• Taroko of Taroko National Park comes from the name of Aboriginaltribe called Taroko of this region. Taroko Tribe has based the village at Tian Sian where is the terminal and the Taroko sightseeing of present. Area of Taroko National Park is 38 km for north and south, 41 km east and west, and gross area is 92000 hectare. It is a huge scale park.

• There was no island in Taiwan four million years ago. The Philippine Oceanic plate on the Pacific Ocean side had collided diagonally with the Eurasian Continental plate, and the edge of the Eurasian Continental plate was pushed up to become Taiwan Island. It is said that it keeps still uplifting by 0.5 centimeters every year, and the small earthquake by day several-time occurs. This upheaval is a reason why mountains of 3000m class tower from the coast soon. There are mountains near 4000m in Taiwan. This Taroko national park also has many mountains of 3000m class like Mt. Nanhu (3740m), and Mt. Cingshui, for example, soars in the height of 2407m only several ‡q from the coast. The marbles of this region have been made by taking in the big pressure shaken up and down in the orogenic movement with which both plates were faced for a long time, and the extraordinary big monolith etc.shows the result.

• The mountain range that is a steep gorge seemed not to allow persons to enter and to have set foot on for a long time only by the aborigine. The aborigine lives in the mountain area and the second largest tribe Atayal in the whole country lives in this region. The pamphlet of the Taroko national park tourist center is in here. Both men and women of Atayal tribe were tattooing with the face as a symbol of the tribe.

• 23 ‡q from this Taroko national park tourist center to Tian Siang is the sightseeing of the Taroko gorge. The sightseeing bus was tall and when the road, which was cut through marble rocks, seems to hit the ceiling of the rock. And when we see the other side, the cliff continues deeply. I felt fear because the charabanc goes on this rock road with faster speed.

• The Central Cross Island Highway made possible for people to come this area, which was made by 10,000 people with hammers and chisels spending 40 months after the war, where it was not allowed to come in for quite some time. It was truly hard work to cut the marble rocks by human power.

• Going : from Taipei domestic airport by the propeller aircraft to Hualien airport, 30 minutes. Return : by train, three hours. It parts about 40‡q from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to the domestic airport, and you should have a margin at the time of the change because it takes minimum 40 minutes by limousine and taxi. The taxi fare included the airport taxi extra charge from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to the domestic airport is 1200 NT$ and the return was 1000 NT$ from Taipei Station to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. The seat of the propeller aircraft was wider than expected from outside. The journey by train could see mountains that tower up suddenly from the coast and was fascinating. Because the seat is sequentially allocated, the reserved seat could not be arranged although the train has a reserved seat system. By the map, distance from Taipei to Hualien is 100‡q and trains pass is about 150km because it goes through the curved coast lines.

Taroko National Park tourist center	Guardian dog on foot of bright red bridge	First trail is called "Shakadang"	Walk on the pavement where the rock was cut through.
Comparison of green and red of pier	The river water flows from the Shakadang region in the upstream		Water is clear and blue
Liwu River means "mist hanging over the river" in Chinese		Water is poured into Pacific Ocean	Walk on the trail looking down the gorge
This blue; marble melts by the rapid stream and the acidic component makes water blue		Rock faces stand up on both sides
Water of transparently clear and blue. The rock is cut down and has rounded by the stream.
Water flows as clearly blue stream	Towering up really vertically	All rocks around here are marble	Rock pattern of hundred million years
All rocks in the opposite bank are the marbles. Each one of the wrinkle produces the marble through hundred million years of orogenic movement
2nd trail is "Swallow Grotto" as short as 200m	Space of the gorge is the narrowest with 16m	Small hole of rock wall is rock swallow's nest	Walk on the trail where marble was cut through
Because the swallow built the nest in the innumerable holes which was made by the erosion of wind and rain, then this area is called Swallow Grotto			A small waterfall is seen
The chief rock: Do you see as American Indian's profile?		Tian Sian is the end of Taroko sightseeing	Seven-storied pagoda
3rd trail is "Tunnel of nine turns"	This area is called Taroko gorge	Carp climbs up waterfall if there is enough water	"Tunnel of nine turn" as it is
Carriage way from the start, trail now with pedestrian only	The Central Cross Island Highway was made by 10,000 people and 40 months. It was tremendously difficult construction and 212 victims shows it.		Eternal Spring Shrine enshrines road construction victims

2005/07/01