YILAN COUNTY, Taiwan—Hiking through the ancient, fog-shrouded forest, my guide begins to look a lot like an old wizard. His water-slicked yellow raincoat becomes a shimmering cape; his long, pointed umbrella a wooden staff. His face, kind and creased with wrinkles, breaks into a smile full of glittering silver teeth.
He’s leading us through an enchanted realm. We clamber over carpets of black, tangled roots; duck under tunnels of twisting branches painted green with moss. I half expect a will-o'-the-wisp to appear in the distance, floating between the skinny tree-silhouettes that surround us on all sides, made hazy through the dense fog.
