Magical and fascinating stories hover over one of the most beautiful lakes in the world which has the shape of a sun combined with a half-moon.
Taiwan is full of wonderful natural scenery, but there is one place that most of all enchants and impresses citizens and travelers from all over the world, and that is Sun Moon Lake. It is a lake suspended between the mountains in the heart of the island, characterized by an evocative name that can be linked to one of the legends that revolve around its creation. For some, however, the name recalls its shape which, with a little imagination, evokes the sun combined with a half-moon.
Sun Moon Lake is the largest natural lake on the island of Taiwan and its coast is inhabited by the Thao tribe, a small group of Taiwanese aborigines to whom most of the legends relating to the mountains surrounding the lake are connected.
One of these concerns his discovery. According to the Thao tradition, one day the hunters of the tribe, to chase a white deer, arrived on the shores of the lake and were so impressed by the crystal clear waters and the lush vegetation that they chose to move here.
But there is another legend, even more suggestive, which every year attracts here travelers from all over the world, and it is the one that is connected to the name of the lake itself. The story tells that one day the sky was totally darkened, and the sun disappeared, that same night not even the moon illuminated the territory of the Thao. A young couple went out to look for the sun and the moon and found them right in the lake, prisoners of two giant dragons. Thanks to the help of an elderly lady, the two young men managed to defeat the dragons and put the sun and the moon back in their place.
Regardless of the magical and fascinating stories that hover over the lake, its beauty remains undisputed. Also thanks to the small island of Lalu, a strip of land located right in the heart of the natural basin. This land is considered sacred to the Thao tribe and has been recognized as such in recent years. It would be the island, located right in the center of the turquoise waters, that uniquely characterizes the lake by giving it two distinct shapes, respectively a sun and a half-moon.
The Sun Moon Lake is now an oasis of tranquility where you can spend moments of slowness in a breathtaking natural landscape. It is possible to visit the surroundings of the lake with local transport, or on foot or by bicycle thanks to the cycle paths built on wooden walkways along the banks. These are the ones that offer very beautiful and suggestive views of the territory that are absolutely not to be missed.
