Travel

Taiwan's off-shore islands offer unique scenery and culture

Taiwan's off-shore islands offer unique scenery and culture

| | 03 Jul 2015, 01:51 pm
Penghu, Taiwan, July 3: Being blessed with with nature's bounty-clear waters, blue skies and billions of shimmering stars-Taiwan has much to offer to the visitors especially with it offshore islands.

Located along the southeast coast of the Asian continent, Taiwan stands on the fault line where the Euro-Asian and Philippine continental plates meet.



This unique geographic location and frequent seismic activity not only created an extremely diversified topography and natural environment on Taiwan, but also resulted in the diverse characters of its off-shore islands.



Main offshore islands include Penghu, Ludao (Green Island), Lanyu (Orchid Island), Kinmen, Matzu, Turtle Island, and Little Liuqiu.



As their locations, topographical characteristics, and human activities differ; each has its own unique scenery and culture.

Therefore, each island offers something different to satisfy the various needs of visitors, such as sightseeing, snorkelling, or sport fishing.



The most famous of all off-shore islands is the Penghu archipelago which forms part of Taiwan’s offshore island group, situated in the straits that separate Taiwan from China.



Penghu is made up of 90 small islands with a combined coastline that stretches more than 320 kilometers.



Each season brings its own scenery, and rich natural and cultural resources can be found here.



The landscape here is characterised by basaltic rocks, coral reefs, sea-eroded formations and beaches, while the fishing culture and migratory birds add to gorgeous landscape of the area.



From the air some coral formations close to the surface of the water appear heart shaped, further adding to the romantic and dreamy quality of the islands.