Yushan

Yushan

Yushan is located at the junction of Xinyi Township in Nantou County, Taoyuan District in Kaohsiung City, and Alishan Township in Chiayi County in central Taiwan. The Tsou people call it Batongguan, while the Japanese referred to it as Niitakayama. Its main peak stands at an elevation of 3,952 meters, making it the highest mountain in East Asia. Among Taiwan’s Hundred Peaks, Yushan, along with Snow Mountain, Xiuguluan Mountain, Nanhu Mountain, and Beidawu Mountain, is collectively known as the “Five Great Mountains,” representing the five most iconic high mountains in Taiwan.

Yushan is a sacred mountain shared by the Bunun and Tsou peoples and is also one of the contemporary symbols of Taiwan, often praised as “pure as jade in heart, lofty as a mountain in virtue.” The grandeur of Yushan’s silhouette dominates the landscape, and in winter, snow sometimes blankets its summit, giving it a striking white appearance reminiscent of jade — a scene so beautiful that “Yushan Snow” has become one of Taiwan’s Eight Scenic Spots. The main peak of Yushan features steep cliffs and perilous ridges on all sides, with thousand-foot precipices on the north and south, deep gorges and cliffs on the west, and craggy scree slopes on the east. Whether in terms of appearance or scale, Yushan is the most imposing mountain, thus rightfully earning its title as the foremost of the Five Great Mountains and the king of the Hundred Peaks. Additionally, the Yushan massif encompasses various climate zones, including subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate, and alpine tundra, harboring a rich and precious diversity of life. The area boasts abundant ecological resources, and according to research by scholars from the Japanese colonial period such as Torii Hisayoshi and Sasaki Norio, as well as modern researchers like Qi Shizheng, Yushan still preserves remnants of glacial landforms.

Yushan Mountain

Reason to visit: The highest mountain peak in East Asia