Living in Penghu

 
 
 

Townships

HUXI AREA

Huxi is a rural township in Penghu County (the Pescadores). It is located on the eastern part of the Penghu Main Island and is the largest township in Penghu County. Huxi Township includes ten minor islands. There are many villages in the township. Among them, Guoye village is famous for its sunrise since it is at the most eastern corner of Penghu Main Island. Beiliao village is considered as a beautiful place with both sea views and a hill.

MAGONG AREA

Magong is a county-administered city and seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island. As the most philanthropic and benevolent spot of Penghu or Piscadores Islands, Magong City is the very pivot to connect all townships, cities and external zones, with bustling construction of industrial, commercial, agricultural and fishery facilities.

BAISHA AREA

Baisha is a rural township in Penghu County (the Pescadores). It is located to the north of Penghu Main Island and linked to Siyu Island by the Penghu Trans-Oceanic Bridge, which at 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long is the longest of its kind in East Asia. The township has a population of 9,809.

XIYU AREA

Xiyu is a rural township encompassing Xiyu/Si Island[3]/Hsi Island,[4] also known as Fisher Island, Yuweng or Pescadores Island, which is among the three major islands of the Penghu County (the Pescadores), Taiwan. It has a population of 8,438 and an area of 18.7148 square kilometres.

The major scenic spots include some forts and lighthouse. They were built or reconstructed in the Qing Dynasty, and were credited as National Relic Site of Taiwan.

WANGAN AREA

Wangan is a rural township in Penghu County (the Pescadores), Taiwan. It is the second smallest township in Penghu County after Cimei Township. The township is made up of nineteen islands, six of which are inhabited.

QIMEI AREA

Qimei is a rural township in Penghu County. The island is the fifth largest in the Penghu and the southernmost island in the group. It is the smallest township in Penghu County.

 

Environment & Weather

Landforms

The coastline of Penghu is crooked and lasts for 448,974 long. Except for the common cape bays, we can also see wave-erosion platform, wave-erosion cliff, wave-erosion cavity, sandy coast and rocky coast landforms along the coast area.

The lay of the isles are mostly gentle and almost every isle are surrounded by cliffs. The top is flat and no obvious ups and downs of the high mountains can be felt. It is a typical square mountain landform. The main reason to cause this landform is that the volcanoes under the ocean have erupted with basalt flow. This flow came out with many layers of water-made rock formations of marine facies fossil. After many times of slow activities under the sea, a more flat under-ocean landform occurred. with a few more times of the change of the sea level, the landform is exposed in the air and has been eroded into what it looks like today and also becomes the most obvious landmark of Penghu. 

 

Temperature

Penghu is located at the edge of the Asian continent and its climate is deeply influenced by the large area climate. Penghu is roughly located on the tropic of cancer. Its average temperature of the year is 23°C ; the lowest is 16.2°C in February and the highest is 32°C in July. Surrounded by the ocean, the temperature in Penghu is logically moderate. But due to the lack of vegetation on the ground, Penghu is heated by the sunshine in summer and becomes hot even with the south wind swaying. In winter, with the strong northeast trades blowing, people feel colder than it really is.

 

Rainfall

Due to the flat terrain and lack of high mountains, an orographic rain is impossible to occur. And the average annual rainfall is only 1000mm. Plus factors such as wind velocity, sunshine..., the annual amount of evaporation can reach 1600mm.The difference between dry season and rainy season is obvious. Every October to next March is the dry season and the amount of rainfall is around 200mm; every April to September is the rainy season the amount of rainfall is around 800mm. It rains about 95 days a year. 

 

Monsoon

The strong monsoon is a special natural phenomenon in Penghu. Penghu is located in the monsoon standard area and when the northeast monsoon during autumn and winter goes through Taiwan Strait which is shaped like a tunnel, its blast strengthens and often bathes Penghu in its chilly wind. Under this monsoon system, Penghu area is bathed with the wind from high latitude in winter and mostly northeast monsoon. Due to the lack of landform protection, the wind speed in Penghu is quite fast in winter and usually it is at least 6m/sec (which equals level 4) from October to next January. However, when there is continental cold air mass coming toward the south, the wind speed could reach level 8 and sometimes 12.

Ocean

The ocean current
Penghu is surrounded by the ocean with clear water and both the North Shallow Fishing ground in the north and the South Shallow Fishing ground in the south. Also with the branch of the Japan current ( Kuroshio ) passing by, it has been a great natural fishing ground since long ago.  Morning and evening 

Tides

In Penghu there is a tide called "halfday tide". Everyday, there will be two high and low tides. Generally speaking, along the coast of the both sides of the waterway, the tides flow toward north when at high tides and toward south when at low tides. Tides have a great influence on Penghu. For example, the number of isles. And the intertidal zone forms an important working field for people in Penghu. Also this zone is a great relax place for visitors and tourists

Food

Penghu is known for seafood and offers top-notch fresh seafood although this tends to be quite expensive. But you can find other dishes, desserts, and snacks with their own unique tastes. Besides these famous food, you still can find restaurants such as Thai food, Vietnam food, Western food. If you are a vegetarian, don’t worry. You can find vegetarian restaurants in Penghu.

Cactus Fruit Ice Cream

This cactus ice cream is quite tasty and is sold everywhere. It is actually made from a fruit that grows on the cactus plants. You can get it as an ice cream, popsicle, or cake and cookie filling.

Brown Sugar Cake

Brown sugar cake is sold all around Taiwan, but it is quite famous inPenghu. You can buy it in small loaves, but it will last only 2-3 days before going bad. The cake is not baked, but steamed, so its texture is soft and moist.

 
 

Shaved Ice With Grass Jelly

Shaved ice grass jelly is one of the desserts you must have on your hands to combat the heat! Cooling yet affordable, this bowl of grass jelly topped with condensed milk and generous servings of ingredients is all you need to keep you refreshed for your next activity in Penghu.

Scallion Pie

Location:

  1. 郵局口蔥油餅: No. 36, Huimin 1st Rd, Magong City, Penghu

  2. 蔥蛋餅: No. 16號, Wenhua Rd, Magong City, Penghu

COOKING BY YOURSELF

You can buy groceries at the following locations:

(1) Chuan Lien (全聯) and Farmers’ association (農會)

These stores sell most of your basic necessities: meat, eggs, tofu, drinks, chips, etc. as well as clothes, shoes, kitchen supplies and just about everything else for that matter. Most of the food items are Taiwanese, but they do sell a decent variety of American snack foods and candy. Look around and find what you like.

(2) Traditional Markets

Traditional markets can be found in neighborhoods everywhere selling fresh vegetables, meat, rice, beans, noodles, etc. They are great places to buy vegetables and meat, but you need to speak some Mandarin Chinese or even Taiwanese there. Check it out and decide for yourself.

Transportation

Scooter

Scooter is the most convenient transportation in Penghu

Bus

Penghu has several bus lines that run throughout the island.

Events and Festivals

Lantern Festival 元宵節 - The Turtle Granting Contest

Lantern Festival in Penghu has a lot of fun! Every temple on the island holds different activities. Besides the turtle granting contest, there are also a lot of food, games, and riddles. Furthermore, the lights on the fishing boats in Waian, are also the climax of the Lantern Festival there.

Winter solstice / Dongzhi 冬至

In Taiwan, Dongzhi was originally celebrated as an end-of-harvest festival. Today, it is observed with a family reunion over the long night, when pink and white tangyuan are eaten in sweet broth to symbolize family unity and prosperity.

In Penghu, we make jimugou, a kind of tangyuan. The shapes of jimugou are all animals such as cows, hens and dogs. Besides, we also make savory tangyuan.

Penghu International Fireworks Festival 澎湖花火節

The Penghu International Fireworks Festival is not the only incentive attracting sightseers to the "Gaillardia pulchella Foug Island" during the summer season but it has certainly become a spectacular scene that lights up the evening sky over the isles that people look forward to seeing every summer. The first Festival took place in 2003 and invited well-known Taiwan singers and performing groups to entertain. The amazing high-altitude fireworks display, romantic music, cascading rockets and a sea of lanterns all turn Penghu into a resplendent scene, more and more beautiful as night falls! The Penghu International Fireworks Festival has become one of the grand events of the summer season and a beautiful and magnificent night scene for visitors to the Gaillardia pulchella Foug Island.