Shei-pa National Park, Taiwan's fifth national park, was established on July 1, 1992. It is a high mountain type national park located in the northern part of central Taiwan. The park, centered on the Mt. Xue mountain range, has an area of 76,850 hectares and covers Wufeng Township and Jianshi Township in Xinzhu County, Tai-an Township in Miaoli County and Heping District in Taizhong City. The terrain is varied, the scenery diverse and the weather changeable and, particular, the high peaks and rivers create gorgeous and spectacular scenes. The park also has rich flora and fauna and cultural resources. Shei-pa National Park is a natural outdoor classroom in which you can learn while having fun and which deserves experiencing in depth.
In the early days after the establishment of the park difficulties in acquiring land for the park headquarters meant that the headquarters was temporarily housed in rented property in Dongshi, Taizhong County while a suitable site was actively sought. Following a suggestion by Miaoli County Government and after a number of inspection visits by CPA and park headquarters personnel, based on the principle of balanced regional development, Wenshui, Dahu Township, Miaoli County was chosen on July 5, 1994 as the site for the park's management base. The move into their own home long anticipated by park staff was finally completed in February 2001, heralding a new era for the park.
The visitor center has an exhibition room and an audio-visual room in which the park's geology, terrain, flora and fauna and cultural landscape are explained in easy to understand words, pictures and moving image, allowing visitors to acquire an understanding of the park in a short time. At the side of the headquarters there is a two storey octagonal building, next to an ecological scenic pond, offering excellent views and also selling simple meals and national park related publications, making it a good place to rest or read about nature.
A national park is a “100 year endeavor” and the park headquarters bears the responsibility of ensuring that it completes its sacred mission of managing the park successfully so that it can be enjoyed by future generations. The opening of the park headquarters allowed services to be expanded, in particular allowing more complete national park information and interpretation services to be provided. The aim is to use rich and lifelike natural resource displays and interpretation to develop the ecological awareness of the public, allow them to appreciate the realness and beauty of Formosa and plant the seeds of conservation.