Yushan National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the summit Yushan, the highest peak of the park.Taiwan's National Park Website.
The park covers a total area of 103,121 hectares that includes large sections of 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 park contains more than thirty peaks over in elevation, and two-thirds of the area within the park is above . The elevation difference in the park is , and there are many

canyons A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

, and

valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

. Because of its remote location and entry control, Yushan National Park is not among the most visited national parks in Taiwan. Even so, the park attracted 1,044,994 visitors in 2015.

Geology

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 ...

, which owes its existence to the power of

plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...

, remains a place of regular seismic activity. Examples of geological features such as fault lines, joints, and folding can be seen throughout Yushan National Park: * ''Great Precipice'' (大峭壁) — Great Precipice
23.4683339 120.9396649
is located 1.2 km before Paiyun Lodge (排雲山莊) on the Yushan Trail. A precipitous cliff with fossils of ancient marine species and a few wavy marks in the rock can still remind us of its oceanic past. *

Scree slope Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

at the foot of Main Peak *

Fault scarp A fault scarp is a small step or offset on the ground surface where one side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other. It is the topographic expression of faulting attributed to the displacement of the land surface by movement al ...

in ''Laonong'' (荖濃) between Main Peak and ''Batongguan'' (八通關) * ''Fuzi Cliff'' (父子斷崖) and ''Guanshan Cliff'' (關山斷崖) The

Southern Cross-Island Highway The Southern Cross-Island Highway (), also known as Provincial Highway No. 20, links Tainan City on the west coast to Taitung City on the east coast, on the southern section of the island of Taiwan. The road is long. From west to east, the road ...

and the Yushan Scenic Highway both offer countless opportunities to witness the area's special geological features.Yushan National Park Website.

Hydrology

Yushan is an important

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of main river systems in central, southern, and eastern Taiwan. It is the water sources of the

Zhuoshui River The Zhuoshui River, also spelled Choshui or Jhuoshuei River, () is the longest river in Taiwan. It flows from its source in Nantou County up to the western border of the county, subsequently forming the border between Yunlin County and Changhua ...

(濁水溪),

Kaoping River The Gaoping River, also spelled Kaoping River (), is the second longest river in Taiwan after Zhuoshui River with a total length of . It is located on the southern part of the island, flowing through Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City. It is th ...

(高屏溪), and

Siouguluan River The Xiuguluan River () is the eighth-longest river in Taiwan with a total length of . It is located in the southeastern part of the island. It flows through the Huadong Valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean in Fengbin, Hualien. Overvie ...

(秀姑巒溪). The Chenyoulan (陳有蘭溪), Jyunda (郡大溪), Nanzaisian (楠梓仙溪), Laonong (荖濃溪), and Lekuleku (拉庫拉庫溪) rivers are all young rivers from Yushan with V-shaped river beds. Jinmentong cliffs (金門峒斷崖) is a unique landmark along the Chenyoulan River (陳有蘭溪). It was formed when Chenyoulan River (陳有蘭溪) cut through land traversed by a fault line, and it showcases one of the best examples of headway

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

. Jinmentong cliffs (金門峒斷崖), Yunlong Waterfall (雲龍瀑布) and Yinyu Waterfall (乙女瀑布; also known as 七絲瀑布) are some popular scenic points in the park. Alpine lakes such as Dashueiku (大水窟), Tafen Pond (塔芬池), Jiaming Lake (嘉明湖), and Tienchih (天池) are formed from rain and melting snows in the shadows of surrounding mountain peaks. These lakes provide both visitors and animals precious water from the mountains. However, the ecosystem around them is fragile and needs further protection.

Flora

Yushan National Park is well known for its diverse climate zones and rich

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

. The plants found in the park span from

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

on its foothills to

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

at its summits. Differences in

altitudes Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

, precipitous cliffs, and plunging valleys in the Yushan National Park lend to the park highly unstable weather conditions. Temperatures can vary from warm to cold at the same time at places relatively close. While accounting for merely 3% of Taiwan's total land area, the park has half of Taiwan's native plant species growing within its boundaries. Surveys have found that there are 2,522 different kinds of plants in the park. With increasing elevation, there are the following six vegetation zonations in the park:

Fauna

The park is home to a large variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and butterflies. Between the months of March and May, visitors have the chance to see processions of butterflies fluttering through mountain valleys. In the following table, it shows total different kinds of animals found in the park:Survey of biodiversity in Taiwan's National Parks.
/ref> In the past, many of these species became endangered due to over-hunting; but with the establishment of the Yushan National Park, they are gradually making a comeback. Larger mammals such as the

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

, Taiwan macaque, and serows can sometimes be seen, and their call is often heard. The National Park is an important nesting ground for the Taiwanese population of

Mountain hawk-eagle The mountain hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nipalensis'') or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself ...

Cultural heritage

Prehistoric relics, such as stone tools and pottery, found in the Wangshiang (望鄉) and Dongpu (Tungpu;東埔) areas, provide evidence of early human occupation. The Bunun , an aboriginal tribe, presently inhabits the villages of Dongpu (Tungpu;東埔) and Meishan (梅山). They emigrated from the coastal plains to the mountains some 300 years ago. Another tribal people, Tsou, who live in the west of the park, have been largely assimilated by the Bunun. Displacement of aboriginals by settlers occurred during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

with the construction of the

Batongguan Trail Batongguan Historic Trail ( zh, t=八通關古道, p=Bātōngguān Gǔdào; romaji: ''Pattonkan Kodō'') is the name of two trails crossing the Central Mountain Range from Zhushan, Nantou to Yuli, Hualien in Taiwan. The first iteration of the tra ...

in 1875 for defense purposes. Some stone steps, walls and guard-posts are the remains from that past.

Eco-tourism

To promote

eco-tourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

, the park has established protection laws and raised public awareness of the importance of nature conservation on one hand and provided public facilities for easy access on the other hand. Public facilities provided in the park include:Public Facilities in Taiwan's National Parks.
/ref> For public safety, a lot of bridges and wooden pathways have been installed on difficult terrain. There are three visitor centers in the park: *

Tataka Visitor Center The Tataka Visitor Center () is a visitor center in Yushan National Park located in Xinyi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and Sou ...

Nanan Visitor Center

Meishan Visitor Center

Pictures

File:Laonung_River.jpg, Laonung River at the northeastern side of Yushan File:YushanSeaCloud.jpg, Sea of clouds near Yushan File:YushanSeaCloud2.jpg, Sea of clouds on Yushan Trail File:YushanSeaCloud5.jpg, Sea of clouds near ''Tatajia Anbu'' on Yushan Trail File:YushanSunrise2.jpg, Sun rise at Yushan File:YushanPeak1.jpg, On top of the world File:Yu shan range as seen from Shin Kang mountain (Summer 2005).jpg, Yushan Range, eastern side view

References

External links

* {{authority control National parks of Taiwan Geography of Nantou County Geography of Chiayi County Geography of Kaohsiung Geography of Hualien County Tourist attractions in Nantou County Tourist attractions in Chiayi County Tourist attractions in Kaohsiung Tourist attractions in Hualien County