The Baiyue (

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

: 臺灣百岳;

Pīnyīn Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: Táiwān bǎiyuè) is a list of one hundred mountain peaks in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. They were chosen by a group of prominent Taiwanese hikers from mountain peaks known at the time to be over 3,000 meters in height. The selection criteria included uniqueness, danger, height, beauty and prominence. Preference was also given to peaks already named and those with triangulation points. As such, "Top" does not refer strictly to the highest peaks by elevation, but rather peaks most worth hiking. The list was intended to promote enthusiasm for high-altitude hiking in Taiwan. In the resulting list of one hundred peaks, 69 peaks were in the

Central Mountain Range The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. Due to this separation, connecting between the west and east is not very convenient. The tallest peak of th ...

, the largest of Taiwan's five principal mountain ranges, while 19 were in the

Xueshan Range The Xueshan Range is a mountain range in northern Taiwan. It faces the Chungyang Range on the southeast. The tallest peak of Xueshan Range is Xueshan ("Snowy Mountain"), which has a height of . Shei-Pa National Park is located around the peak ...

, and 12 were in the

Yushan Range The Yushan Range, formerly the and also known as the JadeMountain Range, is a mountain range in the central-southern region of Taiwan Island. It spans Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Nantou County. It faces the Central Mountain Range on the ...

. The Alishan Range and Coastal Mountain Range, being below 3,000m, have no peaks in the list of Baiyue.

History

has one of the highest densities of tall mountains in the world. To promote mountain hiking, the Taiwan Alpine Association began developing a list of top 100 peaks for Taiwan. Wen-An Lin, after a 1971 crossing of the

, set about drawing up the list. After extensive consultation with Ching-Chang Tsai, Tian-Cheng Hsing, Tung-San Ting and other prominent hikers of the day, the list of Baiyue was finalized. Upon completion of the list, hiking the Baiyue immediately became one of the primary goals of avid hikers in Taiwan. Finishing the Baiyue is no easy task, however. For aspiring Baiyue hikers, the Five Greats, Three Spires, and One Ogre (

Hanzi Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

: ), whose unique beauty best represents the grandeur of Taiwan's high mountains, became a popular starting point. Other popular sets of peaks include the Harsh Ten and Four Beauties (Hanzi: ). Many begin with the more easily accessible peaks in the Hehuanshan area. There are actually over 260 mountain peaks over 3,000 meters in Taiwan, many of which were not listed in the Baiyue, but nonetheless impressive. Therefore, some criticism remains over the inclusion of certain mountain peaks on the list, and the exclusion of others, such as Chushan in the Dongjunshan Chain, and Mutelebushan near Xueshan's North Peak. Some have argued that these peaks should be in the Baiyue, while peaks such as Jupenshan, Lushan, Nanhubeishan, Shenmazhenshan, Jianshan, and Bulakesangshan, should be taken off the list. Also, when resurveying was carried out long after the Baiyue list was completed, it was found that Liushunshan and Lushan were under 3,000m. However, as the Baiyue already enjoyed such widespread acceptance, they were not removed from the list and remain there to this day.

Complete listing of Baiyue

The following is a complete listing of the 100 Taiwanese mountain peaks commonly known as the Baiyue:

Notes

Designated lists

Alternative names and other remarks

References

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