It’s easy to drive through the splendid mountain, ocean, and rift valley scenery of Hualien County’s Shoufeng Township without realizing how much there is to see and do away from the main north-south roads. This small farming community is home to...
This post has been created in cooperation with Uniquefun Hualien. There are numerous outdoor tour companies based in Hualien, offering adventure trips with a major focus on river-tracing. In recent years, sea kayaking on the ocean has become very popular as...
Guanshan (關山) Guanshan rice is renowned far and wide and tasty Guanshan railway lunchboxes should not be missed when traveling through by train. The paddy fields here take on a different appearance through the four seasons. Cycling, strolling through Guanshan Water...
Hualien City (花蓮市) While not large in size, Hualien is the most prosperous city in eastern Taiwan. It has all the amenities needed for living, good rail links, hotels, homestays, shopping malls, and night markets. The famed Jinsanjiao (Golden Triangle) Shopping...
Taiwan’s East Rift Valley – the Emerald Paradise. Extending from Hualien City in the north to Taitung City in the south, this valley is a place of pristine rivers and flat, fertile farmland where fields of rice, beans, and rapeseed transform...
The stately hotel complex was built at a cost of NT$6 billion. The grounds of the resort are sprawling, with a size six times the area of Taipei Main Station. There are two main buildings, the Mansion and the Castle, which...
Way Down South, in the East Text: Rick Charette; Photos: Ray Chang; Maggie Song The southern reaches of Taitung County on the East Coast is a region of high-mountain backdrops, flatlands carpeted with paddy fields, Pacific Ocean views, palm trees, and gently...
A Fine Family Vacation Hotel in Taitung County Text: Rick Charette, Photos: Ray Chang n an online poll conducted this year by the Taiwan travel company EzTravel, this lovely Mediterranean-look resort, located just south of Chishang, was declared “Taiwan’s most beautiful hotel.”...
Taiwan’s Wilder Side — Three Days in Naturally Blessed Hualien County Text: Rick Charette; Photos: Chen Cheng-kuo All roads leading to Hualien County are spectacular ones. And there are but few. A thick series of north-south high-mountain ranges stand between Hualien (and its...
Strolling, Biking, and Relaxing in Taiwan’s First “Slow City” If you are curious about the meaning of terms like “slow living,” “slow food,” and “slow cities,” consider heading to a place in Taiwan where the pace of life is the opposite...
Taiwan Balloon Festival in Taitung — Flying High at One of Taiwan’s Hottest Tourist Attractions The Taiwan International Balloon Festival has become one of Taiwan’s most popular annual festivals in recent years. The Travel Channel, a US-based cable channel, has described it...
The East Rift Valley between the cities of Hualien and Taitung in eastern Taiwan is one of the most scenic and popular tourist areas on this beautiful island. If you want to explore this slow-paced bucolic region of rice paddies and...
Let’s go on a Taitung train ride! Sheltered from the busy, populous parts of Taiwan by massive mountain ranges, Taitung County is a charming rural part of the island where life is slower, the fields seem greener, the air fresher. This...
A Pristine Outdoor-Adventure Playground, with Mountains, Farms, Hot Springs, and Hiking Trails The east coast is often described as “isolated,” kept locked away from the rest of the island by the soaring, rugged, thick central mountains. But this is meant in...
