Yushan
Yushan, or Jade Mountain, stands in the heart of the Yushan range in central Taiwan, where Nantou, Chiayi and Kaohsiung meet; its main peak rises to 3,952 m and is the island's highest point and the highest on the western Pacific rim south of Kamchatka. In Tsou it is called Patungkuonʉ, the shining or quartz mountain, and it is a sacred mountain shared by the Bunun and Tsou peoples. The name Yushan first appears in the Taiwan Prefecture Gazetteer compiled in 1685; under Japanese rule the peak was renamed Niitaka. Its steep, cliff-girt massif preserves glacial relics such as U-shaped valleys and cirques. Foremost of Taiwan's hundred peaks and one of its five great mountains, it is protected within Yushan National Park, established in 1985.
- Region
- Central Taiwan
- Model area
- ≈ 222 km²