#smangus

Smangus is said to be Taiwan’s most remote village. Smangus is a remote Atayal (one of the indigenous natives of Taiwan) village at 1,500 metres altitude in Jianshi Township, Hsinchu County. Smangus is famous for its grove of giant Cypress trees, which are some of the oldest and largest in Taiwan at up to 2,700 years old. The area is also well-known for its peaches which are harvested in the summer time.

Before the giant trees in the area were discovered, Smangus was completely cut off from the outside world. The area was only connected to the electricity grid in 1979 and construction of the last section of road leading to the village was only finished in 1995. Prior to that villages had to hike for 3 hours to get anything they needed from Xinguang on the opposite side of the valley. Children also had to walk three hours across the valley to go to school. The fact that it is so far removed from "civilization" does nothing but promote an air of mystery about the area and the people who live there, which is why it was once known as "Black Village". It is now known as "God's Village".

Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/vcESrHGfTGT2