After a series of storms ravaged eastern Taiwan, the number of mainland tourists in western areas of the island has greatly increased, causing new problems for some of the hottest destinations.

Tourists form long lines to wait and get a picture with the huge rock.

One of the tasks of tour guides is to take pictures for tour members under the hot sun.

The 2-meter tall rock, with the words of Sun Moon Lake carved on, stands against the background of the lake.

The site offers a great view, overlooking the lake as well as the luxurious resort the Lalu.

On a weekday, there are 3 to 4,000 visitors waiting to take a picture here.

And on weekends or holidays, the number of visitors easily exceeds 10,000.

Since brawl incidents happen quite often as tourists scramble to take pictures, security guards are employed to maintain order among tourists.

It's a sign that reflects the gently switch in the tourism market landscape.

Since National HIghway No. 6 was opened to traffic, the number of visitors to the Sun Moon Lake surged.

According to the local administration, the number of tourists was 3.2 million from last year to the end of October.

The figure doubled to 6.83 million this year.

While typhoon Megi ravaged the Suhua highway in October and frustrates the Hualien-Taiwan tourism market, tourist destinations of western Taiwan are even more popular than before.

Some tourism industry insiders believe the Sun Moon Lake cannot accommodate huge influx of visitors, they also wonder how to make the most out of the crowd.