Central Taiwan: the sensory profile of mists and modernity

Central Taiwan is the island catching its breath. Between the dense north and the sun-baked south lies a highland of still water, tea-terraced ridges and a city quietly building some of Asia's boldest architecture. It rewards the traveller who slows to its rhythm - the rhythm of mist lifting off a lake and an espresso poured under impossible concrete curves.

The sensory profile

Central Taiwan is best understood through the senses. The smell first: high-mountain oolong, grassy and floral, drifting from the tea houses of the surrounding ridges. Then the sight - the blue-hour mist that pools on Sun Moon Lake before sunrise, dissolving the boundary between water and sky until the pagodas seem to float. And the quiet: at this altitude the air thins and the noise of the lowlands falls away.

Sun Moon Lake itself is the region's heart - Taiwan's largest body of water, ringed by a shoreline cycle path rated among the world's most beautiful, with boats crossing to the lakeside village of the indigenous Thao. Climb the Ci'en Pagoda at dawn for the view everyone comes for.

The geometry of faith

Central Taiwan has a striking relationship with sacred and civic architecture. Above the lake, Wenwu Temple steps grandly up the hillside; the Xiangshan Visitor Center folds the landscape into sweeping cantilevered concrete; and out near Lukang the much-photographed Glass Temple (Lukang Glass Mazu Temple) reimagines a shrine in shimmering transparency. In Taichung, Toyo Ito's National Taichung Theater - a 'sound cave' of curving walls and no straight lines - is the boldest public building on the island.

• National Taichung Theater - Toyo Ito's gravity-defying cultural landmark; the free public levels and rooftop garden are open to all.
• Wenwu Temple - a grand hillside shrine over Sun Moon Lake, best in the late afternoon.
• Xiangshan Visitor Center - swooping concrete that frames the lake like a held breath.
• Lukang's Glass Temple - a Mazu shrine rebuilt in glass, luminous after dark.

Wake before the lake does. The hour the mist holds is the reason you came to the centre of the island.

Where to stay

The Lalu is the lake's minimalist icon, with an infinity pool that dissolves into the water; Fleur de Chine adds hot springs and family space; the Alishan Hotel puts you inside the cloud forest for the sunrise; and The Lin brings art-filled luxury in Taichung. Compare them below, each with live partner rates for your dates - and the rest of the Central Taiwan Collection waits at the foot of this page.