During the Qing Dynasty, there was a scholar from Hangzhou named Yu Yonghe. As Taiwan was newly developed, he wanted to see the place for himself. It so happened that the gunpowder store in Fuzhou City exploded and wiped out their stock of gunpowder. Only Beitou and the area of Tianmu in Northern Taiwan produced sulfur. After arriving in Tainan with his assistant named Wang Yun-sen, Yu Yonghe had to make his way north to mine sulfur.

As it was the typhoon season in Taiwan, it was more reliable to take the land route by oxcart. Wang Yun-sen wanted to take the water route by boat as it was faster, but Yu Yonghe had never seen an oxcart before and wanted to sate his curiosity. So, he decided to take an oxcart. When he arrived at the Jianan Plain, he came across many varieties of fruit that he had never seen before. As the weather was hot, the locals treated him to some watermelon, which he found sweet and juicy.

An undeveloped forested region lay to the north of the Jianan Plain. Yu Yonghe had to cross a total of 96 rivers along his northbound journey. When he arrived at Dajia River, the current was too strong for the cart to pass. The government officials in charge of Gomach suggested ordering the indigenous people into the river to form a human bridge. Yu Yonghe declined as he felt it would endanger the people, who were touched when they learned of his decision. They not only decided to carry Yu Yonghe’s belongings across the river, but they also escorted him safely across the pristine forest.

Just as Yu Yonghe began to worry about turning up late for his meeting with Wang Yun-sen, he saw a really disheveled person in front of him. He turned out to be Wang Yun-sen. He had indeed run into a typhoon that capsized his boat, and was lucky to have been rescued by a passing fisherman. When they arrived somewhere near Chunan, they discovered many species of wild animals unique to Taiwan. It was an eye-opening experience for them.

They finally arrived in Taipei. “Wow! What a huge lake!”Back then, Taipei was still a huge lake. They then made their way up into the Beitou mountains, where they got the fright of their life as they thought they had arrived in hell. There was white smoke everywhere, and the pungent smell of sulfur filled the air. After over five months of refinement, the two were ready to go home with the materials for the gunpowder. After boarding their homebound boat, Yu Yonghe looked back at Taiwan and said,“Though most of Taiwan is still undeveloped, once it has become fully developed, she is sure to become a beautiful and bountiful paradise.”

　　清朝杭州有位書生叫郁永河，因為臺灣是個新開發的地方，他很想找個機會來看看，剛好福州火藥庫爆炸，火藥全沒了，只有臺灣北部北投、天母一帶盛產硫磺，郁永河便帶著助手王雲森到臺南，再想辦法到北部採硫。
　　臺灣颱風多，搭牛車走陸路比較保險，王雲森想快點到便走水路，郁永河沒看過牛車覺得很新奇，便決定搭牛車。郁永河到了嘉南平原一帶，看到好多沒見過的水果，天氣熱居民請他吃西瓜，真是甜美多汁。
　　一過平原就是未開發的森林，從南到北要渡過九十六條河，到了大甲溪時，河水太急牛車過不去，牛罵社的官員就建議原住民下水當作橋，郁永河拒絕，原住民知道後很感動，便主動幫郁永河拿行李過河，還一路護送郁永河順利通過原始森林。
　　正當郁永河擔心會錯過和王雲森會合的時間，突然，看到路上有個十分狼狽的人，仔細一看就是王雲森，他真的碰到颱風翻船，還好被經過的漁船救起來。後來到了竹南附近，他們看到許多臺灣特有的野生動物，真是大開眼界。
　　最後到了臺北，「哇！好大的湖」因為當時臺北還是一座大湖，接著到了北投山上，一看差點兒嚇死，以為到了地獄，因為到處冒著白煙，還瀰漫著一股濃濃的硫磺味，經過五個多月的提煉工作，總算到了要回家鄉交差的日子，登上甲板時，郁永河回頭望著臺灣，說：「臺灣雖然大部分是未開發的土地，假以時日開發了，一定是一塊美麗又肥沃的人間樂土。」