The Chiaming Lake (;
Bunun：''Cidanuman Buan'' (mirror of the moon)) is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Haiduan Township,
Taitung County
Taitung County (; Mandarin pinyin: ''Táidōng Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Tâi-tang-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Thòi-tûng-yen''; Paiwan: ''Valangaw'';lit:Eastern part of Taiwan) is the third largest county in Taiwan, located primarily on the island' ...
,
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 ...
. It is the second highest lake area in Taiwan.
Name
In
Bunun language
The Bunun language () is spoken by the Bunun people of Taiwan. It is one of the Formosan languages, a geographic group of Austronesian languages, and is subdivided in five dialects: Isbukun, Takbunuaz, Takivatan, Takibaka and Takituduh. Isbukun, ...
, Chiaming Lake is called "cidanuman buan", meaning "Mirror of the moon"; in Taiwan, it is traditionally referred as "Angel's teardrop" or, due to its deep blue color, "God's lost sapphire".
History
The lake was formed by
glacial movement during the
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
. The forest authority closed the mountain area for maintenance and restoration works on 10 December 2014 until 31 March 2015. On 5 January 2018, the lake was closed for visitors and will be opened again on 1 April 2018 to allow the natural vegetation restoration of the area around the lake.
Geography
This oval-shaped lake is located along the Southern Cross-Island Highway. The lake surface is 120 meters long and 80 meters wide at an elevation of 3,310 meters. It is surrounded by emerald green
forest plantation
A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...
and wildlife.
The area surrounds the lake has lodges and hiking trail with a length of 13 km.
See also
*
Geography of Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...
*
List of lakes of Taiwan
Taiwan's largest natural lake is Sun Moon Lake. Its largest artificial body of water is the Zengwen Reservoir, formed by the Zengwen Dam. The majority of Taiwan's lakes have multiple functions such as irrigation, electricity generation, water sup ...
*
List of tourist attractions in Taiwan
Popular tourist attractions in Taiwan include the following:
Attractions Historical buildings
* Beihai Tunnel, Beigan ()
* Beihai Tunnel, Nangan ()
* Daxi Wude Hall ()
* Ete ...
References
{{commons category
Lakes of Taitung County