File:Clouds against the Mountains of Taiwan (MODIS).jpg

English: Taiwan has been called an “uptilted chunk of land tossed into the Pacific athwart the Tropic of Cancer and between the East China and South China Seas”. It is also famous for its widespread and frequent “sea of clouds”, where mountain peaks poke above a flat-topped, yet continually flowing, mass of white which spreads as far as the eye can see.

On December 20, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image a large bank of cloud covering the eastern half of Taiwan, and butting up against the tall peaks of the Central Mountain Range (Chung Yang Range). The eastern half of the country is rugged and often cloud-covered, with mountains reaching almost to the ocean in several locations. More than 200 peaks in this range rise greater than 3,000 meters (9,843 feet).

Surrounded by several ocean currents and high humidity, clouds are the norm on the eastern side of Taiwan. They are especially common in the early morning when temperatures begin to decrease in the autumn, and the sight is popular with tourists. Cloud-watching on the mountains is encourage. In October, local news media reported “Sea of clouds season coming to Taiwan’s Alishan” and that the Forestry Bureau invites the public to “enjoy magnificent sunrises, sunsets”. Alishan National Scenic Area sits in the mountains in south-central Taiwan and one of the popular viewing areas to enjoy the cloudy spectacle from land.