Need to escape for a few days? Breaking free for the weekend is easy in Taiwan, especially when you don't need a passport to feel like you're worlds away.

China has overtaken Spain on the list of the world's top tourism destinations, becoming the third-largest attraction, a senior tourism official said.

Looking up at Hong Kong's skyline of soaring office towers and mammoth apartment complexes, it is hard to imagine that a short ferry ride could whisk you away from this bustling metropolis to another world, a world without high rises, cars or crowds.

Tekming Sae Chang, a Chinese immigrant from Swatao, Fujian Province, moved to Sam Chuk market with his family in 1950 to open the Sil Thammachat (Natural Art) Photo Shop.

The annual Hakka Tung Blossom Festival (客家桐花祭) is the biggest and most famous floral festival in Taiwan. In 2010, the organizer, Cabinet-level Council for Hakka Affairs (行政院客家委員會).

As an island and an oceanic country, Taiwan has long loved and revered the sea. Since its earlier days as a fishing-based economy, the people in this nation have honored the Chinese sea goddess Mazu (媽祖), also spelled Matsu, as its patron deity.

Every spring, Dajia (大甲) in Taichung County (台中縣) becomes a center of religious and tourist activity in celebration of the birthday of Mazu (媽祖), also spelled Matsu, the deity that is said to watch over sailors and fishermen.

The southwestern city of Chiayi (嘉義市) is expecting huge crowds today for the Chinese calendar's second most important festival: the Lantern Festival (元宵節).

Lantern Festival celebrations spread across cities and counties

Being an island enveloped in large bodies of water, Taiwan naturally comes with a culture that features aspects related to the sea, such as ocean life, beach culture or even bridge building.