Explore Sun Moon Lake

Xuanzang Temple is a Buddhist temple on Qinglong Hill above the south shore of Sun Moon Lake, built in 1965 in Tang dynasty style to honour the monk Xuanzang, who travelled to India in the 7th century. Its three-storey main hall keeps relics of Xuanzang returned from Japan, and a memorial hall shows objects related to his journey.

The Xiangshan Visitor Center is the administration building and visitor centre of the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area, on the lake's west shore. Designed by the Japanese architect Norihiko Dan and opened in 2010, it is built of bare fair-faced concrete in two curving wings, with a grass-covered roof walk and a shallow pool facing the lake.

The Sun Moon Lake Ropeway is a gondola lift opened in 2010 between a station on the east shore of Sun Moon Lake and the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. The 1.9 km line, built by Doppelmayr, crosses the Buji hills on 16 towers, reaching about 1,044 metres, and its 86 red, yellow and blue cabins look out over the lake and the Puli basin.

The Ci En Pagoda is a 46-metre octagonal pagoda on Mount Shabalan, 954 metres high, above the south shore of Sun Moon Lake. Chiang Kai-shek had it built in memory of his mother, Wang Caiyu, and it was completed in 1971. A forest path leads up from the lakeside road, and stairs inside rise to a top-floor balcony overlooking the lake.

The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village is a theme park in Yuchi Township, opened in 1986 in the hills east of Sun Moon Lake. Its hillside Aboriginal Village Park rebuilds traditional houses of Taiwan's Indigenous peoples, with dance shows and craft demonstrations, beside an amusement area with rides, a European garden and a ropeway down to the lake.