While members of the public are prohibited from taking up permanent residence on Pengchia Islet (
Born in 1950 on Pengchia, the lighthouse keeper, Peng Hsing-shih (
Peng has served in the lighthouse for 28 years, making him the most senior person on Pengchia.
PHOTO: CNA
With his family name (
During the Japanese colonial era, some Taiwanese residents are said to have relocated to the islet to seek shelter from Japanese rule.
They then gradually moved back to Taiwan proper after Japanese rule ended.
Given that Pengchia Islet remains a controlled zone under military rule , the public is not allowed to tour the island.
But more than 40 people are stationed on Pengchia, including officers of the Coast Guard Administration and marine corps, as well as personnel for marine radar observation stations and officials with the Central Weather Bureau.
There are seven lighthouse keepers on Pengchia, with one acting as the chief, four as regular keepers and the remaining two serving on a rotational basis.
But life for the lighthouse keepers can be boring.
Their wives and children are not allowed to stay live on Pengchia, and giving birth to a child on the island would be impossible.
But Peng said he is comforted by the fact that he has to work only two weeks a month.
When asked if his children will follow in his footsteps and one day serve as lighthouse keepers, the father of three daughters and one son said he is not sure.
Pengchia, also known as Tachihshan Islet (大峙山嶼), is located 55km from Keelung's harbor.
The islet is around 114 hectares in area and has a terrace-like topography, with precipices on the east, south and north ends.
A makeshift jetty on the southern shore allows boats to land. According to military servicemen, a walk around the island takes about two hours.
The islet is covered with wild grass but lacks trees, due to its thin layer of topsoil.
Pengchia depends on Taiwan proper for regular water supplies, while power generators provide only enough electricity to run the instruments at the weather station.
The government is planning to upgrade the electricity and water supplies to the islet.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
RSS