Quick to the famous Green Tea Mountain in Yilan's Jiaoxi Township. Was a hot day, but the scenery was picture perfect. :)

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Travel in Taiwan (2020-11-12)
By Ryan Hevern

Matcha Mountain
The hike up Matcha Mountain rewards you with incredible scenery, and also has an interesting religious component. With a unique Catholic church at the start of the hike and a “Christian” hut below the peak of Mt. Sanjiaolun, hiking the trail has become somewhat of a pilgrimage for hikers of faith.

The Marian Hut was built in 1977 by an Italian monk, Br. Luigi Pavanat, who worked for 20 years in Yilan’s Camillian Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong and was in love with Taiwan’s mountains. In 1980, a group of hikers met bad weather on a hike to Mt. Sanjiaolun, and took shelter in the hut. Five of the hikers decided to descend the mountain in the dark. On the way down they saw the image of a woman in a long white robe, which they regarded as being an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The church at the start of the hike, known as the Catholic Sanctuary of Our Lady of Wufengqi, was built years later close to the location of the apparition.

The Marian Hiking Trail is suitable for most hikers with moderate fitness, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t strenuous. It takes about five hours to get from the car park in the Wufengqi Waterfall area to the Marian Hut. Just above the hut is a platform with a statue of Jesus on the cross from where you have the best views. The easy-to-follow route has a total length of 5.6km. It consists of a long easy-grade gravel path, a steep-step section through forest, and a dirt path section up along arrow bamboo slopes.

THE HIKE
The hike begins at the Wufengqi Scenic Area car park. You can first walk up to the three-tier Wufengqi Waterfall (look for the signposted stairs on the right side of the main path), or you can follow the winding paved road uphill straight ahead. A path connects the waterfall area with this road just below the Catholic church. At the church you want to look down to the Lanyang Plain to get a first taste of what you will later see from much higher up. You can take a look inside the beautiful round church and view a statue of the Virgin Mary in a man-made cave beside the building.

After this, follow the steep road behind the church, which soon becomes a gravel path that brings you to the proper trailhead at the Tongtian Bridge. The trail first follows a mountain stream through lush forest. During hot weather many hikers will opt to sit by the stream, soaking their feet in the cooling water.
Meandering through the luxuriant forest, the well-maintained path takes you past rich vegetation. It’s a steep climb, with a change in elevation of about 400m. While for the first kilometer or so you can enjoy the tree shade, the higher up you go the more the forest opens up. Along the last few hundred meters before reaching the Marian Hut you’ll be surrounded by arrow bamboo, which blankets the mountainside, and you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking unobstructed views of the Lanyang Plain when looking back.

Just above the Marian Hut lies the main attraction on this hike, the rolling matcha-like slopes of Mt. Sanjiaolun, covered in arrow bamboo and silvergrass. When the silvergrass sways in the wind, this becomes an even more mesmerizing landscape. The hut itself is a welcome shelter during unfavorable weather, a place with running water, toilets, and even benches to lie down on.
A short distance above the hut is the viewing platform at the end of the trail, reached by climbing a set of steep steps. The large Jesus on the cross statue stands in the center of the platform, from where you can enjoy stunning 360 degree views of the surrounding verdant mountains, the Lanyang Plain, and the Pacific Ocean in the far distance.
For those who want an extended and more strenuous hike, another trail section continues further up to the peak of Mt. Sanjiaolun. Add at least another hour to your hike if this is the path you choose.

English and Chinese
Catholic Sanctuary of Our Lady of Wufengqi 五峰旗聖母朝聖地
Marian Hiking Trail 聖母登山步道
Marian Hut 聖母山莊
Matcha Mountain 抹茶山
Mt. Sanjiaolun 三角崙山
Tongtian Bridge 通天橋
Wufengqi Scenic Area 五峰旗風景區
Wufengqi Waterfall 五峰旗瀑布