Taroko Regent
Tienhsiang bridges
Map of Taroko National Park

Marble and granite, Taroko Gorge (太魯閣峽谷) stretches 19.5 kilometers from Tienhsiang (天祥) to Taroko (太魯閣) along the course of the Liwu River (立霧溪) just north of the east-coast city of Hualien (花蓮). Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園), established in 1986 as the third of Taiwan's six national parks. includes 27 of Taiwan's 100 peaks reaching above 3,000 meters (9,850 feet), including Nanhu Mountain (南湖大山) at 3,742 meters (12,275 feet), the Chilai range (奇箂連蜂) and Mt. Hohuan (合歡山), Taiwan's only ski resort.

Eternal Spring Shrine 長春詞

Near the eastern end of the gorge, Eternal Spring Shrine (長春詞), is dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives building the Central Cross-Island Highway (中橫公路). A natural spring runs under the shrine above the Liwu River (立霧溪) at the bottom of a vertical cliff. Completed in 1960 the road was cut from sheer marble at a cost of 450 lives.

Visit Kimi Sibal in Taroko

Kimi's wife
Marlene signs the guest log

Waking up in Tienhsiang (天祥), Philip called Kimi Sibal to arrange a meeting for lunch. Kimi, a Truku (太魯閣), works for Asia Cement and maintains an impressive visual collection of the Truku people focusing on the Atayal (泰雅族) facial tattoos of the elder women, of which only a handful still survive. This important cultural practice was forcibly ended by the Japanese during their occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. Taroko means "magnificent and splendid" in the language of Truku, the aboriginal tribe who live in the area, Taiwan's 12^th recognized indigenous people.

Kimi's friend, who runs a workshop polishing marble, offers us a traditional meal of Truku tribal dishes, including bird's nest fern (山蘇) Asplenium nidus and "onion thorn tree" tea (刺蔥) Zanthozylum ailanthoides. The Atayal people (泰雅族) crossed the spine of the Central Mountain Range (中央山脈) from the west and settled on terraces in the Liwu River (立霧溪) valley around the end of the seventeenth century.

Pulowan 布洛灣

Pulowan (布洛灣) meaning "echo" in the Trukul language, once an Atayal village located on a plateau above the gorge, now hosts an exhibition hall showcasing traditional Atayal life, including demonstrations of traditional weaving techniques.

Allison and Sarah

Baiyang Waterfalls Trail 白楊步道

The Baiyang waterfalls trail is an easy flat hike starting about a kilometer up the road from Tienhsiang. The walk starts with a long straight tunnel through the mountain and a sign marking the beginning of this trail. There are many tunnels along the 2-kilometer walk. At the end of the trail you come to the spectacular three stage Baiyang Waterfalls, before the final Water Curtain Tunnel - a dark tunnel which in addition to dumping cold water on travelers requires walking in the shin deep stream running through the tunnel.

back at the Taroko Regent