Taiwan
“[…] It was the beauty of Formosa that first attracted me. I shall never forget that first glimpse that I caught of the
island as I passed it, going by steamer from Manili to Nagasaki. There it lay, in the light of the tropical sunrise, glowing
and shimmering like a great emerald, with an apparent vividness of green that I had never seen before, even in the tropics. An emerald on a turquoise bed. „
“Among the headhunters of Formosa” 1922”
J. McGovern, anthropologist
This tropical island in the Pacific encompasses a surprising variety of natural environments, along with a population of many different ethnicities. This population has managed to blend traditions from various cultures to create a new and unique identity. On the island, the languages and traditions of the local aboriginal people of Austro-Polynesian origin coexist and overlap with those of the Hokkien, Hakka, and Han people. There is a strong Japanese influence, and the passage of European colonizers – Dutch, Spanish, English – has left its traces in the local language and religion.
During our trip, we will find ourselves wandering among skyscrapers, along six-lane roads flanked by tiny street food stalls in the chaotic Asian-style metropolises, and then in the pristine nature, days of walking away from civilization. We will see immense oceanic sandy beaches and vertical rocky cliffs that rise hundreds of meters above the waves. We will explore hills covered in lush tropical vegetation, among fumaroles and natural hot springs, up to the rocky peaks of high mountains, sometimes even snow-covered, surrounded by low bushes of dwarf bamboo and Asian juniper.