Established in 1920, the Taiyang Mining Corporation mined gold in the Ruifang-Jiufen area until it folded in 1971. The photo shows company founder Yan Yunnian's younger brother Yan Guonian (front row, second from right) standing in front of the Ruifang No. 1 Mine with miners and Japanese technical advisors. (courtesy of the Yan family)

In Treasure Island, Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story of a group of adventurers seeking a fortune in gold. Did such a "treasure island" ever truly exist, or was it merely the fruit of a novelist's imagination?

In fact, Taiwan was once an actual "treasure island" in the eyes of European explorers.

Portuguese seamen sailing along Taiwan's east coast in the 16th century are said to have exclaimed, "Ilha Formosa!" ("beautiful island") at the sight of the island. According to some, their excitement stemmed from their quest for fabled gold. In fact, the Portuguese of the day named a gold producing area near the mouth of Hualien's Liwu River the Rio d'Ouro ("gold river").

In the 17th century, the Dutch and Spanish established trading posts on Taiwan, with the Dutch building a fort in the south at An-ping and the Spanish building forts in the north between Kee-lung and Dan-shui. Both the Spanish and the Dutch wrote accounts of their search for gold.