Kenting National Park
Encyclopedia
Kenting National Park is a national park
located in the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County
, Taiwan
, covering Hengchun, Checheng
and Manjhou Townships. Established on January 1, 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest and southernmost national park, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan island. Administered by the Executive Yuan
's Ministry of the Interior, this national park is well-known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach, the Spring Scream
rock-band festival held in every March, and has long been one of the most favorite resort places in Taiwan.
, the Taiwan Strait
and the Luzon Strait
. The park is 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) away from Kaohsiung
, 140 kilometres (87 mi) away from Tainan
.
The landscape boasted by Kenting National Park is divided into two parts by the long and narrow Hengchun Longitudinal Valley Plain that extends from north to south. With coral sea cliffs teemed with fringing reefs along the west coast, the park features a large number of mountains in the north, and coral tablelands and foothills in the south. The plain, which is formed by fault valleys, has a vast lake called Longlyuantan, together with rising coral tablelands and limestone caves to the east. The east side of the coral tablelands features unique sand rivers and sand waterfalls formed by the combined effects of winds and rivers, as well as coral cliffs, sunken caves and stalactites.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
located in the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County
Pingtung County
Pingtung County is a county in Southern Taiwan. Pingtung County is officially administered as a county of the Republic of China . The oldest national park in Taiwan, Kenting National Park, was established in Pingtung County in 1984...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, covering Hengchun, Checheng
Checheng, Pingtung
Checheng Township is a rural township in Pingtung County, Taiwan. During the Kingdom of Tungning, it was called "Firewood City" . During Qing Dynasty rule, it was renamed "Car City" .* Area: 49.8517 km²* Population: 10,340 people...
and Manjhou Townships. Established on January 1, 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest and southernmost national park, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan island. Administered by the Executive Yuan
Executive Yuan
The Executive Yuan is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan".-Organization and structure:...
's Ministry of the Interior, this national park is well-known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach, the Spring Scream
Spring Scream
Spring Scream is an outdoor music festival held in early April each year at Kenting in southern Taiwan. The festival showcases a variety of music styles from bands both from Taiwan and overseas. Each year the festival adds the name of the current Chinese astrological animal to its name...
rock-band festival held in every March, and has long been one of the most favorite resort places in Taiwan.
Geography
The park covers about 181 square kilometre of land, 152 square kilometre of sea, weighing in at 333 square kilometre combined. It is surrounded by the Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, the Taiwan Strait
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
and the Luzon Strait
Luzon Strait
The Luzon Strait is the strait between the island country of Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean....
. The park is 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) away from Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, 140 kilometres (87 mi) away from Tainan
Tainan
Tainan City is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest after New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Taipei. It was formerly a provincial city, and in 2010, the provincial city merged with the adjacent Tainan County to form a single special municipality. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in...
.
The landscape boasted by Kenting National Park is divided into two parts by the long and narrow Hengchun Longitudinal Valley Plain that extends from north to south. With coral sea cliffs teemed with fringing reefs along the west coast, the park features a large number of mountains in the north, and coral tablelands and foothills in the south. The plain, which is formed by fault valleys, has a vast lake called Longlyuantan, together with rising coral tablelands and limestone caves to the east. The east side of the coral tablelands features unique sand rivers and sand waterfalls formed by the combined effects of winds and rivers, as well as coral cliffs, sunken caves and stalactites.
Lighthouse
The Erluanbi, or Eluan Pi or Eluanbi, lighthouse was completed in 1883, following requests from the American and Japanese governments to the Chinese governnent after several shipwrecks occurred in the 1860s. Chinese troops had to be sent to protect the lighthouse during construction from attacks by local tribesmen, and the lighthouse was surrounded by a fort with cannons and a ditch for protection. It is one of the rare examples in the world of a fortified lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is 21.4 metres (70.2 ft) high and its light is 56.4 metres (185 ft) above the tidal high water. The light flashes every 10 seconds and its range is 27.2 nautical miles (50.4 km).Traffic
- BusBusA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
: Frequent buses link this park with Kaohsiung International AirportKaohsiung International AirportKaohsiung International Airport , also known as Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport for the Siaogang District where it is located, is a medium-sized commercial airport located in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan...
, Taiwan Railway AdministrationTaiwan Railway AdministrationThe Taiwan Railway Administration is an agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China responsible for managing, maintaining, and running passenger and freight service on 1097 km of conventional railroad lines in Taiwan...
's Kaohsiung StationKaohsiung StationKaohsiung Station is a railway station located in Sanmin District of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China, which serves the Taiwan Railway Administration Western Line, Pingtung Line, Kaohsiung Harbor Line and the Kaohsiung MRT Red Line...
and Taiwan High Speed RailTaiwan High Speed RailTaiwan High Speed Rail is a high-speed rail line that runs approximately along the west coast of the Republic of China from the national capital of Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung...
's Zuoying StationNew Zuoying StationXinzuoying Station or Zuoying Station , is a major railway station served by Taiwan Railway Administration, Taiwan High Speed Rail, and Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit located in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan...
. One-way ride takes around 2 hours and 30 minutes.
- Air: This park is served by the domestic Hengchun AirportHengchun AirportHengchun Airport is an airport in Hengchun, Pingtung County, Taiwan. The airport is near Kenting National Park and is the southern-most airport in Taiwan.Due to its location, the airport often experiences strong Katabatic wind and is forced to close...
although flights are rare and are subject to cancellation due to the strong Katabatic windKatabatic windA katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning "going downhill", is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometimes also called fall winds...
which is frequent in the Hengchun Peninsula.
In popular culture
- Spring ScreamSpring ScreamSpring Scream is an outdoor music festival held in early April each year at Kenting in southern Taiwan. The festival showcases a variety of music styles from bands both from Taiwan and overseas. Each year the festival adds the name of the current Chinese astrological animal to its name...
: A well-known international rock-band festival held inside this park since 1995 - Most parts of the movie Cape No. 7Cape No. 7Cape No. 7 ) is a 2008 Taiwanese romance comedic music-drama film written and directed by Wei Te-Sheng, his first full-length motion picture. The film is in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese with significant lines in Japanese. Before its commercial release, the film was world premiered on June 20,...
were filmed inside this park, and nearby HengchunHengchunHengchun of Pingtung County is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung County. Hengchun has a land area of 136.7630 square kilometers and has a population of 31,123 as of August 2009....
External links
- Hot Kenting Travel(in Traditional Chinese)
- Official website (in EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) - Kenting National Park in WikiTravel
- UU Kenting(in Traditional Chinese)
- Kenting National Park on Taiwan Mag(in French)
- Coastal Observations: Erluanbi, Southern Taiwan in Shore & Beach, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 36–39 (ISSN 0037-4237)
- Mount Dejian, Kenting, Pintung County, South Coast of Taiwan, Coastal Photograph by Hubert ChansonHubert ChansonHubert Chanson is a professor in hydraulic engineering and applied fluid mechanics in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland since 1990...
in Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 25, No. 3, May, p. 672 (ISSN 0749-0208)