Qualla: Shouka Mountain Pass

Shouka Mountain Pass: Introduction

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Every cyclist who attempts to circle the island of Taiwan by bicycle eventually arrives at the same crossroads: a windy saddle cut through the Central Mountain Range at 460 meters, where the peaks of Pingtung meet the cliffs of Taitung and the Pacific glitters in the distance. Shouka Pass — 壽卡 in Mandarin, originally named Kotobuki Pass under Japanese colonial rule — has no dramatic summit, no famous vista point plastered on postcards. What it has is irreplaceability. There is no other road between the western plains and the eastern coast at this latitude. Shouka is the hinge.

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Shouka Mountain Pass: Built by the Colony, Kept by the Island

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The road that crosses Shouka was carved out between 1933 and 1939, part of Japan's effort to stitch together the disparate coastal strips of Formosa. The South-Link Highway, as it became known, connected Kaohsiung in the west with Taitung on the Pacific coast, threading through i...

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Shouka Mountain Pass: The Checkpoint That Became a Refuge

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

For decades a police checkpoint stood at the top of Shouka, a bureaucratic gatehouse at the edge of two counties. Travelers heading south toward Kenting or east toward Taitung would pause, be noted, and move on. The checkpoint eventually fell out of use — the monitoring state ret...

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Shouka Mountain Pass: The Only Way Through

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Cyclists circling Taiwan face two moments of serious elevation gain. The first is the Suhua Highway, a cliff-hugging ribbon of asphalt on the northeast coast. The second is Shouka. The pass is not an option — it is an obligation. Taiwan Cycling Route No. 1, the official circumnav...

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Shouka Mountain Pass: Where Three Roads Converge

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At the top of the pass, Provincial Highway 9 and County Highway 199 meet. Traffic from Kaohsiung to the northwest, from the beach towns of Kenting to the south, and from Taitung City to the northeast all pass through this single junction. On a clear day the ridgeline of the Centr...

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