Taiwan is surrounded by the sea, and has a coastline that stretches a total of more than 1,100 kilometers and offers a rich variety of coastal landscapes. The coastline of the three counties of Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan has flat alluvial shores, and its most commonly seen geographic features are shoals, lagoons, and estuary wetlands. It does not have the precipitous reef-stone cliffs of the East Coast, but the Southwest Coast offers its own tranquil and charming face. It is especially lovely at sunset, when the fading sun lights up the clouds in golden colors.

The settlers who developed the land for cultivation here over the past century and more left quite a number of cultural remnants behind. The huge amounts of nutrient-filled sediment that the rivers carried down from their upper reaches nurtured fishery resources in the coastal area, making fishing and fish farming primary means of livelihood for the local people. The drying of salt was another industry even more unique to the area, with the abundant sunshine and flat topography concentrating all of the island’s major salt-drying operations here. In addition, the wide range of plant and animal life nurtured by the shoals, lagoons, and other wetlands makes the area extremely rich in ecological resources. The cultural activities, historic sites, natural ecology, and geographic landscapes here make this area an unparalleled tourist paradise.

To accelerate the development of the tourism industry along Taiwan’s Southwest Coast, the Executive Yuan announced the scope of the Southwest Coast National Scenic Area on Nov. 21, 2003: north to Lioutiaowan River in Yunlin County, south to Yanshuei River in Tainan City, east to Provincial Highway 17, and west to a 20-meter depth in the sea off the west coast. With 33,413 hectares of land and 50,636 hectares of sea, the national scenic area covers a total of 84,049 hectares. The SWCNSA Administration was formally established on Dec. 24, 2003 and given the task of strengthening the area’s tourism infrastructure and enhancing the quality of leisure activities. The tourist spots in the area can be divided, in accordance with their location, resource characteristics, and type of activity, into three major systems:

Yunlin-Chiayi, Nanying, Taijiang. The Yunlin-Chiayi system is located in the two counties of Yunlin and Chiayi, in the northern part of the National Scenic Area, and features scenic spots focusing on offshore sand shoal scenery, fishing harbors, wetlands, and ancient temples. The Nanying system is situated in the central part of the area, in Tainan County, and has a diversified range of tourist attractions including geographic scenery such as lagoons and shoals, ecological scenery including black-faced spoonbills and mangrove forests, and leisure attractions including salt-field industry, temples, and coastal recreation spots. The Taijiang system is situated in the southernmost part of the scenic area, in the Annan district of Tainan City, where the main tourist spots are the historic remains and ecological sites of the Sihcao area.