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We recently went on a two-day trip to the great forest areas of Taipingshan and Qilan in Yilan County. In this video we are at Taipingshan, riding the Bong-Bong Train and going on a forest work.

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Travel in Taiwan Jan./Feb., 2020

By Owain Mckimm

Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area
The Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area (tps.forest.gov.tw; entrance fee: NT$150 Mon-Fri; NT$200 weekends/holidays) is the more bounteous of the two recreation areas in terms of the sheer number of nature trails, hikes, and opportunities for exploring and nature-watching.
In the not-too-distant past, Taipingshan – a 12,000ha expanse of dense forest, much of which is located between 1,500m and 2,500m above sea level – was best known as a logging area. In 1914, the Japanese (who controlled Taiwan as a colony from 1895 to 1945) began operations to harvest the centuries- and sometimes millennia-old cypress trees that grew here. Logging was finally banned in 1982, and you can learn about some of the industry's history at the Taipingshan Visitor Service Station in the recreation area’s main facilities sector.

Climbing the stone stairs to the right of the station brings you to a café and restaurant, the latter serving seven-dish set meals made with fresh local produce for NT$250 per head. At the top of the stairs (lined with Japanese maple trees, whose leaves turn a rich burgundy-red in autumn), you'll find one of the recreation area’s many trails – the Primitive Cypress Forest Trail, an easy 30-minute walk taking you through the intertwining canopies and twisting roots of members of Taiwan's two endemic cypress species (C. obtuse var. formosana and C. formosensis). Beyond this trail is the Chinese Hemlock Nature Trail, a longer and more challenging walk through largely coniferous forest which also contains several broadleaf species such as the Formosan rhododendron, with the viewing platform at the trail’s tail-end providing beautiful views of Taipingshan's breathtaking sea of clouds phenomenon.

Aside from hiking, one of the most popular activities at this recreation area is taking a ride on the Bong-Bong Train – a working relic from the old logging days. Its onomatopoeic name derives from the sound it made as it trundled log-laden along the snaking narrow-gauge rail track to nearby Maoxing Station, a bit higher in the mountains. The trains, now carrying tourists, run hourly from 7:30am until 2:30pm, and tickets cost NT$180 for a return trip. The journey to Maoxing takes roughly 20 minutes, the train twisting and turning along the mountainside through, on many days, dense mist that reveals only ghostly impressions of the forested ridges and slopes that lie beyond.
Arriving at Maoxing Station, you'll have around an hour to explore before the return train, which is plenty of time to make a thorough exploration of the area by walking the Maoxing Reminiscent Trail – a 900m path that follows and encircles the old train tracks. The forest around here once yielded around 3,000 cubic meters of wood per hectare. Today, a dense forest of new-growth cypresses, cedars, and firs exists in place of those felled ancients, whose gigantic stumps loom from within the mist like the ruined towers of some long-lost city.


To soothe your aching legs and tired feet, a highly recommended final stop is the Jiuzhize Hot Springs, situated further down-mountain near the recreation area’s ticket booth. Here, pale-blue alkaline sodium bicarbonate water bubbles from deep beneath the earth at temperatures of up to 140°C, its steam rising in giant white plumes from the boiling wells. The spa has both outdoor pools and private bathhouses, and prices range from NT$150 for access to the outdoor pool in summer to NT$700 for a private two-person bathhouse during winter. If you're peckish, you can rustle up some grub in the cooking area, where eggs and corn purchased in the visitor center shop can be boiled in specially designated springs.