The Tropic Of Cancer, Taiwan

One of the frustrating features of blogging is the location of the posts.  Each post comes after the previous post until many are buried and begin collecting cyber dust.

For instance, this post is the 12th and last publishing of a series done with the photos taken by Tom Jones in 1957-58. 

After receiving Tom's permission, I picked groups of his pictures and tried to tie them together.

All of the photos not wanted were left to others, including Kent Mathieu of taipeiairstation.blogspot.com who comprised a solid journey Tom took through Matsu.

So, thank you, Tom,  for all of the wonderful pictures. If any of you would like to see the previous 11, or any other post,  just click "Older Posts" at the bottom of each page.

Our last posting in this series is about the Tropic of Cancer, an imaginary line, which passes through Taiwan.

Kent Mathieu and friends have been to the monument in Hualien County. To read Kent's post, click HERE.

With a flat world, the Tropic of Cancer location is indicated by the red line.

As it passes through Taiwan in a couple of locations, tourist attractions have been erected. About the lower 1/3 of Taiwan is considered to be tropical.

In the United States, the line passes through the Bermudas, but doesn't touch Florida. So, Miami is just a few miles north and is actually not considered officially tropical.

Cuba is just south of the line in the Florida Straits. So, Havana is considered to be in the tropics.

Out in the Pacific, the line comes close to Necker Island, northwest of Honolulu by over 400 miles. That puts the state of Hawaii firmly into the tropics.

South of the Tropic of Cancer is the Equator. South of the Equator is the corresponding area of the tropics in the southern hemisphere called the Tropic of Capricorn.

As indicated, the Tropic of Cancer coordinates put it out in the middle of some field, just as it was in 1958.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Here is a picture of the Chiayi City square. The picture of President Chiang is clearly visible. As with the case of other villages, this area is now heavily populated.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

So, in 1958, Tom walked outside Chiayi City and took this picture. Later, the monument was moved when a railroad was built, but it is still in a township in Chiayi County.

Photo by Bernard Gagnon

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

This plaque at the base of a monument gives the coordinates for the original monument which appear to be different to those used at the beginning of this post.

The Tropic of Cancer actually shifts positions as the years  pass. These other monuments add to the park's attractions.

What looks somewhat like a flying saucer is a very new addition to the Chiayi Monument Park. It attracts tourists and students.

This Tropic of Cancer monument is part of the Hualien County Park

Map from World Atlas

From top to bottom we have The Arctic Circle, The Tropic of Cancer, The Equator, The Tropic of Capricorn and The Antarctic Circle. These are major measurements for latitudes.

The Prime Meridian splits the world in half at 0 degrees longitude. It passes through Greenwich, England which gives us the world standard as to time.

Zulu time is, therefore, always the time it is in Greenwich, England which also goes by GMT or Greenwich Mean Time.

Not surprisingly, because of the earth's uneven rotation, all lines of longitude and latitude are not always exactly the same.