Shouka (, alternatively 壽卡, el. 460 m), formerly known as , is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

located in southern

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 ...

, transversing 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 ...

. Administratively, Shouka is at the border of

Shizi, Pingtung Shizi Township is a mountain indigenous township in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the largest township of the county. The main population is the Paiwan people of the Taiwanese aborigines. Names The original Paiwan name for the area was Tja ...

and

Daren, Taitung Daren Township () is a mountain indigenous township in Taitung County, Taiwan. The main population is the Paiwan people of the Taiwanese aborigines. History In 2012, Daren, along with Wuqiu Township in Kinmen County (Quemoy), was proposed by t ...

. Shouka is a major intersection in road travel in Taiwan, bringing together traffic from

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

Taitung City Taitung City () is a county-administered city and the county seat of Taitung County, Taiwan. It lies on the southeast coast of Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean. Taitung City is the most populous subdivision of Taitung County and it is one of the ...

, and

Kenting Kenting National Park (), commonly known as Kenting (), is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng, and Manzhou Townships. Established on 1 January 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest ...

. It is the highest point of the

South-Link Highway The South Link Highway is a section of Provincial Highway No. 9 from Taitung City to Fenggang, Pingtung County in Taiwan. The section of the highway from Taitung to Ansuo is coastal road, the rest passes through the Central Mountain Range thr ...

and the intersection of Provincial Highway 9 and County Highway 199. The point is also a popular destination for road cyclists. The character "峠" is a ''

kokuji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...

'', a Japanese character that does not appear in Chinese, which is why "卡" is occasionally used in its place.

History

The South-Link Highway was originally built by during Japan's rule over Taiwan. Construction of the highway ran between 1933 and 1939 and became an important link between Taiwan's east coast with the rest of the island. The highest point of this highway was named "Kotobuki Pass" at its completion. A police checkpoint once stood at Shouka, but has been abandoned. The building is transformed into a rest stop for cyclists.

Recreation

Shouka is a popular destination for road cyclists. Cyclists attempting to cycle around the island of Taiwan must climb up to Shouka, as there is no other road possible between Pingtung and Taitung. It is also one of two sections with substantial elevation gain, the other being

Suhua Highway The Suhua Highway (), also called the Suao-Hualien Highway, is a section of the Provincial Highway 9 in Taiwan, starting at Su'ao Township, Yilan County and ending at Hualien City, Hualien County. With a portion built alongside very steep c ...

Taiwan Cycling Route No.1 Taiwan Cycle Route No.1 (環島1號線) is a 968 km (602 mile) bicycle route around the island of Taiwan. The route is intended to facilitate the recreational activity of bicycling around the island of Taiwan, which is called huan-dao (環� ...

passes through Shouka. The 22.2 km climb along Provincial Highway 9 from Daren is listed as one of the top 100 cycling climbs in Taiwan, with an average grade of 4.2%. On April 11, 2009, the Pingtung County government turned a former police checkpoint into the "Shouka Cyclist Rest Stop" (壽卡鐵馬驛站) to accommodate for passing cyclists. The staffed rest stop provides water, toilets, and repair tools free of charge for cyclists. The Water Resources Agency also operates a

rain gauge A rain gauge (also known as udometer, pluvia metior, pluviometer, ombrometer, and hyetometer) is an instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a predefined area, over a period o ...

on top of the rest stop.

References

{{reflist Mountain passes of Taiwan Landforms of Pingtung County Landforms of Taitung County