TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- The South Penghu Marine National Park (澎湖南方四島國家公園) is Taiwan’s ninth national park and the second marine national park.
The South Penghu Marine National Park consists of four main islands: Dongjiyu (東吉嶼), Xijiyu (西吉嶼), Donyupingyu (東嶼坪嶼), Xiyupingyu (西嶼坪嶼), and nine surrounding islets.
The waters have rich coral communities and marine life. Therefore, the park is a scuba diving and snorkeling paradise.
As Penghu is a windswept archipelago, crops on the islands are susceptible to salt spray and salty rains, which can affect their growth. Therefore, islanders have long been using local materials, usually basalt rocks and coral stones, to build walls to protect crops and vegetables from winds, forming the so-called “vegetable houses.”
Donyupingyu has the most extensive and complete vegetable houses built along the hills. The unique landscape represents the coexistence of the local agriculture and nature.
Of the many islands in Penghu, the most famous landscape of basalt column formation is located on Xijiyu, which has an 800-meter-long sea cliff that is formed by tall basalt columns perfectly aligned with one another.
Strong coastal erosion has created a giant sea cave underneath a section of the sea cliff. As the outside of the sea cave looks like a stove door, locals call the cave “Stove Cage.”
At midday, when bright sunlight beams down through a hole at the top of the cave and onto the sea water, the mysterious and bluish view inside the cave is a rare spectacle.
In addition to basalt landscapes, the South Penghu Marine National Park is blessed with a few excellent spots for observing intertidal biology.
There are wide open wave-cut platforms on the northeast side, southwest side, and southeast side of Dongjiyu, of which “Daping” is the most representative. With a stretch as long as 200 meters, Daping is an ideal field for environmental education. At low tides, visitors can watch a great variety of intertidal biology on the platform, including shellfish, algae, shrimps, crabs, and echinoderms.
