Penghu

Penghu, Taiwan

Morning sun illuminates dark columnar basalt cliffs rising above turquoise coastal waters in the Penghu archipelago.

Penghu is an island group of about ninety islands where fishing heritage, temples and quiet beaches are a short boat or flight from Taiwan.

The place

Penghu is a chain of roughly ninety islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, lying about fifty kilometres to the west of Taiwan's principal island, with the Penghu Channel between them. Together they form Penghu County, covering about 141 square kilometres. Magong, on the largest island, is the county seat and the place most visitors land, while nearly everything else is reached by boat or by a short domestic flight.

The islands are low and open, with dark volcanic rock showing along many shores and sandy beaches in sheltered bays. Fishing has shaped daily life for a long time, and harbours, fish markets and small stone fish weirs along the coast all reflect that. Much of the archipelago falls within a national scenic area, which helps keep development on the outer islands fairly restrained.

The climate is humid subtropical with dry winters. The cooler months are dry but very windy, and boats to outlying islands such as Qimei are often cancelled, while spring and autumn are the milder seasons for walking and cycling. Summers are hot and humid, and typhoon season can disrupt ferry and flight schedules from midsummer into early autumn. Most travellers base themselves in Magong for its restaurants, temples and bicycle routes, then take a boat to a quieter island for a night or two. Hiring a scooter or bicycle is the usual way to cover the main island at a relaxed pace.

Its story

Penghu's story begins long before any written record. A fossil jaw, found in the Penghu Channel in the late 2000s, belonged to an extinct human relative from the Middle or Late Pleistocene, possibly a Denisovan. Later, fine red cord-marked pottery found at Guoye, Huxi, shows that Austronesian visitors from south-western Taiwan came to the islands around 5,000 years ago, though they did not settle there permanently.

The first recorded settlers were Han Chinese from southern Fujian, who set up fishing communities on the islands from the 9th and 10th centuries. Chinese fishermen were living there by 1171, when a group described in the sources as the "Bisheye" landed, raided the fields of the migrants and sailed away. Song patrols began visiting each spring and summer, and an official named Wang Dayou built houses and stationed troops on the islands to deter further raids.

Formal control came slowly. The archipelago became an administrative unit of China in 1281, under Tong'an County, and it stayed under imperial authority for centuries. Brief European presences followed: a Dutch occupation in the seventeenth century and a short French one in the nineteenth. The islands passed to Japan in 1895, and after the Surrender of Japan in 1945 they came under the Republic of China.

Today that history is most visible at sea, in the fishing families, the stone weirs and the goddess Mazu, to whom sailors have prayed for safe passage for centuries.

What to see

Culture

Penghu's culture is shaped by the sea and by the Mazu faith that fishing families brought from southern Fujian. Temples are working places of worship as well as landmarks, and the sea goddess is honoured with incense, offerings and festivals tied to the fishing calendar. Many older residents speak Hokkien alongside Mandarin, a legacy of those early migrants, and the islands' name carries a Hokkien pronunciation. Daily life revolves around the harbour, so mornings can be busy with boats and markets, while smaller villages settle quickly in the evening. Visitors are generally welcomed warmly, and a polite greeting goes a long way in shops and family-run eateries. Follow the lead of worshippers in temples: step back from the altars, keep your voice low, and ask before photographing anyone at prayer.

What to wear

Penghu does not have a single traditional costume that visitors will see today, and the surviving record of older dress is thin. The working clothes of fishing families were plain cotton, loose-fitting and hard-wearing, suited to hot days on boats and in the fields. Formal and festival dress followed the patterns of the Fujianese migrants who settled the islands, though examples are rare in everyday life.

What people wear now is much the same as anywhere in Taiwan: casual shirts, shorts, sandals and trainers, with smarter clothes for offices, weddings and family occasions. Scooters are common on the main island, so people often pick closed shoes and a light jacket for riding.

As a visitor, pack light, breathable clothing and a sun hat, because summers are hot and humid and the sun is strong on open coast. Bring a light layer for boat rides and sturdy closed shoes or trainers for the rocky shoreline and uneven village lanes. Cover shoulders and knees when you enter temples, and a long skirt or trousers are easy choices.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Spring and autumn are the milder shoulder seasons, with March and April the most comfortable months for walking and cycling. Winter is dry but cool and very windy, and boats to outlying islands such as Qimei are often cancelled when the wind is strong. Summers are hot and humid, and typhoons can disrupt flights and ferries from midsummer into early autumn.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Fly into Magong Airport, which is in the middle of the main island and about a 20-minute drive from Magong city. Flights run from several Taiwanese airports, including Taipei Songshan, and from Kinmen. Boats also connect Penghu with Taiwan's main island. Check the official site for current taxi and transfer information before you travel.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources