It's been over six hours of rough walking since we left the trailhead, and we finally meet the first road since the start of the hike.

It's hard at first glance to see anything remotely outstanding about the Taipei suburb of Zhonghe (中和), across the Xindian River to the southwest of Taipei city center.

Sitting on bus R5 en route to Yangmingshan, it's clear we'll be going nowhere fast in the huge tailback that snakes up the road ahead and disappears around the corner, with only a steady stream of scooters beside us going at anything more than a snail's pace.

The solitary line of a narrow, overgrown trail heads off into the distance. Jagged, pointed peaks rise up in front, sheer cliffs of bare rock plunge terrifyingly from the trail into the valley far, far below and fantastic, slowly changing panoramas open up over the unlimited expanses of mountainous country laid out below.

Thanks to the Taiwanese government, which has put a great deal of effort and money into promoting Taiwan's natural splendor over the past few years, it's no longer a great secret that the island is a veritable paradise for outdoor lovers in general, and for walkers in particular.

Glimpses of its emerald surface are one of the highlights of the trip along the old Taipei to Ilan highway (now blissfully quiet, since most traffic between the two counties takes the new highway through the 13 kilometer-long Shueshan Tunnel), yet it's only standing on the bank of this huge, serpentine expanse of water that its great scenic beauty can finally be enjoyed to the full.

About half an hour after leaving Pingsi High School, the trail enters a clearing, and several abandoned buildings and a fenced-off mine shaft entrance lie beside the path.

The Lunar New Year Holiday will begin on Jan. 24. This year there will be up to nine days for camera-wielding tourists and their families to take either a long or short trip around the island.

Organic fruit, vegetables and what-not are so widely available these days that it's easy to forget that in days gone by, everything we ate was natural and pesticide--free, and that we didn't have to pay a premium for the privilege of eating the unadulterated stuff.

The little Hsinchu (新竹) County settlement of Hongmaogang (紅毛港) consists of little more than a police station, a couple of houses and (on weekends) a line of snack stalls facing the Taiwan Strait.