Beautiful, well off the beaten path for most Western travellers and as chock-full of culture and history per square kilometre as you’re likely to find in East Asia, Taiwan’s outer islands abound with opportunities for those intrepid enough to make the trip.
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Penghu (Pénghú), also known as the Pescadores, is famous for its beautiful beaches, glorious temples and a plethora of traditional Chinese-style homes which are surrounded by walls made from coral. Penghu is famous for another thing as well; though the weather in the summer is hot and beautiful, in winter and spring the archipelago is [...]
The two largest of Penghu’s outer islands are Chimei and Wang’an. Both are south of the main island and have boat and air service to Makung. Third largest is Chipei, north of Paisha, which has some great beaches.
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If you’re looking for an ‘off the beaten path’ experience, look no further; you can’t get much farther from Taiwan on an ROC visa than here. Matsu (Mǎzǔ) lies directly off the coast of mainland China’s Fujian province, and its people – though nominally schooled in Mandarin – speak a dialect mostly unintelligible to speakers [...]
The Yami people call their island home ‘Pongso No Tao’ or ‘Island of the People’ in their native tongue. The Taiwanese call it Lanyu (Lányǔ, Orchid Island), naming it after the flowers that have almost been picked to near extinction. A volcanic, mountainous island covered with a carpet of tropical rainforest, Lanyu lies about 65km [...]
Along with Matsu, Kinmen (Jīnmén; formerly known as Quemoy) occupies a unique place in modern history. It’s a small chunk of Fujian province occupied by ROC forces and administered from Taiwan. Lying only 2km off the coast of mainland China, Kinmen is an odd remnant from the bitter civil war between communist and Nationalist forces, [...]
Nangan too boisterous for you? A quick ferry brings you to Beigan (BÄ›igÄn, Peikan), which boasts spectacular coastal scenery, fine beaches and wonderfully preserved Fujian architecture that you do more than visit, you can actually live there.
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