Purple Butterfly Valley
Every winter, it is estimated that at least a million Euploeini butterflies glide on their purple wings to the holy mountain of Rukai and Paiwan Tribes in southern Taiwan and take shelter in warm valleys at the foot of Dawu Mountain. About six hundred thousand butterflies overwinter in "Purple Butterfly Valley", which is one of only two mass overwintering sites known in the world, along with the Monarch butterfly's overwintering site in Mexico. Purple Butterfly Valleys only exists in the medium and low altitude regions of Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, Taitung County, and in the traditional homelands of the Paiwan and Rukai Tribes. At present there are about twenty butterfly gathering places known in Taiwan, and the Maolin area of Kaohsiung City alone is home to at least seven.