Basalt, wind and the sea goddess
Penghu is a volcanic archipelago of ninety islands, with columnar basalt, a temple older than most of Taiwan's, and a wind that never stops.
Penghu.
Penghu lies about fifty kilometres west of Taiwan, across the Penghu Channel. The archipelago is made of ninety islands and islets covering 141 square kilometres, the remnants of a Miocene shield volcano. Magong, on the main island, is the county seat and the site of a Mazu temple that may be the oldest in Taiwan. Fishing and tourism support the islands, and the winter monsoon is strong enough to strip paint and bend trees.
Penghu
The fish traps of Wang'an
On a small island group in southern Penghu, farmers built stone walls across the tidal flats to trap fish. Some are still repaired each year.
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Photo credits and rights
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The Penghu islands from the air, a scatter of basalt hills in shallow water.Wing1990hk / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Inside the Penghu Tianhou Temple in Magong, with the red lanterns and the incense urn.舟集 Boattoad / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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A shallow green beach on Wang'an island, Penghu.Huang Chung Yu / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
