Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
palanquins down the streets bearing local gods and goddesses, accompanied by
singing, dancing and plenty of fireworks.
Some of the beliefs about turtles come from ancient Chinese myths about the
reptiles being special conduits between heaven and earth and capable of divining
the future through marks on their shells. The turtle, along with the dragon, chimera
and phoenix, were considered the four sacred beasts in the ancient times and they
were thought to possess magical powers.
Unfortunately, there are more rice-cake turtles in Penghu now than the real
things. Once dispersed throughout Taiwan's coastal regions, sea-turtle nesting
sites are now found only on Penghu, Lanyu and the Taitung coastline.
For more on the plight of the green sea turtle and efforts to revive its numbers
visit the Green Turtle Tourist Conservation Centre (
Click here
)
on Wang'an Island.
Sights
Some call Penghu the Hawaii of Asia, but how many temples does Hawaii have? We lost
count of how many we saw in Penghu, but we think the person-to-temple ratio is 10 to
one. Travelling around Penghu you'll undoubtedly stumble across some. On the wide,
flat plains the huge, colourful complexes are a bit hard to miss. Inside, listen for the often
cacophonous chattering of birds (mostly buntings and swallows) - something rarely
heard in temples on Taiwan proper.
Erkan Old Residences
TRADITIONAL VILLAGE
Set on emerald slopes above the blue sea,
Erkan Village
(
Èrkǎn Gǔ Cuò
) oozes charm from
every coral wall, stone walkway and brick facade. The 50 or so houses are built in a
melange of southern Fujian, Western and Japanese styles, and they mostly hail from the
early 20th century. Residents on the main street keep their front gates open and invite
visitors to check out their unique homes and possibly sample a few local treats.
Guoyeh Prismatic Basalt
SCENIC AREA
(Dàguǒyè Zhùzhuàn Xuánwǔyán)
Just down the road towards the coast is the Guoyeh Pris-
matic Basalt, a beautiful example of the basalt cliffs formed from the cooling lava that
created Penghu.
Whale Cave
SCENIC AREA
(Jīngyú Dòng)
The western coast of Hsiyu is visually dramatic, full of steep cliffs, basalt
formations, shallow coves and headlands. Whale Cave is a hole in a rock that kinda-sorta
