Few visitors to Keelung miss the hilltop Chungcheng Park, crowned by a white 74-foot (23-metre) statue of Kuan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. Visitors can enjoy the view from windows inside the hollow statue.

Keelung's most popular dining spot is Miaokou, a large cluster of food stands selling fruit, seafood, chicken rolls, and other Taiwanese snacks and desserts. The temple is Shengwang Temple, which enshrines the Divine Ancestor of the people of Changchou in fukien province - the area from which a major portion of Taiwan's early settlers came.

Keelung, was a base for 16th century Japanese pirates, and was later invaded by the Spanish, Dutch, French, and Japanese.

A few traces of this turbulent past remain. Seagate Fortress, built between invasions during the 1840s, lies on a hill overlooking the harbour's eastern side. A hilltop on the western side offers fine views from the remnants of Dutch Fortress.

Nearby is the Cave of the Immortals, a narrow natural cleft in a hill containing Buddhist shrines and sculptures. Keelung's 200-year-old Pingan Temple contains images of the Earth God and his wife, their faces blackened by centuries of incense smoke.

Hoping Park, on an island at the harbor's eastern edge, has fascinating natural stone sculptures and is popular for picnicking, fishing, and rowing.

Keelung, a 40-minute drive northeast of Taipei, is one of Taiwan's international seaports and transportation hubs.

The old mining town of Chiufen is a place where you can really experience Taiwan's historical legacy.

It was the site of one of Asia's largest gold mining areas with such titles as the "gold capital of Asia, and "Little Shanghai." A lot has changed since those high times. After the gold mines played out, the town was forgotten by the rest of the world for decades. As a result, much of the town's classic architectural beauty remains.

Perched on a low mountaintop overlooking bays and hills below, Chiufen's scenery is stunningly beautiful. Some important attractions include the Chiufen Gold Mining Museum and Taiyang Mining Office, and Fushan and Shengming temples.

The best way to see Chiufen is to walk through its narrow alleyways, sample delicious local cuisine, and have a cup of tea in one of the town's dozens of tea houses with a panoramic view of the sea.

Yingko

A short trip through the lush countryside southwest of Taipei brings you to a small town that produces hand-painted replicas of elegant Ming (1368-1644) and Ching (1644-1911) vases like those that once graced the palaces in Peking. Yingko is Taiwan's pottery centre, and the narrow streets are lined with shops selling an endless variety of porcelain, from simple earthenware tea sets to delicate statues. Many of these products can be found in Taipei's night markets, but the prices are higher and selections fewer.

The people of Yingko are another attraction. It has the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of a small country town, and gives visitors firsthand experience with Taiwan's noted hospitality.

Some of the factories allow tours where visitors can watch potters working the clay and artists painting vases, and maybe buy a sample or two (purchases, however, are not generally required for tours). Picture taking is allowed in many shops and factories.

One factory that welcomes individual visitors without prior arrangement (it even has English-speaking guides) is the China Art Ceramic Co., at No. 19, Lane 223, Chungcheng 1st Road. The information desk at the Town Hall can help arrange tours of other factories as well. Call (02)670-3300 or (02)679-3891.

Just off the main street is a beautiful temple dedicated to Sun Tzu, a military strategist of the Warring States Period (403 to 221 BC) and author of The Art of War, which is still required reading today for many military leaders around the world. The large, imposing temple is nestled against a hillside, and a large statue of Sun on the roof can be seen from some distance. The temple's eaves and stone pillars are decorated with intricate sculptures and carvings from Chinese mythology. A garden on the temple's south side provides a cool, quiet resting place on a hot afternoon.

The trip from Taipei to Yingko by car, bus, or train takes 30 minutes to an hour, and the town is an easy half-day or day trip from Taipei. Yingko has a few small restaurants for the adventurous to sample delicious local fare.

Sanhsia

Sanhsia, about 22 kilometres (14miles) south west of Taipei and a short hop from Yingko, is a bustling old town with narrow, winding streets and brick buildings that are nearly a century old. The main attraction here is the Tsu Shih (Divine Ancestor) Temple, which honours a Sung dynasty loyalist, Chen Chao-Yuan dynasty. Chen's example inspired his descendants to help overthrow the Yuan and establish the Ming dynasty in 1368.

In recognition of his contribution to the restoration of the Dragon Throne, the first Ming emperor deified Chen Chao-Ying, and a temple was built for the new god in Fukien province. Immigrants to Taiwan brought an image of the Divine Ancestor and settled in Sanhsia, where they built this temple in 1770.

The temple was in ruins by the end of World War II, and the restoration project, which has taken over 40 years, is still incomplete. Nonetheless, Tsu Shih is one of the world's finest examples of current Chinese temple art, since little temple construction or renovation has been done in mainland China for more than 40 years.

The job is still unfinished, in part due to artistic integrity. An imperfectly carved stone lion once discarded, now guards the temple's entrance.

The new decorations include intricately carved stone and bronze columns (156 are planned), eight bronze statues, carved stone lions, and exquisite bronze reliefs depicting historic and legendary scenes. The elaborate, beautiful camphor wood carvings, like many of the other new decorations, are also works of art. Visitors are welcome to watch the artisans at work.

Sanhsia is easy to reach by bus or car from Taipei. The temple is located at No. 1 Changfu Street. Despite the relatively short distance, the trip can take an hour or more due to traffic. A tour of the temple takes one or two hours.

Sanyi

Some of the best wood carvers in Asia live in the small town of Sandyi, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Taichung. Shops on the town's main street, Chungcheng Road, offer a greater selection of wood carvings-at lower prices-than can be found in Taiwan's major cities. A shopping tour of Sanyi takes one to three hours.

Lukang

Just past Changhua, midway down Taiwan's western coast, is the village of Lukang, one of Taiwan's most important historical and cultural towns.

Lukang (Deer Harbor) was named for the large herds of deer which once roamed the area, and for the natural harbor, historically one of Taiwan's finest. Descendants of the hundreds of craftsmen and artisans hired to construct magnificent homes and temples during Lukang's heyday 300 years ago have since turned the village into an art and handicraft centre.

Peikang

Peikang, a small town just west of Chiayi, is known as the home of one of the most magnificent of Taiwan's nearly 400 Matsu Temples (Chaotien Temple). The lavish temple's roof comes alive with hundreds of ceramic figures cavorting among small palaces, pagodas, mountains and trees, along with pairs of dragons chasing the Pearl of Wisdom. The town is the site of the colourful annual pilgrimage from temples all over Taiwan for the festival celebrating Matsu's birthday - a fascinating display of ancient Chinese folk religion and customs. The birthday is about the middle of 3rd month of the lunar calendar, or around April 7 - 28 on the Gregorian calendar.

Hualien

The small city of Hualien boasts one of the island's five international seaports, and is the favored starting point for tours of nearby Taroko Gorge, at the eastern end of the Central Cross-Island Highway which links Hualien with Taichung.

Hualien is more than just a starting point for tours to Taroko, however. Artisans take advantage of the area's vast marble deposits to craft an amazing range of products in an endless variety of colors and patterns. Hundreds of shops specialize in marble handicraft products, selling inexpensive hand-carved animal figures, chess sets, wine and coffee sets, bookends, ash trays, kitchen utensils, and furniture, including marble lamp shades so thin that light shines through them. The city itself also makes use of its resources: marble panels, mosaics, sidewalk tiles, furniture, and sculptures abound.

Hualien is also popular for performances of song and dance by the island's aborigines. Nearly 80,000 aborigines reside in the area, most from the Ami tribe. The annual Ami harvest festival is an elaborate spectacle of color, costume, and native music and dance, and is possibly the largest regular aborigine gathering in Taiwan. The festival is held in Hualien in late August or early September; tribal officials meet in mid-July each year to set the dates. At other times, traditional tribal dances are performed at the Ami Culture Village, a 15-minute drive from Hualien.

The city is ideally situated for excursions to nearby scenic areas: north along the highway to Suao, west through Taroko Gorge and north to the Central Cross-Island Highway, and south along the East Coast National Scenic Area.

From Taipei, Hualien can be reached by air, rail, and highway. Hualien is about 30 minutes by air, and about three hours by rail from Taipei. By bus, travellers have the option of the scenic northeast coastal route via Suao to Hualien (five to six hours), or via Taichung and the Central Cross-Island Highway (eight hours minimum).

Peinan Stone-Age Culture

In 1980, workmen unearthed several sarcophagi in the village of Peinan, five kilometres northwest of Taitung. The discovery began an eight-year effort to recover the remains of the Peinan culture, an aborigine tribe of farmers and hunters who settled there as much as 5,000 years ago. The pottery, stone utensils, jade items, coffins, and skeletons found at the site are now preserved in the Taitung County Culture Centre.

Taitung

The sleepy city of Taitung is not a common tourist destination, but it is a convenient starting point for excursions to nearby scenic attractions. To the north are the East Coast National Scenic Area and, on the inland route, the eastern end of the Southern Cross-Island Highway; to the south is Chihpen Hot Springs. Taitung has adequate accommodations and is a major junction for rail, air, and highway travel.

Though underdeveloped by modern standards, Taitung was one of the island's earliest human settlements. The aborigine tribes which originally lived here vanished long ago, but the aborigines now living in Taitung county still outnumber the combined aboriginal population of Taipei; bus travellers have to go through Hualien or Kaohsiung.

Santimen

Many of Taiwan's aborigines, especially those living in the island's lowland areas, were assimilated after the Chinese arrived several hundred years ago. Nine distinct tribes remain, with a total population of over 300,000. Six of the nine tribes are concentrated primarily in Taitung and Pingtung counties, in the southern half of Taiwan.

The area known as Santimen (Door to Three Places) includes the three villages of Shuimen, Santimen, and Peiyeh, which are located in Pingtung county, east of Kaohsiung city. Santimen is the home of the Paiwan tribe, which is closely related, both culturally and linguistically, to the much smaller Rukai who live nearby.

The peaceful village still retains its aboriginal colour and tribal customs; stone slab houses, stone desks, and stone and wood carvings are on display for tourists. A particularly interesting time to visit the village is during the August harvest festival, an annual revival of traditional dances, songs, and costumes.

The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

Just four kilometres from Sun Moon Lake is the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, established to preserve the culture, traditions, and history of the island's nearly 330,000 native aborigines. Groups from each of Taiwan's nine tribes, wearing authentic clothing and adornments, gather regularly in the village to perform traditional songs and dances to the sounds of ancient musical instruments. The tribes also demonstrate their unique creative skills by using traditional tools to make exquisite handicrafts and items of daily necessity.