Sitou Forest, Taiwan

Sitou Forest, Taiwan

Coordinates: 23 50 N 121 0 E

Area: 9.7 square miles (25.1 sq. km)

With almost 23 million people crowded onto an island slightly smaller than the combined area of Maryland and Delaware, you could be forgiven for thinking that Taiwan lacks any substantial swathes of undeveloped land. But you would be wrong. Centrally located in Nantou County between the Chungyang Mountains and the heavily populated western coast, Sitou Forest is one of numerous patches of green scattered across the length of this Asian island. A favorite escape of city-dwellers in nearby Taichung, rainy, temperate Sitou is home to dozens of bird species, a giant, ancient cypress tree as well as the only ginkgo forest in Taiwan. Likely planted here while the region was under Japanese rule, the century-old ginkgos and the park are now maintained by Taiwan National University.

Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.