TAROKO NATIONAL PARK

Since 1989, the Taroko cliffs, the mountains surrounding them and the ecosystem they shelter, have been classified as a National Park and are therefore protected: no construction is allowed there. Fortunately, the landlocked nature of this region of Taiwan has allowed this natural wonder not to suffer from human activity. Although the Aboriginal peoples had already explored the region, one of the first Westerners to visit and admire its splendour was the British photographer John Thomson. He explored Taiwan in 1871 and offered a beautiful description of the Taroko Gorge: "We stopped to admire the unspeakable beauty of this mountain gorge and to take a photograph of it, deeply regretting that the sensitized plate could only reproduce the shades of light and shadow, without any of the varied colours that would show the rocks, mosses, climbing plants, masses of foliage among which the rays of the brilliant sun were playing with their bright or dark shades. "Proof that already the twilight light in Taroko was dazzling the visitors. The 37,000 ha park also stands out because of the fauna it shelters: no less than 34 species of mammals such as the Formosa macaque, the black bear or the leopard cat, 144 species of birds including the famous Formosa blue magpie... In other words, the ecosystem of the place is remarkable, not to mention that Taroko is unique of its kind since it is the only place in the world where marble cliffs of such importance, reaching hundreds of meters, rise. If the Hualien region is inhabited mainly by the friendly tribe, Taroko also has representatives of the atayal tribe identifiable - less now - by their facial tattoos. The first representatives of the tribe, originally from central Taiwan, did not arrive until the beginning of the last century. They then took the old Hohuan Trail, built in 1914 and linking the west and east of the country. Some sections are still preserved. Before the 20th century, the gorge could only be reached by the Suhua path dating back to 1874. Nevertheless, although the construction of the Hohuan Road opened up the region, it was not until 1960 that the site was opened to all thanks to the construction of the central transinsular road. Starting in 1956, soldiers bulldozed their way through the marble cliffs finally linking the east and west coasts.