Queen’s Head
Natural rock formation · Yehliu Geopark, New Taipei, Taiwan
Photo: Mark S. Piteo-Tarpy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), as also published on Street Art Utopia.
Queen’s Head (女王頭) is a mushroom rock at Yehliu Geopark on Taiwan’s north coast; seen from a distance it resembles a bust of Queen Elizabeth with a long, slender neck, hence the name. Source Checked That neck is thinning: Taiwan’s North Coast scenic area office measured it at about 220 cm around in 1994 and at 116.59 cm in October 2024. Source Source Checked
Seen Oct 2026: on 19 October 2026 TVBS reported from Yehliu, where visitors crowded to have their photos taken with the rock. The newest dated photograph we found on Wikimedia Commons was taken on 23 August 2025 (in More photos below); the photo above was taken on 27 August 2012. Source Source Checked
More photos
💡 5 things to know
- Named after a queenAFP reported that the rock is named for its supposed likeness to England’s Queen Elizabeth I, its tapering head likened to her piled-up curls. A tour guide quoted by The Federal says others compare her to the Egyptian queen Nefertiti. Source Source Reported
- The shape is only decades oldAccording to Taiwan’s Tourism Administration, the top concretion split between 1962 and 1963, giving the stone its present form. Source Checked
- A neck that keeps shrinkingThe North Coast scenic area office’s measurements of the neck: about 220 cm in 1994, about 136 cm in 2006, 130 cm in 2012, 125 cm in 2018 and 116.59 cm in October 2024. Source Source Checked
- A stand-in at the entranceIn 2015 AFP reported that the rock’s measurements were being recorded in 3D twice a year so it could be reproduced, and that a replica stood at the park entrance. New Taipei’s tourism site says visitors pass copies of Queen’s Head and Cute Princess before entering the cape area. Source Source Checked
- Hands off the real rockReinforcement is being tested only on other rocks: UDN reports that nothing has been done to Queen’s Head itself, and TVBS says researchers are trying to soak minerals such as calcium carbonate into the sandstone of other mushroom rocks to strengthen it. Source Source Checked
📍 Where it is
In Yehliu Geopark, Wanli District, New Taipei City, on Taiwan’s north coast; the Tourism Administration gives its position as 25.208802, 121.69310. Source Checked
Opens Google Maps at the coordinates the Taiwan Tourism Administration gives for Queen’s Head.
🗓️ Sightings
- 1962
Top split, giving today’s shape · Tourism Administration
- 20065 Apr
Photographed under an overcast sky · Wikimedia Commons
- 201227 Aug
Photographed from the side · Wikimedia Commons
- 201326 Oct
Photographed in profile · Wikimedia Commons
- 201513 Nov
Scientists debate how to save it · AFP
- 202417 Apr
Photographed under a cloudy sky · Wikimedia Commons
- 202529 May
Visitors queue for selfies · The Federal
- 202523 Aug
Photographed in summer sun · Wikimedia Commons
- 20262 Sep
Still standing, neck 116.59 cm · UDN
- 202619 Oct
Visitors still pose with it · TVBS
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark dated records and reports.
🗞️ In the sources
“Honed by sea water and strong winds the head tapers up to a point, likened to the piled-up curls of the eponymous royal.”
“北觀處說，2024年10月實測女王頭頸圍116．59公分。”
The North Coast scenic area office says the neck of Queen’s Head measured 116.59 cm in October 2024.
“女王頭頸圍從1994年的約220公分，縮減至2024年10月實測的116.59公分，31年間減少超過100公分。”
The neck shrank from about 220 cm in 1994 to 116.59 cm measured in October 2024, more than 100 cm in 31 years.
“Since 2008, Yehliu has used 3D laser scanning and weather data to monitor subtle changes in the Queen’s Head, guiding conservation with science.”
✅ The facts
- Present shape
- Since the top concretion split in 1962–1963, according to the Tourism Administration Source Checked
- Neck
- 116.59 cm around, measured in October 2024 by the North Coast scenic area office Source Source Checked
- Neck by 3D scan
- 118.3 cm in September 2023 (138.27 cm in 2005), according to the Taipei Times as cited by The Federal Source Reported
- Thinning rate
- Sources differ: 1.5–1.6 cm a year (researchers, AFP 2015); about 1 to 2 cm a year (scenic area office, UDN and TVBS 2026); about 0.2 cm a year on average (Professor Lin Chun-chuan, TVBS 2026) Source Source Source Conflicting We lean towards the scenic office’s own long-run average of about 1 cm a year, taken from its neck measurements over the years (UDN): it is the body that measures the neck, and its figures from 2006 to October 2024 (about 136 cm to 116.59 cm, roughly 18 years) work out at about that. Source
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Taiwan Tourism Administration: Queen’s Head
- New Taipei City Travel: Yehliu Geopark
- Gulf Times (AFP), 13 Nov 2015: Scientists battle to save Taiwan’s Queen’s Head
- United Daily News, 2 Sep 2026: 女王頭最新頸圍剩116公分 (in Chinese)
- TVBS, 19 Oct 2026: 野柳女王頭頸圍31年縮水逾百公分 (in Chinese)
- The Federal, 29 May 2025: Queen’s Head, Yehliu Geopark
- Wikimedia Commons: Queen’s Head, 5 April 2006
- Wikimedia Commons: Queens Head Rock, 27 August 2012
- Wikimedia Commons: Queen’s head, 26 October 2013
- Wikimedia Commons: Queen’s Head in April 2024
- Wikimedia Commons: 野柳女王頭2025年, 23 August 2025
- Image: Mark S. Piteo-Tarpy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (file page), as also published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share image was made from it. More photos: David Monniaux (2006, CC BY-SA 3.0), Romain Pontida (2013, CC BY-SA 2.0), Outlookxp (2025, CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Last checked: 4 November 2026. How we verify art