Insights From An Expat In Taiwan

Matt Gibson

12 years ago

Welcome to the final edition of our Earth Day Series which has featured some of the most inspiring locations on the planet.

In this edition Matt Gibson shares images from his time as an expat on the beautiful island of Taiwan. A state in east Asia it has seen great change over the last few decades, it’s culture and heritage now inspiring many to visit its shores.

Travelling perpetually I seldom have the opportunity to put down roots, however this photo essay inspires the desire to live permanently as an expat abroad.

Earth Day in focus – Taiwan

Taiwan is a wonderful place for hiking, especially the northeast coast where the gorges are especially deep and spectacular

The first Portuguese sailors to visit Taiwan dubbed it Ilha Formosa, The Beautiful Island. This was not an exaggeration.

Jump forwards a couple of centuries and all the same natural beauty of the white sand beaches, jagged mountains, lush jungle, and smooth deep gorges remains.

What has changed is the culture. Taiwan is home to a unique culture, heavily influenced by the Chinese heritage of many citizens, as well as by a period of Japanese occupation, aboriginal culture, its own folk-heritage, and a staggeringly rapid progression from an agrarian to manufacturing to service-based economy.

Taiwan is home to the tallest mountain in East Asia, several kinds hot springs that can be found in only one or two other places on earth, a patch of burning ground, a pool of burning water, an insanely dangerous fireworks festival, delectable sweet sausages, amazing dumplings, and some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

I lived in Taiwan for six years and still feel homesick for the beautiful island. Here are some of my favourite photos of my adopted home.

While hiking, you discover temples in the strangest places

Taroko Gorge is Taiwan’s most spectacular gorge. This trail, for obvious reasons, has been dubbed The Vertigo Trail by the English-speaking hiking community

The southern tip of Taiwan is home to a geological oddity called Jialeshuei (which means Happy Waters). A portion of sandstone and other odd rock juts out of the the island where it has been whipped into amazing shapes and textures by the vicious winds and waves

Just north of Jialeshuei is another unique geological oddity — a patch of burning ground with several constantly burning fires (like the one pictured) rising from the dead earth

Every four years a festival is held in Donggang, in the middle of the island. A ship is built and then burned to ferry ghosts to the afterlife. This ship was 15m (about 45 feet) long. That’s a lot of ghosts

Sweet pork sausages are a unique and delicious local delicacy that can be found nearly everywhere

The dumplings, however, were my favourite food

Longshan Temple in Taipei is perhaps the busiest temple in the country, and is definitely with a visit (especially around dusk when the after-work worshippers show up). Taipei hotels range from sleek international towers in the Xinyi business district to charming boutique guesthouses within walking distance of the temple itself in the Wanhua neighbourhood, making it easy to build an itinerary around the city’s spiritual and cultural highlights.

Like nearby Vietnam and The Philippines, Taiwan has it’s share of white- and beige-sand beaches

One of Taiwan’s best kept secrets is the great surfing

Taiwan’s coast, however, is varied with sections like this one where lava rock has formed kilometres of caverns, caves, and vistas

The same lava rock helped to form the semi-famous Vase Rock

The northern coast has two areas similar to Jialeshuei in the south, where the unique geography have created an alien-like appearance. The best known is Yehliu, pictured above

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Are you an expat? Perhaps you’ve experienced the beauty of Taiwan for yourself? Share your comments with me below.