Photographers capture Taiwan's one-of-a-kind charm: 269 peaks over 3,000 meters

▲Taiwan has as many as 269 mountains exceeding 3,000 meters, pictured here is Jiaping Lake. (Photo / Photographer Joe Joe Huang, provided)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Many people know that Taiwan is a mountainous island, with 70% of its land area covered by high mountains. But how many peaks in Taiwan exceed 3,000 meters? Most guess around ten to twenty—but you’d be way off. The answer is: 269 peaks!According to Wikipedia,Taiwan is one of the islands with the highest mountain density in the world!Yet we often overlook the beauty of the island’s high mountains.

▲Taiwan has as many as 269 mountains exceeding 3,000 meters, pictured here is Jiaping Lake. (Photo / Photographer Joe Joe Huang, provided)

Photographer Joe Joe Huang, who has been climbing for over 20 years and has summited more than 200 peaks among Taiwan's "hundred peaks," said,the reason why people “underestimate” the number of Taiwan’s high mountains can be traced back to periods of foreign rule. During the time of Dutch, Ming Zheng, and Qing Empire rule, none governed over half of Taiwan’s mountainous regions. It wasn’t until the Japanese colonial period that the entire island, including its high mountains, was ruled—starting only after 1915. Joe Joe Huang explains that after Japan, the Nationalist government did not promote the vastness of Taiwan’s mountain areas but instead repeatedly emphasized that Taiwan is just a “tiny place,” thereby ignoring the island’s unique allure.

▲The Golden Grassland along the way to Dashuikou Mountain is so stunning it elicits constant exclamations of awe. (Photo / Photographer Joe Joe Huang, provided)

If that number still doesn’t impress you, Joe Joe Huang offers a comparison: Japan’s globally renowned Mount Fuji stands at 3,776 meters, yet the entire country has only about ten peaks over 3,000 meters. The UK has highlands, but in fact, it has zero peaks above 3,000 meters. The epic landscapes of The Lord of the Rings were filmed in New Zealand, captivating audiences worldwide with their majestic snowy peaks—but New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki/Mount Cook, is 3,744 meters tall, and the country has only about twenty peaks exceeding 3,000 meters. Meanwhile, Taiwan, an island nation spanning just 36,000 square kilometers, has 269 such peaks—truly astonishing.

▲Reflections in Cuihu Lake. (Photo / Photographer Joe Joe Huang, provided)