Orchid Island

About this place

Orchid Island is a volcanic island of 45 square kilometres off the south-east coast of Taiwan, called Pongso no Tao, island of human beings, by its indigenous Tao people. Its green mountains drop to a coast of oddly shaped rocks, and it is considered a potential World Heritage Site. The ancestors of the Tao settled here about 4,000 years ago during the Austronesian expansion, according to genetic studies. They kept ties of trade and marriage with the Batanes Islands of the Philippines, and their oral history tells the same origin. The island appeared on Japanese maps in the seventeenth century and took its present Chinese name in 1947, after local orchids. Its people live by farming, flying fish and taro. The road around the island is the finest part of a visit, past rocks named for the dragon, the tank and the twin lions. Goats stand on the rocks, and green meadows rise above the sea. Ivalino village has traditional half-underground houses built against the wind. The sky is dark here, so people see the Milky Way on clear nights. Lesser Orchid Island lies offshore, empty. The island is 89.7 km in a straight line south-east of Taitung, reached by boats and small planes that can stop in rough seas. The Tao have strong traditions: ask before photographing people, houses and boats, and do not enter private property. Bring enough cash, as services are limited, and avoid the typhoon months of July to September.