Chiayi County, Taiwan 605

Was a bit disappointed with my trip here. It was almost mid-December. It's also quite cold here. Many degrees lower than a city. Definitely glad I brought my big winter jacket I took a day trip here with a tour group from Kaohsiung so the drive was about 3.5 hours one way. Maybe that's why I had such high expectations after a long drive and then was tired after being in the car. The train ride at the end wasn't as fun or scenic as some of the videos I saw online. The train ride itself was also quite short. The trails were well paved though and the hike itself was easy and I think doable for all levels.

An amazing place to enjoy the mountains and nature of Taiwan. There are many stores, restaurants, 7/11 and main train station at the recreation area. Trains take you to three different spots, depending on how further you want to climb up the mountains and hike down. The hiking path is nicely laid out through the slopes and forest. Lots of unique tree trunks are marked with details. There are few ponds and a temple to visit. The area can take easily 1-4 hours to walk around. It gets chilly in the mountains, bring enough warm clothing, gloves and hoodie to keep yourself cozy.

Great scenery thru the walk. Easy hike for everyone. It's paved and labeled. It's cold since it's higher up. Jacket is needed for sure at this time.

My husband and I had a great time exploring this beautiful mountainous area. We enjoyed the train and walking around the beautiful trees. There are a lot of trails to walk around, and they weren't too hard to walk thru. We also enjoyed trying some of the interesting foods in the stalls inside by the trees, including cherry blossom cookies and wasabi crackers.

For people that are not local and unfamiliar with Alishan, it's best to do your research before coming. They restrict only official shuttles and vehicles to go inside the park, otherwise you must park outside and walk into it. There are only two hotels that are built within the park itself and neither are luxurious, just fine. Many people book stays outside at neighboring towns and ride the train in too as an alternative. Taking a car in, from the Chianti High Speed Rail Station, it is about a 2 hour ride with very winding and narrow, difficult roads uphill in the mountains-I would advise against doing this drive yourself unless you're experienced. The park itself is beautiful, the temperature is cooler since it's higher, so make sure to bring layers just in case it's a cooler day. It tends to also potentially rain due to being so high up in the clouds, so it's good to bring rainwear/umbrellas. The shops will have some if you forget them, plus some layers and coats/shawls. You will need more than one day if you want to do all of the park, there are many stairs and you should allow for time for rest and breaks. Don't forget your water and hydration! There are trains within the park, but they only go back into town by the Alishan station outside-none of them run to different parts of the park. The last of these trains will run around 4:30pm. The most notable places are the sacred trees and I recommend the walk along the old rails trail that leads to one of the trees, along with the northwest part of park with the official 'sacred tree'-that trail is easier since it's going downhill and you can end with taking the train into town. The sunrise/sunset is very popular to watch as well, but you have to be able to time it right and weather conditions are not always favorable-so don't expecting to see the 'sea of clouds' if nature doesn't cooperate. To see the sunrise you also have to show up extremely early and book your train ticket in advance to be at the viewpoint deeper into the park. The small village around the park has some restaurants and small souvenir shops, but none that should take you too long to browse. There are shuttles that constantly go between the visitor center and the Alishan Hotel if you are staying there. There is Alishan coffee, tea, and mochi you can try. Many of the restaurant serve hot pot as well if you need a meal-there is a 50s cafe within the park that's open 11am till late as well for a break.

Alishan National Forest Recreation Area (not a National Park) is a great spot to visit if you've already crossed off some of the more high profile attractions. We came during November and it wasn't too cold yet and definitely not hot which is great. We didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into so definitely do some research. If you're looking for tea farms, this is not it. That's going to be more outside of the actual park and probably Chiayi area. There's a famous trail to watch the sunrise and that's not here. They have a sunrise observation deck and viewing point which we did: you can hike or take the train for a 20-30min ride. It's suggested to buy your ticket the day before so you don't have to wait in the ticket line which the ticket line moves fast but the line for the train is like the Titanic life boats. The train can fill up which means you have to wait for the next one...but if you're trying to hit sunrise I'm not sure how that works out for the 2nd wave. You can buy a ticket for roundtrip BUT just know there is only one train going back and it's just an hour or so after the sunrise meaning not a lot of time to look around at the top. There's a tea shop at the top and some walking area which we got sucked into...and thereby missed the train back. Not the worst thing as you can walk down but yes, there's not a frequent back and forth train service. There are plenty of hiking trails around, a visitor center, and some shops selling food and souvenirs. Since we were staying inside the park we didn't encounter any hassle with getting inside (other than you still need to pay the park fee) but I've read that they don't just let anyone into the park so do some research there. Overall, glad we stayed inside the park and seeing the sea of clouds will be up to the weather you get. Also, the road up is not the friendliest to people prone to car sickness. We took a city bus up from the Chiayi station (which there are also limited times so don't miss your bus!) which wasn't too bad.

The parking lot is very small and you have to get here early or park along the street, but spots are very limited.

Sensory : it so beautifully. Fill with green color. They created nice walking paths for people. Tourists would be expecting walk up and down stair. There are two temple along the path. U will see tree that been through many generations like " 3 generations tree". It been cut down and regrow then cut down again. They have big tree. U can also experience ride around it with train. To go up there, u can take bus, train, or private car. There is small area selling food just in case u thirty and hungry. Before u get into the location where bus will drop u off, there will be places for over night if u decide to spend a night " high recommended to see beautiful sun rise". There will be selling jacket cause temperature change. It expensive to spend a night there but it worthy

Take the train to see the sunrise! Pretty good to walk around this national park. You have to wake up early to catch the train for the sunrise. Make sure you buy the ticket a day early so you can just go to the line in the morning.

Alishan National Forest Recreation Area is located in the 1/3 lower part of the Taiwan island. It is next to the highest mountain of Taiwan - Yushan. This recreation area is national protected forest due to Large and Tall trees. The nature of the beauty has attracted many tourists. We spent a night in this forest recreation area to have two major activities (sunrise at the cloud and fire fly). If you come at March, you also enjoy the flower blooming and cherry blossom. Since the mountain is at 2170 meter high (7120 feet sea level), you will feel you are above the cloud. Unfortunately our trip was rain during the afternoon which naturally forms the clear sky after rain do not allow us to see the above cloud feeling. I have attached a national park previous taken photo with cloud and sunrise to let you see the magnificent scene above the cloud. The sunrise is beautiful but you have to get up from the bed at 4:00 am. If you not stay overnight at the mountain, you will need to rise up 1:00 am to see the sunrise by tour bus. Good luck!!!! The special of the trip to stay overnight is to have the fire fly tour. The fire fly location only the local tour guide knows and you have to spend over night. When we reach the fire fly location, the tour guide turns off the all light of the tour van. Suddenly hundred of the tiny blinking light appears in front of us. The tour guide teaches us how to catch the fire fly with the empty bottle. We have to estimate the fly pattern and spread our finger to allow the fire fly rested on the finger and capsulate in the bottle. The tour guide indicated to us the best of the first timer can catch 5 fire flies. I was lucky enough to catch 3 of them in the darkness. To determine the male and female fly is to count the number of lighted chamber of the fly. Single chamber is female and the double chamber is male. If you see irregular fly pattern mean this is a pair who found each other and don't catch them. This is how the fire flies multiply. Later, we collect all the flies in one jar. The special moment is to let go all the fire flies in one single moment and almost the fire burning on the open jar. I recommended this trip if you come to Alishan. They also have 1.5 mile attraction area. It include the giant tree park, two sister pond, heart shape wood, flower garden, temple, and many more. The most important is the giant tree with 2700 years old. It is almost like the sequoia in US. Please visit the park if you visit Taiwan. You can take the high speed rail to Chiayi and take the bus to the mountain.