No visitors traveling the Southern Cross-Island Highway should miss a stop at Tianchih (天池) and Chang Ching Temple (長青祠), because they are the central part of the highway.

In 1994, a lady in Florida made herself a grilled cheese sandwich. She took a few bites, but before finishing it she noticed what appeared to be the face of the Virgin Mary imbedded in the toast.

Jhongjhihguan Historic Trail (中之關步道) is a must-see trail for visitors to the South Cross Island Highway. It is only three and half kilometers long and is a small part of the Guanshan Historic Trail (關山越嶺道).

The lepidopteran inhabitants of the Yellow Butterfly Valley have yet to emerge, you already have a hand-painted oil-paper parasol, and disused tobacco-curing barns hold no interest for you.

Taguanshan (塔關山) is one of Taiwan's most accessible 3,000-plus-meter-high peaks. Located right beside the highest stretch of the Southern Cross-Island Highway (南部橫貫公路), it can be scaled in just under two hours.

The stretch of national route 184 between the towns of Meinong and Liuguei in Kaohsiung County rates as one of the more scenic and interesting stretches of road in southern Taiwan.

With a setting as lovely as this, and a location conveniently close to both the north-south freeway and the big cities of Tainan and Chiayi, it's only the fact that the main road bypasses the area -- following the far side of the wide, boulder-strewn Laonong River -- that Bulao Hot Spring (不老溫泉) has remained a relatively quiet backwater.

Standing atop a wooden viewing platform at 1,804 meters, the highest point of Tengjhih National Forest Recreation Area (藤枝國家森林遊樂區), the wilderness that covers much of Taiwan's interior is suddenly revealed in all its breathtaking beauty and sheer enormity.

Speeding along a serpentine country road through the unexceptional, low rolling countryside of Kaohsiung County, our scooters round a corner when abruptly the mixed woodland bordering the lane ends, the ground on the left falls away steeply, and an extraordinary ravine of crumbly, light brown earth unfolds to the left.

Beside route 37, a busy road linking the towns of Tianliao (田寮) and Gangshan (岡山) in Kaohsiung (高雄) County, a temple stands set back from the road, fronted by a large car park and a flight of steps.