Lishan

Looking through the photos on my computer I recently discovered these pictures I'd taken on various trips to Lishan (梨山) and its surrounding area over the past few years. There were so many that I decided they were worth putting on a seperate posting. Lishan (梨山), which translates as Pear Mountain, is a farming community high in the Central Mountain Range (中央山脈). It's surrounded by beautiful scenery and is a great place to buy various fresh fruits, such as apples, peaches and of course pears.

The town of Lishan (梨山).

The sun coming up over the mountains provided this great photo opportunity.

Lishan (梨山) is full of wonderful colours in autumn.

The Deji Reservoir (德基水庫).

This is national highway number eight which used to allow quick access to Lishan (梨山) from the hot spring resort town of Guguan (谷關). However, this road was destroyed by the 7.3 magnitude earthquake which hit Central Taiwan on September 21st, 1999. For those wishing to travel to Lishan (梨山) from the west, the only option is the much longer route via Hehuan Mountain (合歡山) and Tayuling (大禹嶺). Tourism in the area has therefore suffered. The road was reopened a few years ago, only to be destroyed once again by a typhoon a few months later.

You can see the new surface of the road which had just been laid before the typhoon struck. This engineer told us that the damage was so extensive that it'd take at least a couple of years before the road would be repaired. As I write this in May 2008, the road is still closed!

An outlet from the Deji Reservoir (德基水庫).

The following pictures were taken on an alternative, infrequently used route into Lishan (梨山). This route begins on the Central Cross Highway (中橫) just after Wushe (霧社) if you're travelling from Puli (埔里). It then heads north through some really spectacular mountain scenery before dropping down into Lishan (梨山) on the road you can see in the picture below. The condition of this road is poor, so it's probably wise not to attempt it after heavy rainfall. Just before you get to Lishan (梨山), it's also possible to see Chiang Kai Shek's (蔣介石) country retreat.

After spending the night at Lishan (梨山). I woke up to find the mountains shrouded in what I thought was mist. It later transpired that this "mist" was in fact smoke from a forest fire on the road from Lishan (梨山) to Tayuling (大禹嶺).

The little town of Nanshan (南山) on national highway number 7 between Qilan (棲蘭) and Wuling Farm (武陵農場) is surrounded by cabbage farms.

The forested mountains near Wuling Farm (武陵農場).

Sunset over Lishan (梨山).