The Pescadores — an archipelago of around 90 islands in the Taiwan Strait, of black basalt cliffs, the oldest Mazu temple, heart-shaped fish traps and summer fireworks.
「漁夫群島」——台灣海峽中約九十座島嶼的群島,有黑色玄武岩崖、全台最古老的媽祖廟、心形石滬與夏夜花火。
Penghu is Taiwan's only island county, an archipelago of around 90 islands and islets scattered across the Taiwan Strait roughly halfway to the Chinese coast. Europeans called the group the Pescadores ("Fishermen"), a name given by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The islands are volcanic: their dark cliffs and reefs are made of columnar basalt, hexagonal stone pillars formed when ancient lava cooled and cracked — one of the world's richest displays of this geology.
澎湖是台灣唯一的島縣,由約九十座大小島嶼組成,散布在台灣海峽、約位於通往大陸海岸的中途。歐洲人稱這片群島為 Pescadores(漁夫群島),是十六世紀葡萄牙人所取的名字。群島屬火山地質:黝黑的海崖與礁岩由柱狀玄武岩構成——這是古代熔岩冷卻收縮、裂出的六角石柱,是世界上最豐富的此類地質景觀之一。
Remarkably, Penghu was settled by Han Chinese earlier than Taiwan's main island. Fishermen and traders from Fujian were active here for centuries, and Magong's Tianhou (Mazu) Temple — founded in 1604 — is regarded as the oldest Mazu temple in Taiwan. The islands' strategic position made them a perennial prize: in 1622–1624 the Dutch occupied Penghu, building a fort, until a Ming fleet forced them out — and the Dutch then withdrew to Tainan to build Fort Zeelandia. The islands were fought over again by the French in 1885 and taken by the Japanese in 1895.
值得注意的是,澎湖的漢人開發早於台灣本島。福建的漁民與商人在此活動已有數百年,馬公的天后宮(媽祖廟)建於 1604 年,被認為是全台最古老的媽祖廟。其戰略位置使它屢成兵家必爭之地:1622–1624 年荷蘭人佔領澎湖、築城,後被明朝艦隊逼退——荷蘭人才轉往台南、建熱蘭遮城。其後法國於 1885 年、日本於 1895 年又先後爭奪此地。
Life here has always been shaped by the wind. Each winter the fierce northeast monsoon — the "Penghu wind" — howls across the treeless islands, salting the soil. Islanders adapted by building thick-walled homes of coral stone (咾咕石) and basalt, and by ringing their vegetable plots with low stone walls (菜宅) against the wind. Along the tidal flats they built stone weirs (石滬) — curving walls of stacked basalt and coral that trap fish as the tide retreats. For generations Penghu lived from fishing, with heavy out-migration; today the economy leans on summer tourism — beaches, the freshest seafood, and the spectacular international fireworks festival over Magong harbor.
這裡的生活始終被風塑造。每年冬天凶猛的東北季風——「澎湖風」——掃過無樹的島嶼、鹽害土壤。居民因應之道,是用咾咕石與玄武岩築起厚牆的房子,並在菜園四周砌起低矮石牆(菜宅)擋風。潮間帶上他們築起石滬——以玄武岩與珊瑚礁石堆疊成的弧形石牆,退潮時將魚困住。世世代代,澎湖靠漁業維生、人口大量外移;如今經濟轉向夏季觀光——海灘、最新鮮的海鮮,以及馬公港上空壯觀的國際海上花火節。
Taiwan's oldest Mazu temple, dated to 1604, in the heart of Magong. A 1604 granite stele inside — commemorating Ming commander Shen You-rong's demand that the Dutch leave Penghu — is the oldest temple stele in Taiwan.
On Qimei Island, the most famous and best-preserved of Penghu's tidal stone weirs, built of basalt and coral into a double-heart shape that traps fish at low tide. Now an icon of romance and Penghu's most photographed sight.
In Xiyu, a dramatic cliff of hexagonal basalt columns, accidentally uncovered during Japanese-era wharf works. After heavy rain, a pool at its base mirrors the pillars for a famous reflection.
A 2,494-metre bridge across the Houmen Channel linking Baisha and Xiyu islands. First opened in 1970, it was once billed as the first sea-crossing bridge in the Far East and remains a signature Penghu landmark.
In Xiaomen Village, a sea arch carved by wind and waves from a basalt cliff. Locals thought the eroded rock resembled a whale, giving the cave its name.
Penghu's largest and best-preserved historic fortress (about 8 hectares), built under Qing official Liu Ming-chuan in the late 1880s after the French attack. Stone-arched gates and a maze of underground tunnels remain.
A 300-plus-year-old banyan in front of Bao'an Temple in Tongliang — the oldest banyan on Penghu's main island. Dozens of aerial roots have spread it into a "mini forest" over 660 square metres; it is the county tree.
Penghu's oldest street, the first Ming-era settlement in the islands. At its north end is the Four-Eyed Well, Penghu's oldest well — a single source capped with a stone slab pierced by four round holes so several people could draw water at once.
The largest island in Penghu's North Sea, famous for its Sand Tail — a long white spit of coral and shell fragments reaching into turquoise shallows, shifting with the seasonal currents — a top spot for swimming and water sports.
A small island south of Magong, ringed by towering columnar basalt pillars (some up to ~30 m). Often called the "Yellowstone of Penghu," it shows the islands' most spectacular basalt jointing.
Penghu's culture was built stone by stone — fish traps in the tide, coral walls against the wind, and the oldest Mazu temple watching over the sea.
Penghu holds the world's largest concentration of tidal stone fish traps — over 500, many a century old — a living record of how islanders fished the intertidal zone with only stacked basalt and coral. Traditional homes were built from coral stone (咾咕石) and basalt, and vegetable plots ringed with low cài-zhái (菜宅) stone walls against the relentless wind and salt spray.
As a community living from and at the mercy of the sea, Penghu centered life on Mazu, goddess of seafarers; Magong's 1604 Tianhou Temple anchors that faith. And the winter "Penghu wind" shaped everything — the thick-walled architecture, the wind-stunted vegetation, the cactus that thrives in salt and sun, and the whole rhythm of island life.
A Taiwanese singer, TV host and actor born in Magong, Penghu. He is forever loved for the 1970s campus-folk song "Grandma's Penghu Bay" (外婆的澎湖灣), which made the islands' scenery iconic in Mandarin pop; his memorial hall stands in Magong's old military-village quarter.
Penghu's truest "famous figures" are collective: the anonymous stone-weir builders who shaped 500-plus tidal traps over centuries, the Mazu devotees who built Taiwan's oldest Mazu temple, and the fishing-and-emigrant families whose hard island life seeded communities across Taiwan and overseas.
Penghu's biggest summer draw — fireworks launched over Magong harbor against the romantic Xiying Rainbow Bridge, on set show-nights across the summer. (The month-span shifts year to year, so check the current schedule.)
Penghu's signature Lantern Festival custom: temples display large "turtles" — molded from glutinous rice, or made of rice sacks, gold or coins — and worshippers cast moon-blocks to "borrow" one for blessings, repaying it (often larger) the next year.
Centered on Magong's 1604 Tianhou Temple and temples across the islands, with processions and sea-blessing rites tied to the fishing calendar.
From late spring through summer, Penghu's white-sand beaches and clear shallows — Jibei's Sand Tail, Shanshui, Aimen — fill with swimmers and water-sports lovers escaping the heat of the main island.
Penghu's table is the sea's bounty plus a few island-only surprises grown in salt and wind.
Penghu is famous for some of Taiwan's freshest, most varied and best-value seafood, straight from the surrounding waters.
Countywide 全縣Penghu's signature treat — the wild prickly pear grows along the windswept coasts; its tart purple-red fruit becomes a sweet-sour shaved ice or ice cream.
Countywide 全縣A chilled herbal tea brewed from "hong-cao," a medicinal herb that grows especially well in Penghu — a local-only refreshment.
Countywide 全縣A soft, dark steamed cake and Penghu's top edible souvenir, with roots in Okinawan influence.
Magong 馬公Fresh neritic squid in a clear seafood broth with thick rice noodles — a local staple of the fishing islands.
Countywide 全縣Rice vermicelli with sweet local pumpkin, often with seafood — a Penghu home-style favorite.
Countywide 全縣Tiny local anchovies, fried until crisp with concentrated flavor; also sold dried as a souvenir.
Countywide 全縣Penghu peanut crisps and traditional savory crackers are classic gift-box treats from the islands.
Magong 馬公The Pescadores' world-class hexagonal basalt cliffs and geopark.
Magong's Tianhou Temple, founded in 1604.
The iconic Qimei fish trap and 500-plus tidal stone weirs.
Summer white-sand beaches and the International Fireworks Festival.
The Penghu Great Bridge and Magong's old street and Four-Eyed Well.
Fresh seafood, prickly-pear ice, brown-sugar cake and herbal tea.
Introduce Penghu to a visitor — tap 🔊 to hear each sentence. 用英文向訪客介紹澎湖,點 🔊 聽聽看。
Sources · 資料來源:澎湖縣政府、澎湖國家風景區管理處、交通部觀光署、文化部、維基百科等公開資料整理。