Yangmingshan

Yangmingshan National Park (Chinese: 陽明山國家公園; pinyin: Yángmíngshān Guójiā Gōngyuán) is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan, located between Taipei and New Taipei City. The districts that house parts of the park grounds include Taipei's Beitou and Shilin Districts; and New Taipei's Wanli, Jinshan and Sanzhi Districts. The National Park is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes, and hiking trails, including Taiwan's tallest dormant volcano, Seven Star Mountain (1,120 m).

History

This mountain range was originally called Grass Mountain (草山; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chháu-soaⁿ) during the Qing Dynasty, in reference to Datun Mountain (大屯山; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tōa-tūn-soaⁿ). Officials during this period were worried about thieves stealing sulfur from the rich sulfur deposits in the area so they would regularly set fire to the mountain. Thus, only grass and not trees could be seen.

Daiton National Park (大屯国立公園), Taiwan's first national park, was one of three National Parks designated by Governor-General of Taiwan Seizō Kobayashi during Japanese rule in 1937.