Its lineage is thought to have diverged from the rest of Cupressaceae during the Middle Jurassic.

[7] It is native to eastern Asia, growing in the mountains of central Taiwan, and locally in southwest China (Guizhou, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet) and adjoining Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.

[1] The populations in mainland Asia were treated as a distinct species Taiwania flousiana by some botanists, but the cited differences between these and the Taiwanese population are not consistent when a number of specimens from each area are compared.

The wood is soft, but durable and attractively spicy scented, and was in very high demand in the past, particularly for temple building and coffins.

In 2022 a team of researchers measured a 79.1 meters (259.5 feet) Taiwania specimen in Shei-pa National Park.