Greetings from Alishan, Taiwan, whose red cypress forests offer timeless beauty

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares snapshots of moments from their lives and work around the world.

In November, during one of the last weeks of my posting in Taiwan, I went to my favorite place there: the red cypress forests of Alishan, a region renowned for its misty mountains and excellent high-altitude tea.

I loved the volcanic treks and stunning, cerulean coastlines of Taiwan, but it was these ancient forests that I came to love the most. Their mossy glory and stillness felt timeless, and they helped me find an inner calm after years of fast-paced, often stressful reporting. In this picture, the late-afternoon sun was peeking through this grove of cypresses at just the right angle. Another hiker walking past me commented that the rays were like "god's smile."

See more photos from around the world:

• Greetings from Odesa, Ukraine, where a Black Sea beach offers respite from war
• Greetings from Shenyang, China, where workers sort AI data in 'Severance'-like ways
• Greetings from Palmyra, Syria, with its once-grand hotel named for a warrior queen
• Greetings from Mexico City, where these dogs ride a bus to and from school
• Greetings from the Galápagos Islands, where the blue-footed booby shows its colors
• Greetings from Afrin, Syria, where Kurds danced their hearts out to celebrate spring
• Greetings from Dharamshala, India, where these Tibetan kids were having the best time
• Far from the front lines, Ukrainians fight a war to preserve their culture
• As Greenland prepares for tourism increase, a moment of stillness