Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Terror and Martial Law periods (1949-87). The park site is a former prison, sardonically
referred to as
Oasis Villa
(
Shānzhuāng
), where those at odds with the KMT were sent.
Visitors are welcome to walk around the prison area and inspect the cells where former
prisoners such as Taiwanese writer Bo Yang (author of
The Ugly Chinaman
) once spent
years. Parts of the compound now house a museum and an exhibition hall dedicated to
the survivors and those who died.
It's a sombre place, of course, so visit here first and devote the rest of the trip to more
cheerful pursuits.
Little Great Wall
VOLCANIC CRATER
(Xiǎo chángchéng)
Green Island has some intriguing volcanic-rock formations. The 300m-
long promontory called Little Great Wall is the northern wall of the crater of the volcano
that formed Green Island. It leads to a pavilion where you can see
Haishenping
(
Hǎishēn
Píng
), the crater bay.
Across the bay is
Sleeping Beauty Rock
(Shuì Měirén)
, one of the formations that actu-
ally does resemble its name (once you figure out the neck, the rest of the figure will fall
into place).
Kuanyin Cave
TAOIST SHRINE
(Guānyīn Dòng)
The underground Kuanyin Cave is dedicated to Guanyin (the Goddess of
Mercy) and features a stalagmite wrapped with a red cape. Legend has it that during the
Qing dynasty a fisherman became lost at sea and a fiery red light came down from the
sky and led him to safety in the cave.
The fisherman believed the light to be the Goddess Guanyin and the stalagmite in the
cape to resemble the form of the goddess. The cavern remains a sacred spot on the island
and people come here from all over Taiwan to pay their respects.
Yutzu Lake
SCENIC AREA
(Yòuzǐ Hú)
Not a lake but a sheltered cove, Yutzu Lake is the site of the first village on the
island. Some old stone houses still remain and nearby is a sea-eroded cave worth a look.
Green Island Lighthouse
LIGHTHOUSE
(Lùdǎo Dēngtǎ)
The 33m-high Green Island Lighthouse was built in 1937 under the Japan-
ese after the American ship
President Hoover
struck a reef and sank.
Pahsien & Lunghsia Caves
CAVE