South Sea Recreation Area () includes Tongpan islet (桶盤嶼),
Hujing Island (),
Wangan Township (望安鄉) and
Cimei Township (). Tongpan islet and Hujing islet are both known for their abundant geological features: the entire Tongpan islet is surrounded by basalt columns of clear lines that form walls, the most enriched in Penghu, and has long been known as the "Yellowstone Park of Penghu". Wangan Township (望安鄉) used to be known as "Bazhao" (八罩), "zhao" (罩) in
Taiwanese means "collective", which is the collection of eight islands. Since Wangan Island houses a harbor with a seabed composed by a mixture of sand beach and mud, in the early days, in addition to coastal fishery and intertidal zone fishing, local residents used to round up catches with a drag net. The sound was pretty similar to the Chinese pronunciation of 望安 (''wang'an''), hence the name.
Cimei islet (七美嶼) is the fifth largest island in Penghu, and it's situated at the south end of the
archipelago. The natural terrain is well preserved on the island. The spot has had several names during history: between 1662 and 1722, Cimei islet was called "Nan Islet" (South islet, 南嶼), later on the name was changed to "Nanda Islet" (big south islet, 南大嶼). During the last days of the
Qing Dynasty, the name was changed again to "Da islet" (big islet, 大嶼), and this name was used until after the retrocession of
Taiwan to the
Republic of China in 1945. In 1949, the fourth mayor of
Penghu County, Mr. Liu Yanfu (劉燕夫), agreed to change the official name of the islet to "
Cimei" (in
Mandarin Chinese it means seven beauties, 七美). The local legend says that there were seven beautiful women on the island that, in order to avoid being
raped by
pirates, committed suicide throwing themselves into a
water well. The site of the well is now revered as the tomb of the seven.
Tongpan Geology Park (桶盤地質公園) Tongpan islet is 6 nautical miles off the coast of Magong Island. The entire island is surrounded by columns of basalt. The columnar joints and platy joints on this island are all very well developed: being originally a hexagon or a pentagon, the rock columns are now pretty much circular on the edges due to erosion. The color has also faded due to oxidation, some parts of the basalt columns have already been transformed into a ball shape. There is an
abrasion platform on the southwestern coast of Tongpan that has a concentric circles formed by the basalt lava, called the "lotus platform" (蓮花座).
Hujing Island Recreation Area (虎井嶼遊憩區) Hujing Island sits seven nautical miles off the coast of Magong City. The trip from there takes about 25 minutes by boat. The seventh largest island in Penghu is flat and low in the center, rising up on the east and west, with basaltic transverse joints lined up along the coast. When the tide ebbs, visitors can see the clear sea water, which is what makes this place, "Hujing Clear Deep" (虎井澄淵), one of the eight best known sights in Penghu. There is also a legend: the legend of "Hujing Sunken City" (虎井沈城). It says that there was something that resembled a decadent
city wall lying at the bottom of the ocean beneath Hujing. There has never been a real answer as to what the truth really is, and there has long been two discrepant theories among academics: one states that "the sunken ancient city is the basaltic columnar joint terrain extended under the sea from Tongpan and Hujing, therefore forming the false impression of a sunken city". The other theory says that there must be another reason for it, because the structure is documented in historical literature, and not only is in the ancient history books, but also in many local legends that name this unusual sight.
Yuanyang Hole, Zangjun Cave (鴛鴦窟、藏軍洞) "Mandarin ducks hole" (Yuanyang Hole) is situated northeast of Wangan Island. It is a naturally formed valley. Legend says that in the early days, there were many water holes here, and mandarin ducks used to dabble with water and rest here, hence it was named "Yuanyang Hole" (鴛, yuan, means male Mandarin duck -
Aix galericulata- and 鴦, yang, means female Mandarin duck). There is an islet that forms a barrier on the sea that protects the place from strong waves. The islet has a mountain that resembles a horse (馬, ma, in
Mandarin Chinese), so the islet is called Ma'an Mountain Islet (馬鞍山嶼). Taking this into consideration, the place was transformed into an important
Japanese Navy base during the Japanese occupation of
Taiwan and
Penghu. The origins of Zangjun Cave are closely associated with this period of the
history of Taiwan too. In 1944, during the
Second World War, the
Imperial Japanese Army forced the residents of Wangan and Zangjun islands to dig this cave to store
gunpowder and
weapons. It was also designed to be used as a
bomb shelter for residents to cover from
air raids. Just before it was to be completed, Japan declared its
unconditional surrender, and the base was abandoned. Many of the caves initially built have collapsed, but some of them can still be seen.
Tiantai Hill Tiantai Hill () is situated on Wangan Islet. Gangqiu Grassland (岡丘草原) is the highest place on Tiantai Hill. Nearby, the place for the famous Penghu
aragonite can be seen. The surrounding grassland is flat, with occasional
cattle or
goats trotting by. Tiantai Hill has become the best place to watch Wangan Islet and Hua islet from a distance. Tiantai Hill is a piece of micro-gabbro rock with sheeting joints. There is a magnificent basalt landscape beneath the sea cliff on the west side and visitors will also see a hole of about 30 meters high that leads directly to the sea. Some "stone flowers" can also be seen.
Wang'ankou beach Wang'ankou Beach () is called the "Dream Beach" because of its soft white sand accompanied by clear blue ocean. Whenever the tide rises, the clean white beach will enter the clear blue ocean. When watched from the distance, it looks just like a skirt, swaying in the wind. The beach is also a place
green turtles
migrate back to. From May to October, visitors can see the crawl marks on the beach left behind by the turtles. Professional guides provide tourists with the necessary explanations.
Wangan Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center In 1994, the first
green turtle carrying a
satellite tracker set out from Wangan in Penghu, heading North crossed the
Taiwan Strait, through the
East China Sea Shelf, ending up in an island south of
Kyūshū in
Japan. The turtle spent three years and traveled 3,400 kilometers back to Penghu, providing an important record for the research of green turtles in
Taiwan. Many beaches on the
island of Taiwan were recorded to have sea turtles coming ashore to lay eggs, but as development changed the coastal environment, fewer places were able to support natural life. Today, there are only a few places left in the island of
Taiwan, but the reserve in Wangan Township of Penghu County is a place where green turtles visit more often and more steady to lay eggs. Shouldn't be a surprise, considering the low level of development of the area. Standing southeast of Wangan islet, there is a building shaped like a sea turtle: it's the
Wangan Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center.
Zhongshe Historical House (中社古厝) This spot is one of the more well-preserved traditional houses in
Penghu County. Originally named "Flower House" (花宅), the legend says that when this village was firstly established, their
ancestors looked at the local terrain, and discovered that the mountains surrounding the place were just like lotus petals. Therefore, they firstly named the land around "the heart of the flower" (山仔尾頂, Shanziweiding) and built a house, thus naming it "Flower House", also meaning that the house that was built at the heart of the flower. In 1971, the late president
Chiang Ching-kuo visited the flower house, and observing that it sits in the middle of other four villages in Wangan Township, renamed it "Zhongshe" (中社, the village in the middle). The village is filled with ancient houses that are built of
coral. There were originally over 80 sanheyuan (三合院, old three-section compound house), and now only about 50 of them are still well-preserved. The architectural style of the historical houses in Zhongshe Village is called "one stamp" style sanheyuan (一顆印式三合院建築).
Double-Heart of Stacked Stones There are a total of 558 stone
weirs in Penghu, and up to 88 of them are distributed around Jibei islet, ranking first in the world both in terms of number and density. Local ancestors fed generations of offspring toiling away with these stone weir. Cimei islet has only one stone weir, but because it is shaped like two hearts, it is famous for being the
Double-Heart of Stacked Stones. Originally, the stacked stones was built out of basalt and coral reefs as traditional traps for fishing. Today, the catches have gradually decreased, but the twin hearts design of the stone weir attracts endless tourists here. Twin hearts stone weir is the most well-preserved stone weir in the entire of Penghu. Visitors should check the tide ebb time for the day to see the complete twin hearts shaped stone weir. Every year, a Penghu Stone Weir Festival (澎湖地區眾多石滬中) is held. This is a very big event for tourism in Penghu, together with the Penghu Gourmet Carnival.
Seven Beauties Tomb Situated 500 meters southeast of Nanhu Port in Cimei Township, the Seven Beauties Tomb () is what remains of a well-known story of chastity. The story is also the origin of its place name. There are two stone tablets next to the Seven Beauties Tomb, on the left, is the Seven Beauties Tomb Stone established by the Japanese, and on the right is the Seven Beauties Song tablet, telling the story and origin of the Seven Beauties Tomb. In order for the spirits of the seven beauties to have a place to dwell, residents in Cimei built seven little houses next to the tomb, and placed seven sets of makeup in front of the tomb as offerings for them. Legend has it that during the
Ming Dynasty, a group of pirates came ashore from the southern coast of Cimei. At that time, all the men on the island were out on the sea fishing, with the exception of children and old men. Women were also in the inland. Among them, there were seven ladies who were working nearby in the mountains, doing their laundry beside a
water well when they were attacked by
Japanese pirates. To avoid being
raped by the pirates, the group decided to commit suicide by plunging into the
water well. Afterwards, residents filled the water well with
soil, and seven lushly
catalpa bungei grew later on. In 1949, Mayor Liu Yanfu (劉燕夫) and General
He Zhihao (何志浩) came to visit. General He was inspired by this story and wrote down a Seven Beauties Song on the spot, which was later carved onto the stone tablet; the song goes: 七美人兮百壁姿，抱貞拒絕兮死隨之， 英魂永寄孤芳樹，井上長春兮開滿枝 "the seven beauties are all innocent, and would rather die than be disgraced; their brave spirits will forever be on the trees, which will bloom forever on the well." The story of the seven beauties willing to die protecting their
chastity was thus recorded, and the place was enlarged and became "Seven Beauties Chastity Garden" (七美人貞節園).
Little Taiwan Little Taiwan sits in Donghu Village (東湖村) of
Cimei Township. The place is called this way because looking down from a gazebo, visitors can see the result of years of wave erosion, forming an
abrasion platform shaped like the island of Taiwan on a reduced scale, hence, it is called Cimei Little Taiwan (七美小台灣); there is also a rock shaped like Gueishan Island (龜山島) in the same spot: both structures look even more obvious when the
tide is low.
Great Lion Scenic Area Also located in
Cimei, the Great Lion Scenic Area () overlooks Longcheng (龍埕, "shaped like a
dragon"). The name itself suggests what the place is like: standing high up on the hilltop looking down, visitors can actually see the body, the head and the tail of a dragon, even the foams splashed by the waves seem like white dragons swimming. Longcheng is an abrasion platform with pot holes and chessboard rocks.
Yueli Recreation Area (月鯉港遊憩區) The Yueli Bay (月鯉灣) sits southeast of
Cimei, forming a beautiful arc-shaped bay with white coral and a sand beach; this is the only sand beach on Cimei Island, along with rich recreational resources, and reef coral terrain formed by the coral reefs connected to the island; It is also a known place for diving activities, its corals and tropical fishes. ==Conservation vs development==