TAROKO NATIONAL PARK

Since 1989, the Taroko cliffs, as well as the surrounding mountains and the ecosystem they shelter, have been classified as a National Park and are therefore protected: no construction is formally authorized. Fortunately, the landlocked nature of this region has meant that this natural wonder has not suffered from human activity. Although aboriginal peoples had already explored the region, one of the first Westerners to visit and admire its splendor was British photographer John Thomson. He explored Taiwan in 1871, and offered a fine description of the splendid Taroko Gorge: "We stopped to admire the unspeakable beauty of this mountain gorge, and to take a photograph of it, regretting deeply that the sensitized plate could only reproduce the tints of light and shade, without any of the variegated colors which dappled the rocks, the mosses, the vines, the masses of foliage among which the rays of the brilliant sun were playing" Proof that the light of dusk at Taroko was already dazzling visitors. The 37,000-hectare park is also remarkable for the fauna it shelters: no fewer than 34 species of mammal, including the Formosa macaque, black bear, Sika deer, Formasan marmot and leopard cat, 144 species of bird, including the famous Formosa blue magpie and Formosa eagle? Taroko is also unique in that it is the only place in the world where marble cliffs reach hundreds of metres in height. While the Hualien region is predominantly inhabited by the ami tribe, Taroko is also home to representatives of the atayal tribe, identifiable - less so now - by their facial tattoos. The first members of this tribe, originally from central Taiwan, only arrived at 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 ^twentieth century, the only way to reach the gorge was via the Suhua trail, which dates back to 1874. Although the construction of the Hohuan road opened up the region, it wasn't until 1960 that the site was opened up to all thanks to the construction of the Central Transinsular Highway. From 1956 onwards, the military bulldozed through the marble cliffs, finally linking the east and west coasts.