; 3 county-level cities: Keelung City, Hsinchu City, Chiayi City; and 11 counties: Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, Taitung County, Hualien County, Yilan County, Penghu County.
Historically, Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. Successive Chinese governments established administrative organs in Taiwan and exercised jurisdiction over it. As early as the Three Kingdoms period, the Sun Wu regime, and later the Sui Dynasty, sent more than 10,000 people to Taiwan in succession. In the mid-12th century, the Song Dynasty stationed troops in Penghu and placed the Penghu area under the jurisdiction of Jinjiang County, Quanzhou, Fujian. The Yuan Dynasty set up a patrol and inspection agency, the “Xunjiansi”, as an administrative body in Penghu. Since the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a large number of residents from southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong have migrated and reclaimed land in Taiwan, eventually forming a society dominated by the Han people, with the indigenous Gaoshan people and Zhuang-Dong language-speaking groups from southern China living together.
Surrounded by the sea, Taiwan boasts beautiful mountains and rivers, lush green forests and fields everywhere. Coupled with abundant sunshine and spring-like weather all year round, it has been known as the “Beautiful Treasure Island” since ancient times, with numerous natural and cultural landscapes for tourism and sightseeing.
The tradition of the “Eight Scenic Spots” dates back to the Qing Dynasty, with different selections in different periods. The most widely circulated Eight Scenic Spots are:Autumn Moon over Double Lakes,Snow on Jade Mountain,Sunset at Anping,Sea of Clouds at Alishan,Qingshui Cliffs,Fishing Lights of Penghu,Spring Scenery of Datun,Remote Gorges of Lu Valley.
The Twelve Attractions are:Jiaoban Mountain, Caoshan Beitou, Xindian, Daxi, Wuzhi Mountain, Bagua Mountain, Hutoupi, Shitou Mountain, Taiping Mountain, Dalijian, Qishan, Wushe.
In 2005, the voted “Eight Scenic Spots of Taiwan” were: Taipei 101, National Palace Museum Taipei, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, Jade Mountain, Kaohsiung Love River, Kenting, and Taroko Gorge.