This mountain range was originally called "Grass Mountain" (Chinese: 草山; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chháu-soaⁿ) during the Qing Dynasty, in reference to the Datun Mountain (大屯山; Tōa-tūn-soaⁿ).[2] 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 no trees could be seen.
In 1950, President Chiang Kai-shek renamed Grass Mountain to Yangmingshan to commemorate the Ming Dynasty scholar Wang Yangming.[2][4] In 1962, the then Taiwan Provincial Bureau of Public Works began to plan the Yangmingshan National Park. The initial planning area was 28,400 hectares, including Mount Kwan-in and the Tatun Volcanic Group.
Landscape and geology
Unlike most other national parks, the Yangmingshan National Park has a lower elevation. Although the park's elevation ranges from only 200–1120 meters, beautiful landscapes such as ridges, valleys, lakes, waterfalls, and basins are abundant. Andesite rocks make up most of the area's geology.[5]
Xiaoyoukeng
Xiaoyoukeng (Chinese: 小油坑) is a post-volcanic geological landscape area located in the north of Taiwan in Yangmingshan National Park[6][7] at the northwestern foot of Seven Star Mountain.[8] It is approximately 805 meters above sea level and is famed for the fumaroles, sulfur crystals, hot springs and spectacular 'landslide terrain' formed by post-volcanic activity.[9]
Hiking trails to Seven Star Mountain are accessible from the Xiaoyoukeng parking lot. The top of the trail is 1,120 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak of Taipei City. The Xiaoyoukeng trail can connect to Qixing Park, Menghuan Pond, and Lengshuikeng. The trail also connects to the visitor center, Yangmingshan Second Parking Lot, and the Yangmingshan Bus Station.<[6]
An active fumarole at Xiaoyoukeng.A distant view of the fumarole of Xiaoyoukeng.
Flora and fauna
Due to the effects of post-volcanic activity and precipitation, soil in the region is highly acidic. With the influence of the northeast monsoon and the area's microclimates, winter temperatures are much lower than in the surrounding areas.[10] The above factors cause the vegetation to differ from those in other regions at the same latitude. Some medium and high-altitude plants can be found here such as bird-lime tree and hairy Japanese maple. Vegetation groups can be divided into subtropical monsoon rainforests, temperate evergreen broadleaf forests, and mountain ridge grasslands. There are 1360 species of vascular bundle plants in the region.[11] Some of the common ones are red nanmu, large-leaved machilus, Formosan sweet gum, Taiwan cherry, Mori cleyera and dark spotted cherry. The most famous is Taiwan isoetes in Menghuan pond, an aquatic fern only found in Taiwan. Mt. Datun is one of the most well-known places to see some of the 168 species of butterflies in northern Taiwan, With them being most frequently seen from May to August. The most common ones are from the families Papilionidae, Danainae, and Nymphalidae. There are also 122 species of birds in the region.[12] Semi-feral cattle are one of the notable attractions in the area.[13]
Climate
Yangmingshan has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). Summers are warm, humid, and accompanied by torrential rainstorms; while winters are cool, very wet, and very foggy due to the northeasterly winds from the vast Siberian High being intensified by the pooling of this cooler air in the Taipei Basin. Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by the Pacific typhoon season, which occurs between June and October.
The following climate data is for the Anbu weather station. Other places in the national park may have different temperatures.
Climate data for Anbu, Yangmingshan National Park (1991-2020 normals, extremes 1943-present)
^各國家公園基本資料表(PDF) (in Chinese). Construction and Planning Agency, Ministry of the Interior, R.O.C.(Taiwan). June 6, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.[permanent dead link]
