The Sun moon lake (日月潭) is Taiwan's largest inland lake and a tourist attraction.
 | ||
| Sun moon lake | ||
| county | Nantou county | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | unknown | |
no value for residents on Wikidata:  | ||
| Tourist info web | http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/ | |
| no tourist info on Wikidata: | ||
| location | ||
| ||
background
Sun Moon Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Taiwan. The lake is divided into the eastern half of the sun shape and the eastern half of the moon shape by the Lalu Island. The symbols for the sun and moon, which are supposedly visible from above, earned it the name Sun-Moon-Lake. Various dam projects, which began during the Japanese occupation, changed the water level drastically, so that the symbols for the sun and moon can no longer be recognized today. Due to its location, the lake is one of the alpine lakes.
history
According to legend, the Thao discovered the lake by chance while hunting a white deer. Believing the beautiful land would hold the Thao tribe together forever, they settled here and named the lake Zintun. The Thao cultivated the area and founded villages such as Shuishe, Toushe, Maolan, Shenlu and Shiying. From the middle of the 17th century, the Thao fought successfully against the Qing government and invading Pingpu tribes. In the 19th century, however, the influence of the Han settlers increased. 600 Thao are still alive today and enjoy special government protection. Due to the extreme commercialization of their home country, however, hardly any Thao live on the Sun-Moon-Lake.
The Sun Moon Lake is also the largest pumped storage power plant in the country. The main source of water is the Zhuoshui River. The total output of the hydropower plants in the Sun-Moon Lake is 2804 megawatts, making it an important source of energy for Taiwan. The lake is also used as storage for more distant energy projects such as nuclear power plants to pump water into the lake when there are free peaks, which later is used again to generate energy.
Flora and fauna
The mountains, rivers and lakes of the sun-moon region are home to a high level of biodiversity. Taiwan's largest evergreen forest can be found here.
getting there
By plane
By train
Arrival by train to Taichung THSR or Taichung main station. From Taichung HBF and THSR there is an hourly Nantou bus 6670
http://www.ntbus.com.tw/en-hsr6.html via Puli to the Sun Moon Lake.
By bus
There are both regular buses from Taichung [1] as well as special tour buses [2][3]to the sun-moon-lake.
The Sun-Moon-Sea Line departs from Taipei Central Station [4].
In the street
From Highway 1 you drive via Chnaghua onto Highway 3 and in Wufeng onto Highway 6, which takes you directly to the Sun-Moon-Lake.
mobility
The best way to get around the lake is by bus, car, bike or moped. Various ferries operate on the lake itself. There are three moorings in total. The boats run every 15 to 30 minutes between 8:50 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Tourist Attractions
- Wenwu Temple. The temple is a very modern temple, which was created when the Longfong and Yihua temples were flooded due to the rising water when the lake was dammed in 1934 and a new temple was built from these temples. Built in 1938 in the style of the Northern Dynasties, the temple has three halls that house the god of literature, the gods of war Guan Di and Yue Fei, and finally Confucius. The present temple was completed in 1971 and badly damaged in an earthquake in 1999 and rebuilt. In front of the temple by the lake are the steps of the years. The staircase is the old entrance to the temple and is hung all over with prayer bells. Today the staircase consists of 366 steps, one for each day of the year. On the steps is which famous people in history have their birthday on that day. You can run up to your level to see who else has a birthday.
- Syuanguang temple. In honor of the Buddhist monk Syuan Zang (this is the monk who went on a journey with Monkey King to bring the Sutra back to China), the temple was built in 1955 on the borderline between Sun Lake and Moon Lake. In front of the temple is the original stone with the inscription Sun-Moon-Lake, which is besieged by Chinese tourist hordes. In order to give every Chinese tourist the opportunity to be photographed with a stone, more stones were set up around the lake to relieve the original stone, which the locals also call strife stone due to the tumult during photography.
- Cih-en pagoda. Chiang Kai-shek was a very devout person and the Feng Shui of the Sun Moon Lake with Erlong Mountain prophesied that a great leader would come from here, who is popular with the people and who will rule Taiwan. To destroy Feng Shui, he had the Cih-en Pagoda built in 1971 in memory of his mother. In Feng Shui this represented a sword that is stuck in the back of the dragon (Mt. Erlong). According to legend, a very popular politician came from the Sun-Moon Lake, but only made it to the mayor of Taipei because of the destroyed Feng Shui.
- Sun moon lake cable car. If you want to have a view of the whole lake, you should take the cable car. The end point of the cable car is the Aboriginal Culture Village, a huge amusement park.Open: daily 10.30 a.m. - 4 p.m., on weekends 10 a.m. - 4.30 p.m.Price: NTD 300 there and back.
- Xiangshan Visitor Center. The modern visitor center with its idiosyncratic concrete architecture does not really fit into the image of the sun-moon-lake. But it houses a very interesting exhibition about the lake. You can also watch Taiwanese tourists enjoy the echo that you have under the concrete ceilings.
activities
There are various cycling and hiking trails to explore the lake and its surroundings in peace.
kitchen
In the Sun-Moon-Lake there are many fish such as tilapia, carp and aruzay as well as small crabs, which are offered in the restaurants. You can also find Thao-style food, especially in Ita Thao, in front of the Syuanguang Temple a special kind of spice eggs, which have been sold here for a long time and have a very different taste from normal spice eggs.
The Sun Moon Lake is an important growing area for Assam tea. The black tea was planted here with other types of tea by the Japanese, but only the Assam tea grew. Whether hot or cold, the special sun-moon black tea should be tried.
accommodation
The hotels on the Sonne-Mond-See are all in the upper price range and mostly overcrowded with package tour groups. Best to stay in Taichung and drives from there to the lake.
security
As everywhere in Taiwan, there is no need to worry about safety except during earthquakes and typhoons.
