Alishan (阿里山鄉) is a rural township in Chiayi County, Taiwan. It has a population total of 6,180 and an area of 427.8471 square kilometres. It is located at an elevation of 2,190 metres (7,190 ft) in the western highlands of Taiwan.
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Alishan is the main base for trekkers in the highlands of Taiwan and for mountain climbers aiming to scale Yu Shan, Taiwan’s highest peak and the highest and sole formerly glaciated[1] point on the Tropic of Cancer. Chu Shan, though lower, is more accessible and climbed by most visitors to the region, which is extremely popular with Taiwanese tourists. The highland region in which Alishan is situated also contains a number of notable rock formations from the continuing uplift of the island.
Alishan has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) with extremely wet and mild conditions during the monsoon season when the town receives 3.2 metres (130 in) of rain in five months, and cool and drier conditions during the winter months. When typhoons hit Taiwan during the wet season, rainfall in highland locations like Alishan can exceed 1 metre (39 in) per day, which is the heaviest rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere and exceeded only in a few oceanic islands of the Southern Hemisphere such as Réunion.
| Climate data for Alishan (1981～2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) |
11.7 (53.1) |
13.8 (56.8) |
15.7 (60.3) |
16.9 (62.4) |
18.1 (64.6) |
19.1 (66.4) |
18.7 (65.7) |
18.3 (64.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
15.5 (59.9) |
12.4 (54.3) |
15.7 (60.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) |
3.7 (38.7) |
5.8 (42.4) |
8.2 (46.8) |
9.7 (49.5) |
11.3 (52.3) |
11.2 (52.2) |
11.4 (52.5) |
10.6 (51.1) |
8.8 (47.8) |
6.6 (43.9) |
3.5 (38.3) |
7.8 (46.0) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 71.7 (2.823) |
137.3 (5.406) |
166.5 (6.555) |
254.2 (10.008) |
493.6 (19.433) |
649.6 (25.575) |
668.3 (26.311) |
809.3 (31.862) |
432.9 (17.043) |
146.7 (5.776) |
46.3 (1.823) |
55.9 (2.201) |
3,932.3 (154.815) |
| % humidity | 71.4 | 73.1 | 73.7 | 75.2 | 76.7 | 77.7 | 75.8 | 76.0 | 76.5 | 72.5 | 70.8 | 69.3 | 74.1 |
| Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 7.6 | 8.5 | 10.6 | 13.3 | 18.4 | 20.0 | 20.3 | 22.0 | 17.9 | 9.7 | 5.7 | 6.2 | 160.2 |
| Sunshine hours | 158.8 | 126.9 | 141.5 | 121.8 | 109.2 | 105.1 | 127.0 | 107.7 | 104.2 | 142.3 | 155.5 | 165.5 | 1,565.5 |
| Source: Central Weather Bureau[2] | |||||||||||||
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