It often seems to me that Taiwanese do not travel really to see places, but rather travel to various eateries to taste the local delicacies.

Anyone who's stood at the summit of Mount Jade on a clear morning will long remember the unbeatable panorama over the surrounding mountains from the roof of Taiwan.

I am floating in the steaming hot springs of the aboriginal mountain village of Chingchuan (清泉), an hour's ride from the foothills of Chutung (竹東), not far from Hsinchu (新竹) City. Outside, the air is chilly.

Taiwan's government is working hard to attract more foreign tourists to the island, and one market niche where progress is being made is bird-watching.

In this, the third of four installments following the adventures of nine brave cyclists riding 800 kilometers from Taipei to Kending over eight days, we look at stages five and six, which took us from Sun Moon Lake, up and across the mighty Central Cordillera, and down the superb East Rift Valley to Antong Hot Spring.

It's not surprising, considering that Taiwan has literally thousands of named hills, mountains and peaks, that some place names get used more than once to describe different summits, which can become a little confusing.

Have you ever wondered where the water you drink comes from? Well, if you live in the Taipei area, the answer is most likely Feicui Reservoir (翡翠水庫), a major waterworks that winds through the valleys about 30km off the city and supplies water to about 4 million of its residents.

Ping Lin and Mao Kong are two place names inextricably linked with tea in the minds of many Taipei dwellers, but they're far from the only places around the capital where Taiwan's favorite brew is grown.

Hikers heading up the winding mountain road en route to the popular peak of Lion's Head Mountain (獅頭山), high above the southern Taipei suburb of Xindian (新店), could be forgiven for missing an inconspicuous marble tablet nestling in the undergrowth beside the road.

Daxi (大溪) recently drew quite a bit of media attention thanks to political battles over the fate of Chiang Kai-shek's and Chiang Ching-kuo's mausoleums -- and for that matter, their bodies as well.