Taiwan, Taiwan — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Taiwan known for?

The province of Taiwan takes in almost the whole of the main island, the mountainous heart of Formosa and the plains along its western edge. Ridges define it. Its name reaches the wider world through the Mandarin entertainment that flows from Taipei, though within the island it stands above all for its high forested interior and the belt of cities strung along the lowland coast.

Where is Taiwan?

The province of Taiwan spreads across the main island in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the East China Sea washing its northern shore and the South China Sea its southern one. The sea wraps it on every side. Only sea separates the island from its neighbours, the mainland of the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines away to the south, so the whole region is coastal in character and looks outward in every direction across East Asia.

Inland, the ground rises into a long mountain spine. This spine runs the length of the eastern two-thirds of the main island, leaving the flatter western third to carry the farms, the roads, and the strung-out cities. Most of the region's people live on that western plain.

Taipei, New Taipei City, and Keelung gather at its northern tip, while the ridges climb steeply behind them toward the interior of Formosa. The province also takes in a scatter of smaller islands offshore, so its territory runs from high forested peaks down to the working harbours of the coast. From the peaks to the shore, the region draws both the wild interior and the dense lowland into one island together.

What is Taiwan like?

Culture in the province of Taiwan is anchored by Taipei, the centre of Mandarin music, film, and television on the island. The output is large. From the studios of the north, Mandarin pop reaches audiences well beyond Formosa, and the province carries much of the island's public life, its performances, its screens, and its urban crowds.

Away from the cities, the culture bends toward the land. The mountains shape it. The scenic sites of the interior, the forests of the eastern ranges, and the long Pacific shore draw people out of Taipei and New Taipei City into the high country, so life in the region moves between the dense northern plain and the quiet forested ridges of Formosa behind it.

What is the history of Taiwan?

The province of Taiwan is the administrative region that covers the island long known as Formosa. Its provincial form dates to 1945. Under the Republic of China, the region gathered the main island and its offshore isles into a single division, and the name Formosa has stayed with the land far longer than any of the borders drawn across it.

What is the climate of Taiwan?

The province of Taiwan shares the subtropical climate of the island, humid and warm across the western plain for much of the year. Elevation splits it. The forested ranges of the eastern two-thirds stay markedly cooler than the lowland around Taipei and Keelung, while the surrounding Pacific holds the coasts to mild, even temperatures.

How do you get to Taiwan?

Most arrivals to the province come by air, landing in the north near Taipei. The rest come by sea. Ferries and cargo work the harbours of Keelung and the western coast, and because this is an island region set in the northwestern Pacific, every route in must cross water from the direction of Japan, the Philippines, or the mainland beyond.