In the remote antiquity, Taiwan was connected with the mainland. Later, due to crustal movements, the connecting part sank into the sea and formed the strait; thus the island of Taiwan came into being. Taiwan lies on the continental shelf along the southeast coast of Mainland China, covering an area of about 36,000 square kilometers. It consists of seven prefecture-level cities and 16 counties, with the Han people accounting for 98% of the population and minorities 2%.

Scenery

Surrounded by the sea, Taiwan is picturesque, with green forest and fields covering everywhere. In addition, there is plenty of sunshine and the spring-like seasons all the year round. Hence Taiwan has been reputed as a "beautiful treasure island" since the remote past, and early in the Qing Dynasty, it had known for its "eight scenic spots and twelve places of interest".

Mount Ali and Sun Moon Lake are the top two natural scenic spots in Taiwan, China's biggest island. They are also among the signature tourist attractions on the beautiful island.

The Palace Museum of Taiwan was built in 1962. Originally it was named Zhongshan Museum, which was later changed into "National Palace Museum". Situated at the foot of the Yangming Mountain in the outskirts of Taipei, the museum is a palace-style construction imitating the design of Beijing Imperial Palace. A total collection of about 700,000 pieces were kept in it, including the masterpieces in Beijing Imperial Palace, Shengyang Imperial Palace and Rehe Traveling Palace during the Qing Dynasty as well as excellent works donated by people of all circles from all over the world.

"Kingdom of fruits"

Taiwan features warm winter, hot summer and plenty of rainfall. The fruit there is abundant in variety, thus it has been dubbed as the "kingdom of fruits"


  • "Heart-shaped" fruit


  • Watermelon


  • Fruits of various colors
Taiwan has diversified festivals and folk customs, which not only enable people to experience the joyful atmosphere of festivals, but also to know more about the humanistic belief and life wisdom of the locals. The celebration activities of Taiwan can be classified into traditional Chinese festivals, festivities of folk customs, sacrificial ceremonies of Taiwan aborigines, etc.

Festivities of Folk Customs

The festivities of folk customs deriving from religious activities or local conventions of Taiwan are rich in local beliefs and cultural features. Although each festivity varies in the developmental history, they mostly contain the meaning of praying for blessings, warding off disasters as well as reunion of the family. Moreover, the activity content of each festivity is rich in variety. Besides worshipping the gods and sacrificing the deceased, folk-custom performances are added, such as carrying a sedan chair, stilt-walking, "bajiajiang" (eight generals), "cheguzhen" (drum parade), dragon dance, lion dance, and so on and so forth, which make the festivities joyful and bustling.

"Sky Lanterns in the North, and Beehive Fireworks in the South"

Sky-lantern releasing in Pingxi of Taiwan is quite a splendid activity on the night of the Lantern Festival. When talking about the origin of the sky lantern in Pingxi, it can be traced back to the early years when the pioneers often got robbed and murdered in the remote mountainous area of Pingxi Township, Taipei County. To facilitate communication, the pioneers usually inform each other of their own safety by releasing a sky lantern. Having been passed down until now, the sky-lantern releasing in Pingxi has no longer assumed the function of communication, but has evolved into a sight-seeing activity on the night of the Lantern Festival and a symbol for tourists to pray for blessings or make a pledge to a deity.

The beehive fireworks in Wumiao, Yanshui of Tainan County are well-known home and abroad. It is said that during the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a rampant plague in and around Yanshui area, which made the local people almost impossible to live. To pray Lord Guan (Guan Yu) to show his omnipotence and save people from misery, the locals carried the statue of Lord Guan around the area for three consecutive days from January 13 to 15. Wherever the statue went, people shot off fireworks and firecrackers, hoping to eradicate the plague. It turned out that the plague disappeared and the area went back to peace and stability. To express their gratitude towards Lord Guan, the local people established that they would shoot off fireworks every year on the Lantern Festival, making Yanshui a nightless town on that night.

Mazu Statue Tour

Since the 17th century, Mazu has become goddess universally worshipped by Taiwan people after the goddess was carried along to be enshrined in Taiwan with her disciples and believers in southern Fujian Province. There are altogether 870 temples of Mazu in Taiwan. Every year on the birthday of Mazu in March of the lunar calendar, activities like sacrifice, pilgrimage, carrying Mazu statue around will be held in all places of Taiwan, among which the Mazu statue tour of the Zhenlan Temple in Dajia of Taizhong County enjoys the longest history and the grandest scale.

The pilgrimage activity of the Zhenlan Temple in Dajia is usually held aperiodically in March of the lunar calendar. Many wonderful temple fair activities will be added, including god-image puppets, troupe, embroidered banners, floats, dragon dance and lion dance etc which will be lasting for eight days and seven nights.

Burning King's Ship

Burning king's ship is one of the well-known folk-custom rituals along the southwest coast of Taiwan. The original intention of the ceremony was to send the god of plague to the sea, but now it has evolved into an activity of praying for safety and blessings. The Boat Burning Ritual in Donggang is the grandest one known throughout Taiwan. Apart from the temple fair activities, the ritual of burning king's ship on the last day is the climax of the whole sacrificing ceremony. The whole ceremony of "burning king's ship" in Donggang lasts eight days and seven nights, including a series rituals such as inviting the king, jumping over the fire, touring around, feasting the king and sending off the king, etc. The king's ship is built in imitation of ancient warships. The "sending off king" ritual will start in the wee hours accompanied by the sounds of firecrackers. The ship sails forward slowly, and then a big fire will be set on the ship (implying deporting the god of plague on the boat), which will leave together with the king who patrols for the heaven. It is to pray for blessings of the local people.

Sacrificial Ceremonies for Taiwan Aborigines

The Taiwan aborigines living in the forests or along coasts also frequently hold sacrificial ceremonies of various kinds to pray for the harvest of crops, fishery or hunting, such as harvest sacrifice, ancestral sacrifice, hunting sacrifice etc, to express their pious reverence. There are altogether twelve minority groups of Taiwan aborigines, and the variety of the beliefs and sacrificial activities make the culture there all the more diversified and of high appreciation value.

"Harvest Sacrifice" of the Amei People

"Harvest sacrifice" is the grandest activity of the Amei people. It is held annually between July and August. The most-often seen rituals in the harvest sacrifice include adult sacrifice, guest-greeting dance, harvest dance, cultivation dance, fishing sacrifice, and so on. The whole process includes three phases: greeting the spirit, feasting the spirit, and sending off the spirit. At the early years the sacrifice would last for eight to fifteen days with simple activities and the participants would be organized into different levels according to the age, women being not allowed to join in the sacrifice. In recent years the old customs and taboos have been changed slightly: the number of sacrificial days has been cut, the ritual simplified and competitive activities such as running, tug-of-war and archery etc have been added; and the tourists can also join in the activities to share the joyous moment.

"Ear-shooting Sacrifice" of the Bunong People

"Ear-shooting Sacrifice" is the most important ceremony of the Bunong people. It is held from the late April to the early May. The sacrifice consists of several major activities such as hunting, animal-ear shooting, pork roasting, roasted pork dividing, sacrifice of hunting gun, ceremony of feat awarding, sacrifice of witchery, etc. Traditionally, all adult males must go into the mountain to hunt before the sacrifice was held. The ears of the game would be cut off and hung on a wooden shelf or tree branch, and then all men in the village would shoot the ear with their arrows, while boys would be accompanied by their father or elder brother to practice their shooting skill so that they would be a good hunter one day. The Bunong people used to shoot deer ears to pray for the harvest of crops and hunting, but boar ears have gradually been used instead in recent years. More about Taiwan Folk Residence