Yangmingshan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yangminghan National Park | |
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IUCN Category II (National Park) | |
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Location: | Taiwan |
Nearest city: | Taipei (majority of park within city limits) |
Area: | 114.56 km² |
Established: | September 16 1985 |
Yangmingshan (Traditional Chinese: 陽明山; Simplified Chinese: 阳明山; pinyin: Yángmíngshān) refers to the Yangmingshan National Park (Traditional Chinese: 陽明山國家公園; Simplified Chinese: 阳明山国家公园; pinyin: Yángmíngshān Guójiā Gōngyuán) and its surrounding area. One of the six national parks in Republic of China (Taiwan), the Yangmingshan National Park is located between Taipei City and Taipei County.
Yangmingshan is the home of famous writer Lin Yutang, the summer residence of Chiang Kai-shek, residences of foreign diplomats, the Chinese Culture University, the meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of the Republic of China, and the Kuomintang Party Archives. Yangmingshan is also the rumored location of an electronic intelligence listening post maintained by the Republic of China government in cooperation with the United States to monitor communications within the People's Republic of China.
The Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery borders the Sijhih end of the National Park.
The National Park is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, and hiking trails, including one over the extinct volcano Seven Star Mountain (七星山).
Yangmingshan was originally called Grass Mountain (草山; Taiwanese: Chháu-soaⁿ) because the main mountains of this region are grassy. In 1950, Chiang Kai-shek renamed the place Yangmingshan in honor of Wang Yangming, a Ming Dynasty Chinese scholar and military official.