Pingtung

National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium (NMMBA) was established in 1991 and it is the first marine biology museum in Taiwan. It aims at marine biology research and education. At the south-west coast, NMMBA is the first building on the road showing you that you have arrived in Kenting. The whole area is 97 hectares large and the main building is 36 hectares large. 

As you walk in the gate, there are a lot of statues and interesting and interactive facility for you to experience. The museum consists of three main exhibitions: Coral Kingdom, Waters of Taiwan, Pavilion and Waters of the World. There is also a teaching center for you to learn more if you are interested. The most popular activity is the feeding show, you will see the diver playing with fish and sharks in the tank. You might also see seals saying hi to you. White whales are also rarely seen around the world. Walking through the tunnel under the tank, you will see the bottom of all fishes and enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by the ocean. What is even cooler is that you can apply to sleep at the tunnel at night. Let's count the fishes you've seen, and sweet dreams my friend.

Kenting Street Night Market is a 2 kilometer long and huge night market. Thousands of people swarm in every night, especially on weekends. This is probably the biggest market in southern Taiwan, only second to Fengjia Night Market in Taichung. Starting from Kenting National Park, the long line of food and game stands stretches to Caesar Park Hotel. You can find some creative foods around here, like fried Oreos and street stands cocktails. This is probably the place to feel about Kenting party night that every tourist will come. There are various bars and pub with various themes. Just pick one that suits your taste and get some beer time. Watch out! Some of them try very hard to “welcome” you in and dance on the main street. But don't worry, they are mostly safe, just not always very good. This is probably the only place in Taiwan that is like south-east Asian countries, so you can expect to find some exotic restaurants on the street. They provide menus at the doorways so take your pick after checking them out. Souvenirs, souvenirs! There are all kinds of knickknacks, accessories, and artifacts all the way. No matter they are in the shops or on the stands, they are usually attractive and worth taking a look. Forgot your beach wardrobe? Come on! You are in the beach Kenting! All water gears and swimsuits can be found here! If you prefer a quieter place to dine, the street next to the main streets is good for you. There are many restaurants and hostels there for you to enjoy the night. After the Kenting Street Night market, you can also go to the beach listening to the splashing of the waves.

Eluanbi is at the southernmost point of the main island of Taiwan. It is the place you should not miss if you come to Kenting the first time. The lighthouse here is twenty-one meters high and the brightness is 1.8 million watt. It can be seen from 27.2 sea miles away.

This area used to be the land of aboriginals. There are a lot of fatal conflicts between developers from Mainland China and the aboriginals here. In Ching Dynasty, the governor built the lighthouse here and built walls with gun holes to defeat intruders. A martial lighthouse is rarely seen around the world. The current lighthouse was built in 1962 and our government decided to build a park around here. As they were constructing the facility around the house, they discovered a stone-age culture buried here for more than five thousand years.

This park is beautiful either in daytime or nighttime. In the morning, you may enjoy the splendid sunshine on the grassland. At night, he walk to the shore is a bit adventurous for you have to walk through a small forest with dim light, so please bring a flashlight. However, if the weather is good, when you walk out of the forest to the wooden trail built above the coral stone shore, the moon is so bright that you can almost see everything around you. It is truly a heartwarming experience.

On the eastern shore of Hengchun peninsula, Longpan Grassland is famous for the gusting north-east seasonal wind in winter. You should always be careful with your belongs like your hat or even glasses if you stand in the wrong direction against the wind. Hold everything that rolls on the ground tightly as they will simply be blown away. As you walk closer to the shore, you will see a lot of cliff collapse landscape around here. It is truly out of place when you drive around here. You might wonder in a split second if you are driving in the countryside of the wild-wild west and the Pacific Ocean brings you back to reality. This place is also good for star observation with almost no light interference. There are also many people coming here on the very first day of the year to see the sunrise from the sea.

Nanwan is in the middle of Kenting between the two protruding horns of the peninsula. The seawater is very blue so people also call it as Lanwan for Lan means blue in Chinese. The beach is about 600 meters long and the sand is soft and beautiful. So it is suitable for sunbath and having some fun in close-shore water. If you want to see some handsome men and beautiful women in bikinis, this is the place to be. Nanwan is probably the most popular beach in Kenting and it attracts thousands of tourists every weekend. You can rent almost everything about beach activities on the shops around. There are also some activities on water like water scooters, sailing, and boating here. However, please notice that there are some strong currents in this bay area. It is not recommended to swim too far from the shore. Please cooperate with the lifeguards. If you are hungry after all the activities, there are several restaurants and food stands around here. All in all, just take your drink, grab a book, rent an umbrella, and relax with the beautiful sky, people, and the beach.

Sheding Nature Park used to be the land for Paiwan people (排灣族), one of the major aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. The precious part of this park is that it keeps the primitive environment of the 128.7-hectare area.

The first thing you might notice is the amazing shapes of trees here. Due to the gusting north-east seasonal wind, the branches and leaves have to adapt their gesture to cope with it, hence creates these potted plants like trees with brilliant gardening by mother nature. There are also 329 species of plants on record in this park. Indian Barringtonia is one plant you shall pay attention, too. With many butterflies’ favorite plants, there are more than fifty species of butterflies flying around you. 

Another important project here is to restore the Formosan Sika Deers (台灣梅花鹿). There are dozens of them living on the east side of the park. The Paiwan tribe has developed ecology tour service here to take people into the woods to find deers, land crabs, tree frogs, and glowing mushrooms. In October, this is a perfect location with a high ground to observe Grey-Faced Buzzards migrating from northern Asia. Besides the abundant nature life, there are also a dozen of stalactites caves here for your adventure. Please join us on a marvelous park walk that you will never forget! 

Besides Yehliu in northern Taiwan, Kenting is also a geological curiosity. Chuanfanshi means “sail stone”, as it looks like a sail of a boat protruding out on the sea from a distance. This rock was broken from the coral shore. It is hard enough to withstand the erosion that flattened the shoreline behind the stone. The coral shoreline here lies in a bay between two peninsulas in Kenting. So it attracts lots of marine life here. That makes this place a perfect location for snorkelling and scuba diving.

Put on your sandals and have a shoreline walk with us and name the rock by your imagination. Some say it looks like U.S. President Nixon’s head when you walk close to the rock!

Jialeshui means “Water falling from high ground”, and the name is originated from Taiwanese. It is because there is a waterfall here. The special part of the waterfall is that the water directly falls from the cliff into the sea. The late president Chiang Jing-ko hence named it as “The Waterfall of Sea and Mountain”. The location of Jialeshui is at the east of Hengchun peninsula, and is near the mouth of Gangko River, which is the separating point of sand coastline and coral coastline. The two different kinds of rock also formed interesting shapes of “sculptures” by erosion like the frog, the rabbit, the ball, the grid, and the hive stones along the 2.5 kilometers coastline. This place is only second to Yehliu Geopark. There is also a surfing beach for serious surfers and there were several races being held here.

Pingtung’s Shuangliu Forest Recreation Area Forest Park is rarely visited by anyone other than locals. Because it takes more than one and a half hours drive to reach from Kenting, those who are aiming for the sea tend not to take the detour to get here. Taking a turn off Provincial Highway 9 that connects southern Taiwan to Taitung, it only takes five minutes to reach the entrace of the park.Yet, most people miss this natural beauty out of haste.

When you reach the entrance gate in your car, you will be asked to buy a ticket. Taiwanese people who are used to free entry elsewhere can have difficulty getting used to this. But a benefit of needing to pay is that large groups of tourists from Mainland China tend not to bother with a visit to this place, so the recreation area retains its restorative quality. After you park your car, it is an easy walk around the area. Even if you are coming in a wheelchair, you will not have any problems getting around. The little creek in the middle invites kids to take off their clothes and enjoy the pure water. As you walk, many lizards will scatter away in front of you and colorful butterflies will gently dance in the forest. In summertime, you can hear the sound of cicadas from all sides. Sitting under a tree, the whole family enjoying a picnic of fruit, moods are naturally uplifted among the green shade. The most worthwhile sight are the white banyan trees and waterfalls. On the steep and challenging forest walking trail, you are guaranteed to see many old White Bark Banyan trees. These trees are known as “white” because of the color of their falling aerial roots. Sometimes their dense foliage can seem a little like a horror film. Shuangliu Waterfall lies at the end of the walking trail. Even though it is not as magnificent as Kayoufeng Waterfall (卡悠峯瀑布), relaxing and playing in the water here is a real treat.

Hengchun is a place full of historical traces. Various cultures collided with each other in this primitive area. Near the end of Qing Dynasty, Chancellor Shen Bao-zhen was assigned here. He built the first castle town in Taiwan to defeat enemies from the sea. It is now one of the second grade historic site and the only castle town in Taiwan that all gates are still standing today. Some parts of the castle wall are also maintained properly and you can walk on them to imagine the tension in the old days. This is not a big town and you can actually walk leisurely to see the north, east, south, and west gates in half a day. Don't forget to get some green bean ice in summer. This is also the place for bus transit in Kenting.

If you come in August, which is the "ghost month" in lunar calendar, you will see a special event called as "Qiang Gu", which means "race for the oblation". People used to give the oblation for ghost to poor people after the ceremony. However, people got hurt or even killed robbing the food from others. The government decided to put all the oblation on top of a high platform and people will climb the columns to get the food. It gradually evolves to be a game on the ghost day, which is the fifteenth day in July in lunar calendar. In order to rise the difficulty level, the column will be covered with oil! It is an exhilarating race to see on the spot!