Taiwan: travel from temples to skyscrapers

In Taipei, be sure to stop over at Cathay, an incredible antique Chinese market with traditional costumes and craftsmen.
Good and well-equipped trekkers should take the opportunity to make a four-day expedition to Mount Yü.
The Taoist temple of the "Jade Emperor" at Tainan is amongst the most original of all Taiwanese temples, with rites and exorcisms frequently pulling large groups of visitors to witness the spectacle.

Taiwan's Yehliu Geopark is another of its major draws. Until 1962, when Haung Tse-Hsui published a photo series entitled "Yehliu - Forsaken Paradise", the Yehliu geopark was just that: forsaken and paradisical. Nowadays, the site receives over three million visitors each year.

Divided into three areas, the park's first section is home to mushroom and ginger rocks, including famous candle-shaped and ice-cream rocks. The second is slightly smaller but with a similar geological make-up, where you'll find the famous Queen's Head, as well as the charmingly named 'elephant rock', 'fairy's shoe', 'peanut rock' and 'dragon's head'. The third is the narrow wave-cut platform that gives the visitor a glimpse at the park's looming future.

Its flag bearer, though, is the symbolic Queen's Head - a 4,000-year-old rock honed by sea water and strong winds into what locals say is an uncanny resemblance of our esteemed Queen Elizabeth II. Sat precariously atop a rocky outcrop, experts are worried that the regal rock will soon lose its head.