About Green Island

Green Island, once known as "Fire Island" is a small island located 33 kilometers in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South Eastern Taiwan . Having a population of 2000 on an area of 16,2 square kilometers, the island was formed by volcanic action which left a curved and complex coastline. Coastal beach terraces and cliffs drop to colorful coral reefs where schools of tropical fish make their abode. Along the shoreline, white coral beaches can be found and numerous coves which lead into warm tropical waters.

A nature-lover’s paradise, this sparsely-populated island can be circumnavigated in 30 minutes by scooter. A small “town" including an airstrip and harbor, is located on the western part of the island. The rest of the island has been kept free from commercial development offering the visitor unspoiled natural beauty both on and off-shore.

What to See and Do on Green Island

The climate is tropical and any time is good to visit especially fall and spring ( winters never get cold -Minimum 19 Deg C and the water temperature is always above 20 Deg C). April to September is hot and also the Taiwanese peak season- and also typhoon season.December and January are the cooler months (20-30 Deg C), but also offer great visibility if you like diving and the warm Japanese current that ensures comfortable water temperatures . Activities here include diving, snorkeling, hiking, salt water hot springs and fishing. There is not a lot of nightlife here, except for the nightly parties down at the hot springs (one of only three seawater hot springs in the world!).The hot springs are open all-year around.

A Hot spring with a view!

....fresh fish

Some of the other areas to visit include the prisons and prison visitor centre,the lighthouse, Kuynyin Cave ( containing an interesting temple with a stalagmite dressed up in a cape to represent the deity Kuanyin), and a trail that leads to the top of Huoshao Mountain (an extinct volcano -the lava that flowed from it created Green Island ). Unspoiled white beaches are to be found all around the island.Please note that the prisons are a "must see" and the prison visitor center offers an in-depth insight into Taiwan's modern history.

....................A retired water buffalo enjoying its SPA!

.......beginners luck?..

Surveys show that the island is home to more than 300 species of fish, with reef fish being the most abundant. Most of these fish are brightly colored in complicated patterns; and the sight of these beautiful fish flitting among the coral, which itself vies for attention with a multitude of shapes and shades, forms a wildly colorful undersea tableau.

Warm, clear, shallow seas provide an ideal environment for the growth of coral. Green Island is surrounded by this kind of excellent ocean environment, and thus has produced a beautiful world of coral. There are a large number of coral species here, and their ratio of cover is high; everywhere, you can see cityscapes of coral flourishing under the waves. There are also a large number of shellfish and crustacean species, and the huge quantities of miniature shellfish along the shoreline is one of the unique features of the island. More than four species of sea snakes thrive in the waters off the western side of the island; they have a gentle nature but are also equipped with strong poison, so wise skin-divers maintain a safe distance from them.

If you want to observe the fascinating underwater world of Green Island, you have a variety of choices. You don't even have to get wet; you can take a glass-bottom boat, a semi-submersible, or a fully submersible tourist submarine. If you have been properly trained, you can don scuba tanks and become a part of the underwater world yourself.

The archaeological excavations have proved that human activities at Green Island can be traced back to 4,000 years ago and indigenous cultures had been found around the island since then till the very late period. In 1799 (the 4th year of Jia-Qing Reign, Qing Dynasty), Chen Bi-xian, a fisherman from Siaoliouciou, led a group of people to Green Island to exploit the land.  Later, after Han people moved in, fights began to occur between them and Dawu people. As the exploitation of the Han people, Dawu people gradually moved backward to the area around Zhong Liao and finally withdrew from Green Island. During Qing Dynasty, Han people mainly relied on agriculture, supplemented by fishery and lumbering and this had made this island an autonomic and self-supporting closed society which was not under the control of Qing Government. During the Japanese colonization period, although the introduction of skipjack tuna of pole and line fishery and Katsuo industry had promoted the development of commerce and fishery, forests suffered unprecedented destruction. After 1961, Cheng Gong Fishing Port and Fu Gang Fishing Port (originally called Jialulan Port or Qielan Port) were successively accomplished and deer-raising industry also started to become prosperous. However, since 1991, the rapid development of sea and air transport, the fast growth of tourist population and the changes of social structure have all brought great impacts on the environment and ecology. 

　In addition, the historical sites in the Green Island Human Rights Memorial Park, especially the one representing the history of “white terror”, is indeed one of the special historical circumstances of Taiwan.  It stands for an important course of Taiwan’s human rights and democratic development and contains significant educational meanings. This is a humanistic tourism resource that will surely impress people. 

　Green Island is rich in diverse ecological and landscape resources. Nevertheless, its ecology resources will be seriously threatened if tourism activities, which have poured into the island, are not properly planned and managed. Unfortunately, the abundant resources perhaps have been destroyed by a certain degree during the initial stage of tourism promotion. There are fewer and fewer international level landscapes, especially the ecology of coral reefs, which has been most threatened. If the issue of resource sustainability is not seriously considered while developing the relevant tourism businesses, then sustainable management will be very hard to attain. Hence, experts and scholars have proposed the establishment of a national park or protected marine zone for the sustainable use of Green Island’s bountiful resources.

About Taiwan

Brief Description

Historical accounts report that Taiwan was first settled by wandering peoples of Malay-Polynesian descent. They built simple housing along the low-lying coastal plains, and named their new found home, Pakan.

Taiwan's modern history began in the late 16th century when the first European explorers entered the area. Jan Huygen van Linschoten, a Dutch navigator on a Portuguese ship, named the island (Ilha Formosa) meaning (beautiful island), and the Formosa name stuck for the next four centuries.

Long controlled by China, it was a military defeat in 1895 that forced China to cede (give) Taiwan to Japan. 50 years later, after the end of World War II, Taiwan reverted to Chinese control.

On China's mainland the Communist Revolution took hold in the mid-1940s, and after the Communist victory in 1949 over General Chiang Kai-shek and his forces, the losers sought refuge on Taiwan, and quickly established their strict military control.

Over the next few years an additional two million Chinese Nationalists fled to Taiwan, but they remained in the minority as they collectively made up only 15% of the overall population.

Over the next five decades, the Taiwanese majority gradually democratized by installing much-needed economic and social reforms; policies that subsequently changed the island forever.

During this period of change Taiwan prospered, and transformed itself into one of Asia's modern economic powerhouses, along with South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. Today, Taiwan is the 17th largest economy in the world, and its immediate and long term futures are certainly bright.

The major front-burner issue for all Taiwanese is their relationship with China, and specifically the possibility of eventual unification; it's a complicated, controversial and contentious question.