High Mountains In Taiwan
Taiwan has a total of 268 mountains over 3,000 meters and the highest peak Yushan is 3,952 meters high. Mount Fuji stands 3,776 meters tall and is famous all over the world, but there are only 10－20 mountains above 3,000 meters in Japan. There are highlands in the UK but no mountains more than 3,000 meters. The Lord of the Rings took its panorama in New Zealand, but New Zealand has just more than 20 mountains over 3,000 meters and the highest peak Cook is 3,744 meters high.
Because Taiwan is located at the junction of the Eurasian plate and the Philippine Sea plate, the crust is crushed to form this island due to the collision of the two plates about 6 million years ago. Taiwan is 394 km(245mi) long, 144 km(89 mi) wide and has an area of 35,883 sq km(13,855 sq mi). Taiwan is so young and the crushing from this two plants is still ongoing so there are so many earthquakes, hot springs, and terrains here.
When you go around this island, you may see mountains, hills, basins, plains, and tablelands. Mountain is the most extensive and accounts for almost half of Taiwan about 46.73%. More than two-thirds of the island is occupied by mountains and hills so Taiwan has one of the highest densities of tall mountains in the world.
Finishing climbing Top 100 Peaks has become a must-have-challenge in a lifetime for mountain climber in Taiwan.
There are five major mountain ranges that almost run from north to south in Taiwan. These mountains are mostly covered with forests. There are many interesting plants and animals in these forests. When you travel across Taiwan over the mountain roads, the scenery is very beautiful.
In the middle part is the Central Mountain Range. It extends from Su’ao in Yilan County to Eluanbi at the southern tip and has a total length of about 340 km. It has taken the past one million years for the Central Mountain Range to grow up about 0.5 to 1.0 cm each year.
The Yushan Range faces the south of Central Mountain Range on the east and is separated by the Qishan River from the Alishan Range on the west. The Yushan Range spans over Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Nantou County. It has a total length of about 180 km and with the first peak Yushan which is 3,952 meters high. It is suitable for family to climb the Yushan. I met an eight-year-old child once on the mountain road and he just finished climbing the peak. This activity has also become a must-have-challenge in a lifetime for sporty people in Taiwan.
The Xueshan Range, also known as the Snow Mountain Range, is the most northern in Taiwan. It faces the Central Mountain Range on the southeast. It extends from Santiao Chiao to the north coast of Zhuoshui River at Xinyi Township in Nantou County and has a total length of about 260 km. The tallest peak of Xueshan Range is Xueshan Main Peak (Snow Mountain), which has a height of 3,886 m (12,749 ft). Shei-Pa National Park is located around the peaks of Xueshan and Dabajianshan and also named from the first word of these two peaks. You will experience a very wonderful trip when climbing Xueshan Main Peak in snow season.
The Alishan Range is separated by the Qishan River from the Yushan Range, the tallest range in Taiwan on the east of the Alishan Range. The Alishan Range is located from Lugu Township in Nantou County to Jiguan Hill in Kaohsiung and has a total length of about 250 km and the average tall is about 2,500 meters. The highest peak of the Alishan Range is Datashan, which has a height of 2,663 m (8,737 ft). There is a famous Taiwanese song called “Alishan de Guniang” which is about a girl in the Alishan mountains. The name Ali Shan seems to be taken from the word “Alit”, which in several Taiwanese indigenous languages means “ancestor mountain”.
The Coastal Mountain Range is the last formed one of Taiwan’s five major mountain ranges and situated on the eastern coast. It spans the border between Hualien County and Taitung County and has a total length of about 150 km. It is part of the Philippine Sea plate and was uplifted by the collision and compression with the Eurasian plate. You can see the testimony to the fact Taiwan is located at the junction of these two plates on the Huatung Valley, the result of the collision of two tectonic plates and at the west end of the range. The tallest peak of the range is Xingangshan, which stands 1,682 m (5,518 ft) tall.
