Getting to Know the Sunflower Generation

A Fulbright Year Learning from Taiwan's Youth

What to Worry About (it’s not coronavirus)

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I’ve been hiking a lot lately. The weather is perfect, and my friend Fann Meeiyuann knows all the great places you can get to on a bus. The hikes are fantastic — gorgeous scenery and just the right amount of challenging — and you can be back in town in time for dinner. But the warning signs are pretty intimidating.

Caution Poisonous snakes Poisonous wasps
I’ve never seen the wasps, but I did once come upon a bamboo snake, which is a highly-venomous, bright green snake. That was 30 years ago, though. It is far from the only poisonous snake in Taiwan. One of my friends saw a cobra on a trail on the east coast.
Beware of venomous hornets and snakes.
Or maybe those wasps are really hornets.
Sign indicating falling rocks.
This is a very credible threat.
Don not feed or catch insects or other wildlife. Watch out for poisonous snakes, wasps, and leeches.
Okay, snakes and wasps I can handle, but LEECHES??
Watch out for cows.
Umm … okay?
A sign with a cartoon snake and a cartoon wasp and the word "Caution"
How could you be scared when the venomous critters are so cute?

The most dangerous animal I’ve seen here isn’t on any of the signs: a monkey. They’re fun to watch, but if you make them mad, you’d better run.

If you’re brave enough to walk past the warning signs about the snakes, wasps, hornets, leeches, falling rocks and cows, here are some of the beautiful sights you can enjoy.

A pond in the foreground, mountains in the background.
Cherry blossoms
Cherry Blossoms
Mountain Trail
People soaking their feet in a hot spring pool.
At the end of a day hiking on Yangmingshan, a volcanic mountain just outside Taipei, you can soak your feet in a natural hot spring. You can also soak the rest of your body but you need to plan ahead for that.

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