Rocky and unforgiving in several places, Taiwan's North Coast also boasts fine sandy beaches and stunning vistas. Inland, typically it is rugged and precipitously steep, but there are also hot springs, rushing rivers, and several waterfalls. Unfriendly to farmers and often hazardous to seafarers, this landscape is certainly dramatic - and, for that reason, very attractive to tourists.

The North Coast & Guanyinshan National Scenic Area encompasses two separate sections of North Taiwan's Taipei County. The larger part consists of the seashore, part of the ocean, and a strip of land either side of Fuguei Cape, Taiwan's northernmost point. The smaller part of the Scenic Area is centered on the 616-meter-high mountain called Guanyinshan.

If you fly into Taipei international airport, or take a domestic flight from the south of the island to the capital, you may well see Guanyinshan before landing. An eighteen-peaked expanse of rock and greenery, crisscrossed by hiking paths and dotted by Buddhist and folk shrines, this massif stands like a sentinel looking over the mouth of the Danshuei River.

To get from Guanyinshan to the main part of the Scenic Area, you'll probably go through Danshuei. This seaside town is a long-established tourist attraction in its own right, full of old charm, famous sunset views, and delicious seafood snacks. In the late nineteenth century, it was one of the first places in Taiwan where Western people, goods, and ideas had a significant impact, and traces of this era - in the form of schools, churches, and even graves - can be seen even now.

Heading north from Danshuei, one comes first to Sanjhih Township. This district has produced more than its fair share of Taiwanese worthies, including former President Lee Teng-hui and puppetry master Li Tien-lu. The Sanjhih Gallery of Famous Sons celebrates the lives and achievements of Lee and others, while Li Tien-lu's work is commemorated in the museum that bears his name. Sanjhih also has natural attractions, notably the Red Leaf Valley and the Balian Stream, plus Hengshan's photogenic rice terraces.

Shihmen is Taiwan's most northerly township. In Baishawan, it has one of Taiwan's finest beaches. But the further east one goes, the more rugged the coast becomes, until - near the raucous Temple of the Eighteen Lords at Chaohua - there's barely space for a road between the crashing waves and the near-vertical hillsides. If you've a passion for seafood, make sure to stop at the Fuji Fishing Harbor and Tourist Fish Market.

Jinshan has long been a town of some importance, as the range of businesses on historic Jinbaoli Street shows. It also has hot springs, and a superb coastal park from where you can see the Twin Candlesticks, Sulfur Harbor, and Yehliou.

The North Coast's most famous attraction - the jewel in the Scenic Area's crown, as it were - is undoubtedly Yehliou Geopark, in Wanli Township. This park, a peninsula, showcases rocks that have been eroded by the elements in unique and beautiful ways. Wanli's other attractions - waterfalls, mountain peaks, and the hiking trails that link them - are several kilometers away, and hundreds of meters above sea level.

Whether you're seeking a bleak, deserted strip of shore, the sun beating down on a sandy beach, or history, culture and good food, you'll find it in the North Coast & Guanyinshan National Scenic Area.

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