Taiwan boasts the highest mountains in East Asia. When the Japanese took control of the island in 1895, they were shocked to discover that Yu Shan, at 3,952 metres, was loftier than their own Mount Fuji, and thereby became the highest point in the emperor's domain. As a result, Yu Shan's height was discreetly adjusted in some early Japanese maps of the island.
Today, Taiwan's government is seeking ways to double its tourist numbers by 2008, and it is close to sanctioning the idea of cable cars to whisk visitors to the peaks. Some environmental groups, however, are protesting. The difficulty of getting to the top of these great mountains, they argue, is part of their attraction. Furthermore, crowds on the summits would inevitably mean facilities, such as toilets and food outlets, to cater for their needs.
Taiwan's mountainous interior has always stood in contrast to its densely populated industrial lowlands. Few Taiwanese have ever stood atop their highest peak, and for many decades, access was restricted to the military. That the entrepreneurial lowlanders should one day try to profit from these lonely summits was something that could have been foreseen.
The development of Taiwan's mountainous interior is highly desirable - these awe-inspiring places constitute the island's greatest tourist asset, after all. This aim, however, should also be achieved through fine hotels, spacious and comfortable mountain hostels, and the regular maintenance of mountain trails. Cable cars, complete with supporting towers and stations, should be built sparingly.
Many places in northern Taiwan are today marked by industrial waste - old coal-mining deposits, rusting machinery, and so on. Cable cars - vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, typhoons and snowstorms - could easily join this inheritance of abandoned ventures, irreparably scarring the landscape as a result.
But it is not unnatural for Taiwan to want to facilitate access to its high summits. Switzerland did the same in its era of economic expansion, while in Britain, the Victorians built a mountain railway to the top of Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales. Taiwan certainly deserves more tourists. It is friendly, prosperous, democratic, and one of the most underappreciated destinations in Asia.
