Taiwan｜Kenting National Park

#Overseas Travel #Taiwan #Natural Travel Kenting National Park is located in southern Taiwan. It was established in 1982. It is the first national park in Taiwan and a great place for outdoor activities such as sunshine, beaches, mountain climbing, and ecology. Drive south from Kaohsiung for an hour and you will enter the Kenting area. The Kenting area refers to the area sandwiched between two capes in the south of Taiwan: Maobitou and Eluanbi. Walking along Kenting Road, the national park’s landmark, Dajianshan, will appear on the left. After passing the National Park Archway, you will arrive at the foot of Dajian Mountain. This ranch has a history of nearly a hundred years and belongs to the Hengchun Branch of the Livestock Bureau. The vast ranch is full of grazing cattle and horses. Dajianshan is the landmark of Kenting National Park. It is 318 meters above sea level. Although it is not very high, the Dajianshan standing out from the surrounding flat land is very eye-catching. Dajianshan is a typical "foreign rock mass" on the Hengchun Peninsula, that is, a mountain mass moved from other places. Similar terrain can be found in the Hengchun Peninsula and the Coastal Mountains. In the Kenting area, this striking mountain can be seen from almost anywhere as long as the view is good. Viewed from different angles, it presents different appearances. The uniquely shaped Dajianshi Mountain, after erosion, has formed a strange sight with steep slopes on three sides. People therefore describe Dajianshan as "a mountain looks like a ridge when viewed from the front and a peak when viewed from the side." Due to the steepness of the mountain, climbing is no longer allowed. Going up the mountain, you can also visit the Kenting Forest Recreation Area, also known as Kenting Park, which preserves large areas of pristine high-altitude coral reef vegetation and hard-to-form limestone caves. Kenting Forest Recreation Area is the first tropical botanical garden in Taiwan. In 1906, the Japanese introduced tropical plants to Taiwan to study their medical and economic effects. After the Japanese left, it was renamed Hengchun Tropical Botanical Garden. Part of the garden is now designated as the Kenting Forest Recreation Area, and the rest is used for research. The recreation area is located on the oldest "Kenting Limestone Terrace" on the Hengchun Peninsula, 300 meters above sea level. The entire area is covered with coral reefs, which are more than 100 meters thick. They were originally coral reefs that grew in shallow seas hundreds of thousands of years ago. They were lifted into limestone plateaus due to crustal movement and compression. Groundwater gradually dissolves and expands along the cracks in the limestone to form "limestone caves", in which stalagmites, stone pillars and other bell-shaped stones are also formed. In addition, coral reef rocks sometimes have steep and narrow cracks, which give a "canyon" feel and form geographical features such as a line of sky. The forests here are mainly composed of high-altitude coral reef vegetation, and under the natural environment of temperature, rainfall and topography, they also have the ecological phenomena of tropical rainforest and tropical monsoon forest. Due to the special composition of the coral reef and the thin soil, only certain plants that can adapt can grow, resulting in high-altitude coral reef flora; Kenting has a hot climate and abundant rainfall, and is a tropical environment. Unique ecological phenomena of tropical rainforests can also be seen, such as banyan tree veins, aerial roots and buttress roots; Taiwan is also affected by the cold and dry air from Siberia in winter. Winter is a distinct dry season, and some tree species will also shed their leaves to adapt, which is a characteristic of tropical monsoon forests. Kenting Forest Recreation Area combines three forest characteristics and nurtures a rich and diverse natural ecology. Adjacent to the Kenting Forest Recreation Area is Sheding Nature Park, which has a variety of topographical landscapes and rich and diverse flora and fauna. It is a butterfly-watching spot in Kenting National Park and a bird-watching spot during the migratory season, where you can see flocks of eagles migrating southward. There are neatly built natural trails in Sheding Park, which were built from grazing paths. Walking on the trails, you can enjoy the fun of hiking. There are also three pavilions set up at high places in Sheding Park, from where one can overlook the magnificent Pacific Ocean and the features of the surrounding areas. If you stand on the Hanbi Pavilion and look out toward the prairie, you can appreciate the magical power of nature and the vegetation landscape formed by the wind. Because Sheding Park is located on the windward side of the northeast monsoon, Taiwan is subject to strong monsoons in winter. The influence of the monsoon over the years and the special terrain changes have created shrubs on the windward side and coral reef forests on the leeward side, as well as "wind-cut trees", which are like bonsai carved by nature. #Overseas Travel# I miss you so much