Orchid Island

Orchid Island or Lanyu (蘭嶼 Lán yǔ) is a beautiful island in Taitung County off the coast of Taitung.

Villages
The main area for hotels is Hongtou Village, a couple of kilometers southeast of the airport.

Understand
Its population is about 5,000, mostly indigenous Taiwanese of the Tao (formerly known as Yami) ethnic group, not Han Chinese. Most people live in one of the six villages along the coastal road that traverses the island's perimeter.

Talk
The main local language on the island is the Yami language, an Austronesian language closely related to languages spoken in northern Philippines. However, most younger locals are also able to speak Mandarin.

By ferry
You can also take a ferry from Taitung or Kenting, but the seas can be very rough. The journey time for both ferries is about 2 hours.

Get around
There are basically only two roads on the island - the loop road following the coast circumnavigating the island, and the mountain road, dissecting the island in two (east-west).

Other than walking, the only practical means of transport for tourists is hiring a scooter. These can be hired from an area next to the ferry port, which is also the location of the only petrol station on the island.

Hitch hiking is also possible, although you may have long waits between rides due to the low number of vehicles on the roads.

See
Visit churches: Christianity is pretty big here; each of the six villages on the island has exactly one Catholic and one Protestant church. (The Protestant ones are larger and in better repair.) Access and times of services vary. Ask around!



Do

 * Tour the beautiful island on a scooter.
 * Talk and dine with the local Yami people.
 * Enjoy relaxing on this quiet island

Eat
Tribe Bar is probably the most popular place for western tourists and offers a mix of Asian and Western dishes.

Go next
Getting out is not always so easy. Winds can be very strong which makes flying and boat travel impossible at times. Leave yourself at least four extra days in case the flights are cancelled.


 * Green Island
 * Taitung