MOEA launches eastern Taiwan geotourism campaign

2015/07/13

A tourism campaign promoting the rich geological resources of the three eastern Taiwan counties of Hualien, Taitung and Yilan is set to kick off July 15 at Hualien Cultural Creative Industries Park.

Organized by Central Geological Survey under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the initiative comprises a geology and disaster prevention exhibition and local government tourism drive. It complements the efforts of the MOEA and Council of Indigenous Peoples to highlight the diverse array of formations along Taiwan’s east coast.

CGS Deputy Director Shieh Kae-shyuan said Taiwan’s East Rift Valley marks the subduction zone between the converging Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. “Dotted along the narrow strip are alluvial fans, canyons, exotic blocks, meanders, melanges, river terraces, scarps and shores, all living proof of the plate tectonics at work here.”

According to Shieh, Liji Badlands rimming the western edge of the coastal Haian Range illustrates the power of this transformative process. “The rugged clusters of mudstone formations jutting out of the crust are residues of the tectonic plate collisions, which thrust the island up from under the sea,” he said.

“The birth of Taiwan is literally frozen in time at Liji Badlands,” Shieh said, adding that tourists are bound to be enthralled by the barren moon-like landscape and bizarre terrain.

Other geological wonders featured in the campaign include the Amis tribe’s historical paddy terraces in Cilamitay basin; an active fault line in Chishang Township; Truku people’s sacred Mugumuyu valley; international tourist hot spot Taroko Gorge; and wave-cut coral platform Tidaan.

All information utilized in the campaign, which runs until Oct. 18, is on display at the HCCIP exhibition. In addition, related data can be accessed at National Ilan University in Yilan City, National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung City and Stone and Resource Industry R&D Center in Hualien’s Jian Township.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=232431&ctNode=413)