Taichung (台中) is one of Taiwan's biggest and most modern cities. Just recently, its citizens celebrated the announcement that work will start soon on a mass rapid transit system. It also has, in the Tai­chung Folklore Park (台中民俗公園), one of the most interesting collections of antiques and traditional items anywhere on the island.

Does the name "Stars on Earth" sound familiar? That's because a Bollywood movie by that name was recently released in Taiwan, but here, we refer to a different kind of star – the firefly.

Sitou is a forest recreation area, with ancient trees reaching for the sky, a good climate, and a number of other attractions including Shenmu (giant trees), dense forests, University Pond, gingko groves, and stands of bamboo.

I don't remember being this cold for years as I stand outside the little 'A' frame mountain hut, trying to find the most sheltered spot out of the worst of the biting, sub-zero blast of wind that buffets us.

Located in one of the remotest and most thinly-populated corners of Chiayi County (嘉義縣), Fengshan Ecology Garden (豐山生態園區) isn't a place you're likely to stumble across.

For some particular reason old trees always astonish me. Whether it is the sheer size of their trunks and branches, the feeling that with a bit of luck you could climb up all the way to the sky ...

I have heard there three things a proper Taiwanese of today should do -- cycle around Taiwan, swim across Sun Moon Lake, and climb Yushan.

Anyone who's driven along the main road between Tainan County (台南縣) and Chiayi City (嘉義市) will have seen it. If you've taken the train -- the slower conventional train that is, not the high-speed railway -- between Chiayi and points south, you'll likely have noticed it. It looks somewhat like a water tower, but with windows.

A chilly breeze from off the coast swept through the streets of the small town, but the sky was still blue with only a few wispy clouds in it. Located just an hour from Taichung and about three hours from Taipei, the quaint town of Lugang (鹿港) makes a good destination for a winter day trip, both because of its historical sites and because of its cheap, delectable cuisine.

Nantou may be the only completely landlocked county in Taiwan but the beauty of its natural features and landscapes definitely does not lag behind the rest of the island.