Kenting

When it went up in 1883 they dug a moat round it and cut gun ports into the wall. Shipwrecks here ended in fighting with the coastal tribes, and the light had to be defended. It stands inside a park now, reached along a path through coral rock.

A limestone tableland that breaks off at the sea, with nothing growing tall enough to interrupt the view. The wind arrives with nothing in its way, and in winter standing straight takes effort. There are no lights at all, so clear nights bring out stargazers.

The coral rock at the end of the headland is said to be a crouching cat, and it only reads that way from the angle the platform gives you. There is no path down to the water below.

The white sand is crushed shell and coral, coarse under bare feet. The water stays calm enough that a few shops behind the beach hire out snorkel gear, though parking is thin and in season you spend the early afternoon circling.

Stalls line one road in front of the beach resorts, evening after evening. It only fills properly in season and at weekends; on an off-season weekday half of it stays shut. A room on this street will be loud until the small hours.

A paid viewpoint on a hill on the western side of the peninsula. Places fill half an hour before the sun drops into the Taiwan Strait, while the upper car park is small enough that most people leave the car below and take the steps.

The forest grew on coral reef lifted out of the sea, and the roots have prised the rock apart. In places the path threads fissures and caves dissolved from the limestone, tight enough that you turn sideways. Allow about two hours for the loop.

This beach is a protected reserve and closed to anyone on foot. The reason is the sand, almost entirely shell and foraminifera. The exhibition hall beside it keeps a tray of it out to touch.

All four gates of the 1875 town wall still stand. Traffic still passes through them. At the east gate you can climb onto the top of the wall. Since the film Cape No. 7 was shot here, signboards have gone up in the back lanes as well.

Natural gas seeps out of the ground and burns, so flames stand on bare earth — it only reads after dark, when the stalls nearby sell corn to pop over them.

A big aquarium at Checheng with a long undersea tunnel where fish pass overhead. An overnight programme lets you unroll a sleeping bag beside the tanks after closing, and it needs booking. Being on the highway into Kenting, it makes an easy stop.

A wide, calm bay where jet ski and banana boat outfits line the sand. Beyond the beach's far west tip you can see the domes of a nuclear power plant. It is 10 minutes by car from Kenting Main Street.

A coral island about 30 minutes by boat from Donggang, where sea turtles are easy to meet in the shallows. Touching or chasing them brings a fine, so keep your distance. A rented scooter takes you all the way round in under an hour.

A clear carbonated hot spring area in the Checheng foothills, made famous by a visit from Japanese royalty in the colonial era. Spa inns line the stream, and there is a public foot bath. It suits an evening soak after a day at the beach.

A stretch of the peninsula's east coast strewn with sandstone carved by waves into all sorts of shapes. The park is large, so visitors tour it by shuttle cart from the entrance. Strong wind keeps the surf higher than on the west-side beaches.