The Penghu National Scenic Area is one of the National Scenic Areas of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and covers most, but not all of the islands and islets that form Penghu County. These islands have a total of 320 kilometers of shoreline. A National Scenic Area is not a National Park. National Scenic Areas fall within the control of the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China, while national parks fall within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of China. The philosophies that govern the development of the two types of areas differ. For a national park the emphasis is on the preservation of natural and cultural resources, and development for human utilization is definitely a secondary priority. For a national scenic area, the priorities are more balanced between preservation and tourism utilization. This has led to conflicts between preservationists and those more favorable to the development of the area. The National Park Law of the Republic of China only applies to the latter areas. Studies about the project were first debated since the beginning of 1990 and, after a year of evaluations carried out by the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China, it was officially created in February 1991, when the Penghu office was finally established. The aim of the project was to "efficiently utilize the local resources and help Penghu's economic growth", while building vacation spots on the coast of Taiwan's only island county to attract both Taiwanese nationals and foreigners, making of Penghu an "International tourism vacation center". It is a well known scenic area for its sandy beaches. The tourist season in Penghu starts in April and peaks from June through August. The Scenic Area attracts thousands of weekenders with its brisk sea breezes and scenery. But when the autumn gales begin to blow in October, the archipelago becomes deserted until April, when warmer weather seems to thaw the local tourism industry. In addition to its rich oceanic resources, Penghu offers fantastic sights of basalt column formations. The scenic area lures more than 200 species of migratory birds, making it an important spot for Asia's birdwatchers. It was not always like this: for much of the second half of the past century, the Government of the Republic of China saw the islands in mainly political and military terms, as a naval base: "Penghu was regarded as a military base until the early 1990s. As a result, the central government never wanted to develop the islands, which resulted in Penghu's shortages of water and electricity and, of course, a lot of five-star hotels".
In 2002 "Penghu Columnar Basalt Nature Reserve" was listed as a potential World Heritage Site.https://twh.boch.gov.tw/taiwan/index.aspx?lang=en_ushttps://www.moc.gov.tw/en/News_Content2.aspx?n=398&s=14050
The National Scenic Area comprises most, but not all, of Penghu County, and its divided into three recreation areas:
North Sea recreation area, Magong recreation area, and South Sea recreation area.
North Sea recreation area (北海遊憩系統)
The area is home to coral reefs, tropical fish, green sea turtles and whales.
Among the tourism routes in Penghu, the natural landscape and ecology of the North Sea islets, fishing villages and water activities are the most popular among tourists. The entire Jibei islet of Penghu North Sea is 3.1 square kilometres in area, and it has a coastline of 10 km; being the largest island on the North Sea recreation area. The Sand Beach Beak, southwest of Jibei islet houses a white sand beach extending 1500m, mainly composed of corals and shell fragments that were shipped to shore by the sea. The North Sea Recreation Area is a perfect site for all kinds of water activities. Xianjiao islet; situated south of Jibei islet, won its name due to the vast amount of submerged reefs around the island (Xianjiao means dangerous reefs), and houses rich resources under the sea; the sand beach and its shallow coral ground is the best place for snorkeling and water activities. Tiejhan islet is a classic basaltic hill terrain, and many seabirds come here during the summer to dwell and breed, making this place a spot for bird-watching. The nearby Gupo islet has an abrasion plateau which will be covered in the best quality wild laver at the end of winter, which is the ideal season for laver harvest. Mudou islet situated at the north end houses the Mudou islet Lighthouse.
Jibei Island
Jibei Island is commonly used for water activities, and the island houses various types of recreational activities, including banana boat, dragged buoy, two-man speedboat, water motorcycle, under-the-sea sightseeing boat, paragliding and snorkeling. Another tourism feature of Jibei is the number of "stone weirs" housed here; there are over 80 stone weirs, more than any other places in Penghu, thus winning the name "Home of the Stone Weirs"
Mudou islet
Mudou Islet () is situated at the north end of the Penghu islands, only 7 km away from Jibei islet to the south; the island is 454 metres in perimeter and only 0.021 square kilometres in area, it is a tiny islet, famous for its Mudou Lighthouse. The waters between Mudou islet and Jibei islet consist of a deep water abrasion platform, and submerged reefs can be found everywhere in the area, hence, the numerous accounts of shipwrecks. It is said that ancestors who lived on Jibei used to pick up floating stuff from the wrecked ships. But for precisely the same reason, animals and plants under the sea can all enjoy sufficient sunlight, and people above water can also see right to the bottom of the ocean. To ensure the safety of the boats while travelling the dangerous area, the lighthouse was built on Mudou in 1921, when Taiwan was a Japanese colony. An iron-framed lighthouse of 40 metres high, painted in black and white stripes, standing as the tallest lighthouse in East Asia.
The lighthouse is equipped with its own generators. The basalt that formed Mudou islet still maintains its primitive landscape, with black rocks tightly surrounding the island. There is a shallow sand belt between Mudou and Jibei, extending hundreds of meters long and 5m wide, where the water only comes up to the knees. Seashells can also be found. Another special landscape of Mudou islet is the underwater tunnel. It is at the bottom of a steep cliff, hidden by the sea during flood tide, but when the tide ebbs, people can walk in sideways. The tunnel is about 80m long, it is a special basalt fissure.
Gupo Island
Gupo Island is situated northwest of Baisha and southwest of Jibei Island. It is a mesa plateau composed by basalt; extending 1 metre from north to south, being the largest unmanned island among the Penghu archipelago. The islet has a lot of vesicular basalt, but the surface is covered with ferruginous quartz sandstone. The islet houses a British Shipwreck Monument, on its east side is the silver anchovy fish ground, and the southeast side houses corals. The north side is the famous laver ground, Penghu island has a lot of reefs and is extremely windy with big waves during the winter, and this place is known far and wide for its abundant harvest of laver; towards the end of every lunar year, there will be a large harvest event, when firecrackers will be lit, and everybody will bring out their best skills to harvest laver.
The origin of the name Gupo has aroused the curiosity from many. There is a legend that says that a long time ago, there lived a young lady, who had a boyfriend whom she had loved for years; however, her parents were against this relationship and forced her to marry someone else. The girl decided to run away from home to fight against her parents' decision to marry her to someone else, and also to prove that her love with her boyfriend was strong. She came to the unmanned island and lived out her days all alone. When her younger family members visited her, they would call her "Gupo" (姑婆, great aunt) out of respect.
Xianjiao islet
Xianjiao Islet () is located south of Jibei islet, Baisha Township in Penghu County, and north of Chihkan. This place won its name because it is surrounded by submerged reefs (險礁, xianjiao), but the surrounding underwater natural resources are rich, making this a great spot for snorkeling. In addition to the abrasion platform formed by a small rock on the east half of Xianjiao islet, most of the island is a white sand beach composed of sand grains, shell and coral fragments. The name warns passing-by boats to beware of the waters here.
Yuanbei Island
Yuanbei Island is situated east of the Citou Village on Baisha islet. The entire Yuanbei islet is a hill, and it was named so because it is shaped like a seashell covering the water (員貝 means "circular shell"). The basalt columnar joints of the north coast on Yuanbei are well developed, among which, the stone pen and stone ink holder is most renowned; the east coast of Yuanbei islet has a piece of flat columnar basalt, with its surfaces full of wrinkles just like a pleated skirt; this is a place visitors know for its "one pen, one ink holder, one skirt" view, currently listed as the Basalt Reservation Area.
Yuanbei islet shallow water path
When the tide ebbs, there will be a shallow water path extending from Cao islet to the Guardian Stone; the 4.6 km shallow water path can take you to Shagang Village on the other side. The Yuanbei islet shallow water path is composed of stone plates, stone fragments and coral reefs, it is a sea path which Yuanbei ancestors used to rely on for outside contact, bearing significant historical meaning, adding to the fact that there is a rich shallow sea ecology here, the Yuanbeiyu shallow water path has become a popular route in recent years.
Magong Island Recreation Area
Magong Island Recreation Area () includes Magong Island (馬公本島, the main island), Pengnan area (澎南地區), Xiyu Township (西嶼鄉), Baisha Township (白沙鄉) and Huxi Township (湖西鄉).
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Magong City (馬公市) was an important commercial and trade center across the Taiwan Strait, which gradually evolved into an important administration area for Penghu today. After hundreds of years, many historic heritages were left behind (Dutch, Portuguese and French). Magong City reflects in its architecture the historical evolution of the county.
Xiyu Township is situated west of the Magong Island. The island is filled with well-known tourist sites, including the natural bay of Zhuwan (竹灣), and the Dachi (大池) sand beach on the southwest side, which is the most famous beach in the national scenic area and the county. The "Yuweng Lighthouse" (漁翁燈塔), standing on the southeast end of the island, is the oldest lighthouse in the whole of Taiwan.
Baisha Township is a famous spot for bird-watching. The nearby Chikan (赤崁) underground reservoir is the one and only underground reservoir in Taiwan.
The northeast coast of Huxi Township is geologically complicated, and a long period of erosion has led to a multi-variant geological environment, such as Beiliao Peninsula (北寮半島) and Qingluo Peninsula (青螺半島).
Beiliao Recreation Area (北寮遊憩區)
"Starry Kuibi"(奎壁聯輝) of Beiliao Kuibi (北寮奎壁) is one of the eight most renowned views in the Magong area of the National Scenic Area, and wave-chasing in Kuibishan (奎壁山), located in Beiliao, has become an important tourism resource in Penghu. The original name was very similar to its present one: the place was firstly named Guibishan (龜壁山), which translated means "turtle wall mountain", because when looking at Beiliao coast from a distance, the area's shape resembles a sea turtle bending over on the sea. However, this suggestive name was later changed to its present one, which sounds pretty similar: Kuibishan (奎壁山), which is a homonymic sound.