.Taroko National Park is located in the east of Taiwan.It lies across 3 adminstrative areas.Hualien county, Natou county and Taichung county. Taiwan Central Cross-Island Highway crosses the park which is at the easten end of the highway.Both geological uplifting and erosion by Liwu River have formed walls hundreds of meters high, a phenomenon seldom found elsewhere in the world. In addition, the megnificent mountions such as the dramatic Mount Cilai and Nanhu.Taroko national park encompassing both sea and land.Being it breathtaking gorge , misty forest and magnificent waterfalls, the natural park offers you a variety of experiences.Half of the park region is above 2,000 meters sea level.Of the 100 peaks in TAIWAN,27peaks can be fornd within the park. They have been of special intereswt to mountain climbers and ecologists alike. The Hehuan Mountains are situated at a turning point of the Central mountains' main ridge .They are characterized by landforms that feature a steep slpoe on one side and a gentle one on the other. The rigion is affected by the converging air currents of the Liwu River and Lanyang River,resulting in raining season and winter snows.The annual rainfall is 3400 mm and the average temperature is 5c.Mount Nanhu standing at an elevation of 3742 meters, is the tallest peak in the Nanhu mountain region. The area is mostly comprised of gneiss and slate with occasional thin layers sandstone and limestone in certain parts.The Chingshiu cliff ,the spectacular scenery is listed in the eight scenic spots of TAIWAN.The cliff consisting of marble,green schist and gneiss.The cultural heritage of Taroko National Park can be divided into three main categories:prehistoric sites; the culture of Taroko aborigines and transportion systems of the past and apresent.Accroading to archeologist's research ,human traces of a stone age lever dting back to 3000 years ago have been found in the area.The Taroko tribe is one of the Taiwan's 13 tribes. The Taroko developed from the Taya tribe. Taroko people, who then lived near the upper reaches of the Jhuoshuei River, found broad wilderness to the east of the Central Mountain Ranges. They then crossed the mountains and settled in the valley of the Liwu River and its tributaries, where the sites of 79 old Taroko villages have already been found. After 250 years of separation from the taya; the Taroko language has developed differently. The Taroko tribe was officially-approved in 2004 January and became the 12th indigenous tribe in Taiwan. The Taroko people's weaving skill was highly developed. Both men and women wore homemade gunny with tea-brown stripes on a white background, and also worer ornaments on their heads, ears, necks, and feet. The craft skills of the Taroko tribe (weaving, gunny spinning, working with wood and rattan, and net knotting) was among the best in Taiwan. Taroko people usually chose small terraces in the mountains on which to establish their villages.
The Su-Hua Highway , more than one hundred years old, is the oldest road in the park. The path along the spectacular and magnificent Cingshui Cliff from Heren to Taroko was built during the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911); it was later rebuilt and enlarged by the Japanese and became a highway. In 1932 the tunnel works were finished and the complete road was formally opened. People called it the Beach Highway then, but today it is called the Su-Hua Highway . Adjacent to the precipitous cliff, some sections of the footpath have been damaged and can be seen only with difficulty.
The Central Cross-Island Highway is not only the most famous road in the park, but is also a national scenic highway of the first magnitude. The construction was inaugurated in July 1956 . From the Taroko National Park entrance to Dayuling, a distance of 78 kilometers, the eastern section of the highway winds its way through 38 tunnels in the Central Mountain Range by way of the Eternal Spring Shrine (dedicated to the memory of the workers who lost their lives), Sipan, and Jinheng Bridge. then on to Taichung county, on the west coast. To travel along the Central Cross-Island Highway visitors do not need to apply for a permit. N0 visit to Taiwan is complete without trip to Troko Gorge.
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