Daan River Yitian Sword is the tallest tree currently known in Taiwan. This giant Taiwania stands 84.1 meters tall and was discovered and named in January 2023 by the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute's Tree Seekers team in a deep valley near the headwaters of the Daan River. Its name draws on martial-arts imagery to evoke its towering height. It is a notable giant tree in Taiwan's forest ecosystem, and the international team The Tree Projects has completed a life-size photographic portrait of it.

Species and height: Taiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides), 84.1 meters tall, holding Taiwan's tree-height record.

Discovery:

The Tree Seekers team, made up of researchers from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University, used LiDAR to survey large areas, followed by on-site climbing and measurement.

During the 2023 Lunar New Year holiday, the team discovered the giant tree in a valley after trekking toward the upper reaches of the Daan River for six days.

Origin of the name: the tree stands in a valley filled with giant trees. An Indigenous team member named it Yitian Sword, drawing on the imagery of martial-arts novels.

International attention: the renowned Australian tree-photography team The Tree Project was invited to Taiwan to create a life-size portrait of Daan River Yitian Sword, revealing its impressive scale.

Ecological importance: Taiwania is known as the king of conifers. This giant tree highlights the rich diversity of Taiwan's mid-elevation forests.

In short, Daan River Yitian Sword represents the extraordinary heights of Taiwan's forests. It brings scientific exploration together with local cultural meaning and demonstrates the majestic character of Taiwania.

Giclée print / ProLuster Photo Paper

The Tree Projects is an Australian environmental education and giant wood photography team dedicated to documenting and protecting giant trees and forest ecosystems around the world through the powerful Tree Portrait technology.

In Taiwan, The Tree Projects enjoy tremendous popularity because they are an important driving force for bringing Taiwan's "Shenmu" to an international perspective with a complete face.

The unique "giant wood photo" technology When people shoot magic trees in the forest, they can only shoot from the bottom to the top, causing the trees to be severely deformed and the proportion is distorted in the photo. The Tree Projects employs extremely time-consuming and dangerous technologies to address this issue:

Climbing tracks: They erect climbing ropes equal to the height of the trees next to the big trees as “tracks.” Lifting: The photographer lifts and lowers vertically along the rope, horizontally translating the parts of the giant wood at intervals.

Seamless stitching: Finally, thousands of local photos were stitched in a 1: 1 true ratio into a high-resolution "body photo" with no distortion and high image quality, so that the world can see the real magnificent face of the giant wood.

The Tree Projects has been invited to Taiwan many times, working with a team of "tree seekers" composed of forestry laboratories and successful universities to record Taiwan's precious Taiwania cryptomerioides (known as the king of conifers): 2014 "Taiwan Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Tree Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Tree Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Sister Cilan

2023 "Momoyama Shenmu": Come to Taiwan again to record Momoyama Shenmu with a height of 79.7 meters.

"Da 'an Creek Leaning Sword": They also took a full-length photo of the "Da 'an Creek Leaning Sword", which is currently the highest tree record holder in Taiwan and East Asia, with a height of 84.1 meters, showing the extreme biodiversity and vitality of Taiwan at medium and high altitudes. The work of The Tree Projects is not only a record of scientific exploration, but is also widely used in environmental education and ecological exhibitions, bringing the emotion of alpine giant trees to people in the city.