Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I hadn't been able to watch fireflies for over three years. At the beginning of May this year(2023), I arranged a tour to witness these enchanting creatures near Taipei 101. The surprise I encountered during this experience was truly remarkable.
Lantern Festival is one of the most important festivals in Taiwan. In fact, the official name of the festival is Yuanxiao, a kind of traditioanl soup. a.k.a. LanternFestival since most celebration are related to lantern. However, there some unique traditional events. Here I would like to introuduce Yuanshui Beehive Firecracks, the most exciting event, according to my experience.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception, one of the most unique cultural festival in Taiwan, is famous for its Western and Eastern integration. If you are a cathlic, no matter you come from Philipine, Vietnam, Spain, you should join the amazing event.
Foreign individual visitors usually take linear distance in map as the base of organizing their itinerary. However, the public transportation may be different from the map. What matters is the transportation distance. 30 km in map may takes longer hours than 300 km does. Transfer and bus/train interval are also important to your itinerary arrangement. Here are some tips that make your itinerary run smoothly.
Nature beauty is one of the most attractive features in Taiwan. You can see different beauty at different seasons. Although you can find some information about the place and time about the nature season, however, the information may not be useful to your itinerary. You need to adjust your itinerary a lot in order to catch the seasonal beauty. In fact, you can smooth your itinerary if you have a nature beauty calendar.
In Taiwan, train is only a kind of transportation tool, it is also a kind of fun in the trip. Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) provides various events and special cars for railfan. e.g. locomotive steam train, cruise train, Hello Kitty Train.
Taoyuan Airport(TPE) is the most popular airport for foreign visitors who visit Taiwan. Therefore, the transportation is one of the most common questions. The transportation questions include how to go to other cities, what bus is available in the midnight, and etc.
Pingxi Sky Lantern is one of the biggest culture events in Taiwan. It falls on the 15th day after Chines New Year. New Taipei City Government will hold 3 group launching events between CNY and Sky Lantern Festival. Some foreign visitors may be confused the event locations. Here are some tips for these events.
Alisan Forest Train is an independent system, no matter its track system or ticket system. It's ticket system was supported by Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) since 2016. Now you can book the tickets online and collect at convenient stores. By the booking system, you can decrease the uncertainty of your trip.
Taipei 101 celebrates the arriving of New
Year with countdown-firework since 2004 and it has became one of the most important event in Taipei. The firework lasts about 90 seconds and over 10
thousands people go to see the firework. If you plan to join the countdown-fire,
here are some tips and places for your reference:
101 countdown-firework from the Keelung River Bank
There is always a question from foreign visitors: "How to go to Taichung/Fenjia Night Market from HSR Taichung station". However, the question should be "How to go to Taichung/Fenjia Night Market from HSR Taichung station", which excludes the premise : HSR Taichung Station.
Since HSR Taichung station is at southwest corner of Taichung city center, unless your destiny is Sun Moon Lake or Cingjin. HSR Taichung Station is not a good choice if your destiny is Fenjia night market since you pay double~triple the price comparing to bus from Taipei or Taoyuan Airport but save only less one hour. Lets make a comparison:
From Taipei
By Bus:
Taipei Bus Station(UBus 1619)->Ciaoma(Taxi)->Fenjia
Cost :NTD 220 + NTD 100= NTD 320
Time: Around 150 minutes
The interval of Bus 1619 is 10~15 minutes
By HSR
Taipei Main Station->HSR Taichung Station(Bus 160)->Fenjia Night Market
Cost: NTD 740
Time 100 minutes
That's a trade off : would your save 50 minutes by extra NTD 420 ?
From Taoyuan Airport
By Bus:
Taoyuan Airport(UBus 1623)->Ciaoma(Taxi)->Fenjia
Cost :NTD 230 + NTD 100= NTD 330
Time: Around 90 minutes
The interval of Bus 1623 is 10~15 minutes
By HSR
Taoyuan Airport(Bus 705)->HSR Taichung Station(Bus 160)->HSR Taichung Station(Bus 160)->Fenjia Night Market
Cost: NTD 30+570=NTD 600
The interval of Bus 705 is 5~15 minutes
Time:20+35+40=95 minutes <not include the time of transfer>
The answer is much clear if you go to Fenjia Night Market by HSR
The distance between Kenting & Hualien is about 300 KM. It is also one the remote areas in Taiwan so that there are fewer public transportation choices. Here are some transportation alternatives and provide some itinerary examples for you to follow.
Compared with other transportation tools, train is more reliable for foreign travelers since foreign travelers can the find train lines on maps and find the timetables easily. Some train stations are also transfer center at which you can take shuttle bus or metro. Here is some information about train in Taiwan you may need when you travel in Taiwan.
For most foreign visitors who come to Taiwan for their first time, an itinerary example would be helpful and save lots of your time. There are area itineraries for different areas, and multi-day itineraries for your Taiwan trip. When you finish this article, you may prepare your own itinerary by yourself.
Area itineraries provide itinerary examples for different areas, including Taipei, Taichung, Nantou & Chiayi, etc. However, lots visitors also want to know how to plan an entire itinerary. Basing on area itineraries, here are some Taiwan itineraries. Remember, the following examples just show how to make a smooth itinerary plan. Some information may be out of day. You should check the timetable and traffic condition before finish your own itinerary.
For most foreign travelers, Cingjing, Sun Moon Lake, and Alisan are popular places of interest. Because the long distance and lower frequency of public transportation between these places, how to gather the information of public transportation and arrange a good itinerary becomes a big challenge for foreign travelers.
Summer is the traveling season in the East Rift Valley. Green rice field is boundless. Golden daylilies brim over hills. Balloons surf the sky. It is also the season of Amis Harvest Festival. When you go through the East Rift Valley in Summer, you should stay one night to enjoy the nature and culture of the East Rift Valley.
Mazu pilgrimage is the most magnificent religious activity in Taiwan. It lasts about 10 days over 400 km. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims escort the divine palanquin with the statue of Mazu inside. Local people and shops along the pilgrimage route will also provide drinking and food for pilgrims.
There are many places you can enjoy firefly-watching in Taiwan. However, since fireflies live in rural area where there is less light pollution and better environment protection, it is a problem to arrange transportation for a foreign traveler. Because of convenient public transportation in Taipei area, including Taipei City and New Taipei City, you can take bus or MRT after watching fireflies. If you visit Taipei in late April or early May, you should arrange one evening for firefly-watching.(p.s. the following information is updated for 2014 firefly-watching )
The Liwu River cuts through the Taroko Gorge and makes the gorge famous for it vertical valley. In additional to the gorgeous view in the gorge, Taroko are also renowned for its hiking trails. If you would like to enjoy an one-day trip in Taroko, you can find some useful information in the following indroduction.
Zhuilu Trail
There are lots trekking trails in Taroko Gorge. It is a pity that visitor come to Taroko but only stay on the highway. The following 4 routes are most featured one-day trails. It is easy to have an one-day hiking in Taroko Gorge. There are bus stops at the entrance of these hiking trails. The hiking could be flexible. If you have only one hour, you could walk along Tunnel of Nine Turns. If you have 7 hours, you could hike along Zhuilu Trail.
Google works with Taroko National Park to provide street view of these trails. You can see the view of these trails from the google maps in the bottom of this blog. Before you go hiking,please check thetrail condition in order to make your hiking smoothly.
Swallow Grotto Trail was the old road of HWY 8 which weaves in and out the cliff. . When you go along the pedestrian of the Tunnel of Nine Turns, you can see the green river and majestic river clearly. The river is like a sharp knife splitting out the gorge.
Swallow Grotto Trail is the easiest accessible hiking trail in Taroko. Almost all visitors will have a walk ere. The distance is only 1400m, There are bus stop at both sides of the tunnel. Therefore, you don't need to be rush.The entrance of Tunnel of Nine Turns is at Swallow Grotto (燕子口), which is also the entrance of Zhuilu Old Trail.(錐麓古道)
Because of the vertical cliff, there may be falling rocks. In order to keep your safety, Taroko National Park provide free helmet at the entrance.
Baiyang Trail was constructed by Taiwan Power Company in order to develop hydroelectric power in the 1970s. The entrance is located 500m west of Tienshiang Bus Stop. There are 7 tunnels along the trail. At the end of the trail is a waterfall curtain tunnel. When you go through the waterfall curtain tunnel, you can see a see a green mountain view.There are raincoats provided by other visitors if you want to go in to the tunnel. However, you need to prepare a flashlight because the tunnel is dark. You can also prepare a pair of slipper.
Trail along Baiyang Trail
Waterfall Curtain Tunnel at the end of Baiyang Trail
Shakadang trail is along Sakadang river, and Shakadang trail is closest to the river among 4 trails. Therefore, you can see the clean water and beautiful rock marble folds.You can enter Sakadang Trail from the headquarter of Taroko National Park by going through the Sakadang Tunnel, or you can enter by taking the shuttle bus to Sakadang Bridge.
Visitors can hike until 3D Cabin. Although the trail is almost flat, it takes about 4 hours to go and return.
When you start you hike along Tunnel of Nine Turns from Swallow Grotto, you can find there is a line across the cliff in front of you if you look up. It looks like a road. However, it is hard to believe since you can not image how people constructed the road on marble cliff with hammers and drills over 100 year ago.
Zhuilu Bridge, Swallow Grotto
The original trail, Hehuan Crossing Trail, started from Wushe to Taroko. In order to control the aborigines in the mountain area, Japanese widened the width of the trail from 30 cm to 1.5 m to carry cannon and military equipment. The construction was finished in 1917.
Zhuilu Old Trail,between Swallow Grotto(east) and Cimu Bridge(west), is part of the Hehuan Crossing Trail. The most breathtaking section of Zhuilu Old Trail is Zhuiliu Cliff, which is 500 m above the Liwu River and 500 in length. There are some regulations you need to notice if you want to go to Zhuilu Old Trail
(1)Permits
You need to apply 2 kinds of permits if you want to hike along Zhuilu Old Trail. Ecological permit can be applied online if there are Taiwanese citizens hiking with you. If there is no Taiwanese citizen in your group, you can download the application form from the entrance application and apply by e-mail. It takes 1~3 working days to review your application. Be noted that the Emergency Contact Person should be a Taiwanese when you fill the application form. The capacity limit for the permit is 60 in weekdays and 96 in holidays. You can check the loading status when you apply .
Another permit is issued by the policy department for security reason. The permit can by applied online as well if there are Taiwanese citizens hiking with you. If not , you can apply at the policy station which is next to the head quarter of Taroko National Park. It takes only a few minutes to fill the form in the policy station.
(2) Hiking Routes
Since you can not camp overnight on the trail and the trail is open between 7am~6pm, Taroko National Park provides 2 choices for hiking.You can hike from Cimu Bridge to Swallow Gratto (10.3KM). The route takes about 7 hours and you should enter Cimu Bridge between 7am~9am:
Another hiking route start from Swallow Grotto and return from Cliff Police Station(3.1KM for one way). It takes about 5 hours to finish. You should enter Swallow Grotto between 7am~10am.
For the transportation, since the train between Taipei and Hualien is hard to book,you can use combo ticket if you cannot book Taroko Express or Puyuma Express.
If you want to stay one night in Taroko, you can choose the hotel in Tienshiang. Most of places of interests are between Tienshiag and Swallow Grotto and there is a nature hot spring under the river. If you want to hike Zhuilu Trail from Cimu Bridge to Swallow Grotto(10.3 KM), staying one night at Tienshiang will make it easier to arrive Cimu Bridge before 9 am. There is luxury Silk Place Taroko in Tienshian. There are also Tienshiang Catholic Church or Tienshiang Youth Activity Center if you have budget constrain.
