Yangmingshan National Park is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan, located in both Taipei and New Taipei City. The districts that are partially in the park include Taipei's Beitou District and Shilin District Districts; and New Taipei's Wanli, Jinshan, Sanzhi District and Tamsui District Districts. The national park is known for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes, and hiking trails, including Taiwan's tallest dormant volcano, Qixing (Seven Star) Mountain rising to 1,120 m (3,675 ft). In June 2020, Yangmingshan National Park was certified as the world’s first Urban Quiet Park Quiet Parks International in recognition of World Environment Day.
History
This mountain range was originally called "Grass Mountain" () during the
Qing dynasty, in reference to the
Datun Mountain ().
Officials during this period were worried about thieves stealing sulfur from the rich sulfur deposits in the area, so they would regularly set fire to the mountain. Thus, only grass and no trees could be seen.
, Taiwan's first national park, was established on 27 December 1937.
In 1950, President Chiang Kai-shek renamed Grass Mountain to Yangmingshan to commemorate the Ming dynasty scholar Wang Yangming.
Landscape and geology
Unlike most other national parks, the Yangmingshan National Park has a lower elevation. Although the park's elevation ranges from only 200–1120 meters, varied landscapes such as ridges, valleys, lakes, waterfalls, and basins are abundant. Andesite rocks make up most of the area's geology.
[[1] ]
Xiaoyoukeng
Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) is a post-volcanic geological landscape area located in the north of
Taiwan in Yangmingshan National Park
at the northwestern foot of Seven Star Mountain.
It is approximately 805 meters above sea level and is famed for the
, sulfur crystals,
and spectacular 'landslide terrain' formed by post-volcanic activity.
Hiking trails to Seven Star Mountain are accessible from the Xiaoyoukeng parking lot. The top of the trail is 1,120 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak of Taipei. The Xiaoyoukeng trail can connect to Qixing Park, Menghuan Pond, and Lengshuikeng. The trail also connects to the visitor center, Yangmingshan Second Parking Lot, and the Yangmingshan Bus Station.
Flora and fauna
Due to the effects of post-volcanic activity and precipitation, soil in the region is highly acidic. With the influence of the northeast monsoon and the area's microclimates, winter temperatures are much lower than in the surrounding areas.
The above factors cause the vegetation to differ from those in other regions at the same latitude. Some medium and high-altitude plants can be found here such as
Cordia dichotoma and
Acer japonicum. Vegetation groups can be divided into subtropical monsoon rainforests, temperate evergreen broadleaf forests, and mountain ridge grasslands. There are 1360 species of vascular bundle plants in the region.
Some of the common ones are red
nanmu, large-leaved
machilus, Formosan sweet gum, Taiwan cherry,
Cleyera japonica and dark spotted cherry. The most famous is Taiwan isoetes in Menghuan pond, an aquatic fern only found in Taiwan. Mt. Datun is one of the most well-known places to see some of the 168 species of butterflies in northern Taiwan, With them being most frequently seen from May to August. The most common ones are from the families
Papilionidae,
Danainae, and
Nymphalidae. There are also 122 species of birds in the region.
Semi-
feral cattle are one of the notable attractions in the area.
[ 太厲害！擎天崗的牛 乖乖跟「他」走！. The Liberty Times. Retrieved on May 08, 2017]
Climate
Yangmingshan has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). Summers are warm, humid, and accompanied by torrential rainstorms; while winters are cool, very wet, and very
due to the northeasterly winds from the vast
Siberian High being intensified by the pooling of this cooler air in the Taipei Basin. Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by the
Pacific typhoon season, which occurs between June and October.
The following climate data is for the Anbu weather station. Other places in the national park may have different temperatures.
Historical and cultural sites
-
Chinese Culture University
-
Chung-Shan Building - Meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of the Republic of China
-
Grass Mountain Chateau - Summer residence of Chiang Kai-shek
-
Guangfu Building - Built in 1971 in Northern Chinese palace-style architecture to commemorate the Xinhai Revolution.
-
Home and grave of famous writer Lin Yutang
-
Yangmingshuwu - Former Kuomintang Party Archives
-
Yangmingshan American Military Housing
-
- Contains the graves of Sun Fo and Homer Lea.
-
Tomb of Puru, painter, educator, and cousin of China's last emperor Puyi.
-
Taipei European School
-
Tomb of Yu Youren
-
Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery
==Gallery==
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on Seven Star Mountain.]]
.]]
in the park.]]
See also
-
List of national parks in Taiwan
-
Tatun Volcano Group
-
Qixing Mountain (Taipei)
-
Yellowstone National Park
External links
