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Chosen as one of the 10 Preservation Ambassadors of YSNP, former president of Chinese Taipei Mountaineering Association Zhu-xian Weng grew up in Keelung and has been a good swimmer since little. He once served in the Navy in 1958, when the R.O.C. and the P.R.C. were still under arms. After retiring from the military, he worked in CSBC Corp. Taiwan, and has gradually cultivated a strong interest in the Nature.
“My elementary school was located on the mountainside, where I naturally felt intrigued by things in the mountains,” Weng recalled. And thanks to continual exposure to the Nature, he has been blessed with a muscular and healthy body, as well as a look younger than he really is.
Succinct about his personal achievements, Weng elaborated mostly on his ideas and concerns over the mountains in this interview. For him,mountains and his fellow mountaineers are more important than any greatness of his. What really matters is his love for and devotion to the mountains and his attitude toward life. He has never been wavering over his determination to protect the mountains in Taiwan. “Somewhere in there a secret garden that eases your troubles can always be found,”smiled Weng.
A Closer Look at the Gorgeous Formosa
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How many such “secret gardens” are hidden in the mountains on this 36,188-km² small island? Weng pointed out that in Taiwan, at high and low altitudes alike, or even in winter, there is always an abundance of flora and fauna. “Despite the fact that Taiwan’s area only accounts for 1/10000 of the total land of the Earth, the average number of species per area unit is 100-fold to that of the world! Its beauty is truly stunning when looked at from above high in the sky. And if all the cubic area of Taiwan’s mountains were translated into plane surface area,then Taiwan would be much larger than it seems. This well proves that Taiwan enjoys an unrivaled status in the world in terms of its resources in the mountains and forests.”
In the Martial Law Era, part of Taiwan’s mountains still remained in mystery and secrecy, which were gradually unveiled by a trend of mountaineering spurred by some prestigious mountaineers. They did more than climbing or hiking but collected valuable data and drew maps of various mountains for later generations of mountaineers. Their contributions are truly respected and appreciated.
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