Taiwan's National Park System

Much of Wednesday was devoted to visiting national parks and learning about the tourism industry here in Taiwan. Pictured above is the Taroko Gorge on the eastern coast of the island.

There are lots of extensive tunnels and bridges. As you can see, the tunnels here aren't quite like like the Bobby Hopper, but they're required in a lot of places, especially along the east coast. Many are one lane wide and some are a mile long. Here's a video of the drive along a part of that road above (I'm not sure what's wrong with the sound, but the driver is explaining what we're seeing -- it's not audible). Taiwan is working on a superhighway to link Taipei on the north to the other cities on the southern end of the island, which is controversial because many of the residents don't want to disturb the natural beauty of the island. Right now, the most convenient way to get around the island is by air (it's a 30 minute flight from Taipei to Tainan on the southern end of Taiwan), and there is high speed rail along the western coast. The terrain is so mountainous, it takes about six hours to travel by car from one end of Taiwan to the other, even though it's only about a 200 mile trip.



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Here are a few pictures I've taken but haven't had the chance to post. The most common mode of transportation here is by far the scooter. Here's something different: an elevator ride down from the top of Taipei 101 (fastest elevator in the world).

Finally, here's a good editorial from Wednesday's Taipei Times: Time for the US to rethink its Taiwan policy