Time to continue our travel diary in Taiwan. In this post, we’re going to share a special place, one of our favorite places to visit on our Taiwan Winter Trip last year, Alishan National Scenic Area, a mountain indigenous township in Chiayi County, Taiwan.

“Shan” is Chinese for mountain and A-Li Mountain or Alishan is the centerpiece of the Alishan National Scenic Area. The area is massive and offers much more than a single hike up to the mountain’s peak. In all, the Alishan area is a natural wilderness preserve clocking in at 415 square kilometers. The mountain area holds a fantastic reputation in the minds of the Taiwanese, famous for such pleasant things as idyllic sunrises, high-quality tea, spring cherry blossoms, hiking trails, and much, much more.

Facts About Alishan in Taiwan

Geographic
Alishan is around 415 km² and at an elevation of 2,190 meters above sea level. It has a subtropical highland climate with extremely wet and mild conditions, perfect for agriculture. The Alishan National Scenic Area lies east of Chiayi and is more or less smack-dab in the middle of Taiwan. The weather is hot and humid but obviously gets cooler and thinner as you make your way up the mountains.

History
The area was originally settled by aboriginal tribes, and the Japanese used the mountain’s lush forests for lumber – a rail system that you can still see with your own eyes.

Landscape
Alishan is not a single mountain, but a range on Taiwan’s spine, averaging 2,500 meters in height.

Climate
Due to its elevation, Alishan is considerably cooler than the coast, with daytime highs averaging 14-24°C in summer and 5-16°C in winter.

Keep in mind that Alishan is a highly popular place for Taiwanese tourists, so holidays and weekends will be busy.

Since we’re in a big group of 12 we rent a mini van from Taoyuan. Another alternative is by train or bus, but if you come in a group of 6 or more from Taipei, we think that the most effective transport is rent a car. This trip takes about 4 hours. When you reached the foot of Alishan, you’ll find Lovers Bridge (Lower Bridge) 地久橋 and Long Yin Temple 龍隱寺. After takes a long trip from Taoyuan, we decided to take a rest for around 15 minutes in this area before continue to our Hotel.

After taking some rest, we continue and moved to Fen Qi Hu. Fen Qi Hu is known for its Bian Tang (便當, Lunch takeaways) and we like the traditional old town feel in Fen Qi Hu. We really appreciate the effort the locals have to take to preserve the traditional trains that used to run through the are and also preserving the unique Bian Tang food culture. Surely we don’t miss the chance to have a lunch with lunch box from one food stall in Fen Qi Hu.

After having lunch and strolling around Fen Qi Hu, we continue to Da Feng Hotel. Alishan National Scenic Area has a hotel area with some hotel, shopping center, and bus parking. It’s located near the ticketing office and Forest Railways Alishan Station. To help you plan your stay in Alishan, here is some information about Hotels in Alishan National Scenic Area.

The must-see in Alishan is absolutely the sun rise. If you want to see the Alishan sunrise, you have to wake up the latest at 4 am. The hotels in Alishan village usually offer a call service, so that you don’t oversleep. The first train departing from Alishan Station 阿里山火車站 to Chushan Station 祝山車站, where the sunrise viewing platform is located. Unfortunately, we can’t see the sunrise because the sky was too cloudy, but we captured the breathtaking sunset and sea of cloud in Alishan. We captured the pictures from viewing deck at the second-floor deck of Alishan Train Station, near our hotel and shopping center.

When night comes, you can enjoy dinner at some restaurant near shopping center. Unfortunately, we forget to notice the restaurant name, but all restaurant there seems to have the similar menu. The specialty dishes at Alishan area that you must try is Wild Boar. The indigenous people hunt wild boar for food and it is still a popular local delicacy here in Alishan. The wild boar meat is a little darker and chewier than pork, you will find BBQ wild boar meat on the menu at almost restaurants here.

There are also many retail shops that sell souvenir, tea, snack, and many local products that you can buy for gift or souvenirs. All shops at shopping center closed at 8 or 9 PM, in case you’re hungry in the late night, there is also 7 Eleven (or simply called “Seven” by Taiwanese) in the shopping area. I found a cup of instant noodle and take to my hotel for supper.. 😀

After an overnight stay, we have a breakfast at one restaurant with local delicacies, we have porridge and some toast. We check out from the hotel around 10 AM and continue our trip to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)  -> click the link for Travel Guide to Sun Moon Lake.

On the way home from Alishan and heading to Sun Moon Lake, we on, we were dropped off at a rest area and coincidently found a viewing deck with stunning views. It’s a perfect spot to take a picture against the picturesque mountain backdrop.

Overall, Alishan id definitely a must visit place in Taiwan. Many peoples say that “You still haven’t go to Taiwan if you didn’t come to Alishan, and we agree with that since Alishan is one of the main tourist attraction in Taiwan. Hope we’ll come back someday to experience the sunrise with their iconic diesel locomotives train.

Taiwan Travel Series:

• [TAIWAN] ALISHAN NATIONAL SCENIC AREA – Travel Guide
• [TAIWAN] XI MEN DING – Taipei
• [TAIWAN] SHILIN NIGHT MARKET – Taipei
• [TAIWAN] SUN MOON LAKE – Travel Guide
• [TAIWAN] WENG YAO JI (Taiwanese Brickkiln Chicken) – Chiayi
• [TAIWAN] FAMOUS TAIWANESE CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN
• [TAIWAN] CHUN SHUI TANG CULTURAL TEA HOUSE – 春水堂
• [TAIWAN] CHIANG KAI-SHEK MEMORIAL HALL – Taipei

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Alishan National Scenic Area

No.51, Checheng, Fanlu Township
Chiayi County 602, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Tel: +886-5-2593900

Website: http://www.ali-nsa.net/user/main.aspx?Lang=2

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