Luchang Mountain, 2,620 m in altitude, sits at the west border of Shei-Pa National Park.

Some day in Oct., 2010, in wee hours I was climbing the Main Peak of Syue Mountain for the first time in my life. Breathlessly, I looked to the starry night over the canopies of the dark forests, hoping the day would not break too soon.

At 6:20 a.m., I reached the peak of Syue Mountain, the second highest in Taiwan. Shrouded by a sheet of freezing temperatures, I waited the sun, which had hidden for the whole night behind Mt. Nanhu, to cast its golden rays westwards.

All of a sudden the sea of clouds was coated with a layer of golden sunshine, glittering at the foot of Luchang Mountain and forming a unique splendor granted by the Nature. Different from the way it is accompanied by other peaks, Luchang Mountain enjoyed a feel of solitude at this moment.

Kai-chung Yang

Yang learned about photography in his college days, and has since recorded the beauty of nature in Taiwan,which he has long indulged himself in. In 2008, as a member of the photography club of Nat'l Taipei Univ. of Technology, he became interested in eco-photography. He has been serving his military substitute service in Shei-Pa National Park since 2010.

• upper：Solitude atop the Clouds