Beyond the city limits of ultramodern Taipei lies a wild and majestic landscape.
Here’s how to plan an adventurous trip through Taiwan.
But nothing had prepared us for the sheer verticality of this landscape.
Visitors at a fumarole at Yangmingshan National Park.Credit:Sean Marc Lee
Hsu had recently checked off all three.
As we climbed, he explained that these slopes were the consequence of Taiwans relative newness as an island.
The green walls were thick with moss, flowers, and ferns.
From left: The famous red lanterns of Old Street, in the Taiwanese mountain town of Jiufen; the steep coastal cliffs of Qingshui.Sean Marc Lee
Has anyone ever fallen off the mountain?
I asked Hsu as I looked behind us.
The city runs like a river between the mountains, he explained.
From left: Qingshui Cliff, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean; the Long Gone Café, at Qixingtan beach.Sean Marc Lee
Taiwan is self-governing and democratic, but only a handful of nations recognize it as a sovereign state.
Its like Big Sur, Alex commented, but without the mansions.
I had a hard time holding the facts in my head.
From left: The lobby tearoom at the Liiko Hotel; rice noodle soup with squid for breakfast at the Gloria Manor hotel, in Kenting.Sean Marc Lee
They were being crowded out by the grandeur of the landscape looming around and above us.
The original earned itself the name Resignation Bridge soldiers ordered to cross its rickety ropes would often quit instead.
In the south of the island, we finally saw some horizontal lines in the landscape.
Lanterns in front of the Shengping Theater, in the town of Jiufen.Sean Marc Lee
Located right inside the park, it was renovated in an elegant mid-century style.
She pressed something into my hand: one of the trees seeds, the size of an egg.
Maybe itll grow where you live, she said to me, smiling.
The pool at the Mandarin Oriental, Taipei.Sean Marc Lee
A needlefish, he said.
Theyre delicious you might get one back in town, barbecued.
We didnt have the heart to eat the sad-eyed needlefish.
The Taroko Gorge Buluowan suspension bridge.Sean Marc Lee
Ko Brunch:This cafe opened late in 2022 just outside Kenting National Park.
It serves excellent breakfasts in the local style.
Try the shredded scallion pancake with white pepper and salt, topped with an egg.
Wading on the Hengchun Peninsula.Sean Marc Lee
Co-founder Kendra Tombolato(kendra@wildtaiwantravel.com) can organize a weeklong journey to Taiwans wild places.
A teahouse in the mountains near Jiufen.Sean Marc Lee
From left: An ice cream roll with peanut brittle shavings and cilantro at Jiufen’s night market; a 400-year-old looking-glass tree in Kenting National Forest.Sean Marc Lee
From left: The swinging chairs at the Wild Kids Bar, in Hengchun; a mud hut in Kenting National Forest.Sean Marc Lee
Nan Wan Xiao Bai, the house dog at Wild Kid Bar, in Hengchun.Sean Marc Lee