Taoyuan Tourism

Once the most popular place to check in on Facebook and Instagram, Caota Sand Dunes stretching for 8.1 kilometers in length feature the widest and most complete "desert" along Taiwan's coast. At sunset, wind turbines on the seashore for electricity generation stand in line against the blue sky. Traces of disarrayed footsteps on undulating sand dunes lead to a feeling of tranquility and desolation, attracting a lot of masters of photography and Internet memes to visit. The movie "Secret" starring Jay Chou and the TV series "Police et vous" were both filmed here.

Tourists are recommended to take Provincial Highway No. 61 and go from north to south to visit four ecotourism attractions in Taoyuan: Xucuogang Wetland, Caota Sand Dunes, Guanxin Algal Reefs and Xinwu Stone Weirs. Caota Sand Dunes, nicknamed as "the Sahara desert of Taiwan Version," take shape because sand blown by strong northeast monsoon and south wind keeps piling up here. The NE-SW sand dunes begin in the north near the mouth of Laojie Creek in Dayuan District and end in the south near the mouth of Dajue River in Guanyin District. The width in the northern part is about 400 meters and could be 600 meters in the southern part. Over thousands of years, the dunes have covered 4 square kilometers. Because the sand dunes could be 15 meters high, we recommend climbing up to the ridgeline on a zigzag path and the scenery that comes into sight would be amazing and rewarding.

Once selected by Taiwan Environmental Information Association as one of the "nine coastal areas that should be protected in Taiwan," the Caota area is a coastal zone without manmade damage. (Another selected one in Taoyuan is Guanxin Algal Reefs.) In addition to the coral reef ecosystem, the Caota Sand Dunes have a species-rich coastal forest ecosystem. The windbreak plants, including screw pine, horsetail tree, chinaberry tree, cuscuta and firewheel flower, not only prevent wind erosion, but also decorate the coastline.