Short trip Sanyi Township in Miaoli County, northwestern Taiwan:
00:50 Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum 三義木雕博物館
02:50 Sanyi Old Street 三義老街
06:10 Shengxing Railway Station 勝興車站
07:50 Shengxing Kezhan Restaurant 勝興客棧
09:40 Longteng Bridge Ruin 龍騰斷橋
10:50 Zhuo Ye Cottage 卓也小屋
13:30 Tongluo Skywalk 銅鑼天空步道
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WHO ARE WE?
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing you to Taiwan as a travel destination. Read it! Lot of useful information. We also have a website with lots of articles about Taiwan. Visit it! We try to make a video or two every week. Let us know what you think about this channel and what you would like to see about Taiwan. All the best to you!
Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum
Add: No. 88, Guangsheng Xincheng, Guangsheng Village, Sanyi Township, Miaoli County (苗栗縣三義鄉廣盛村廣聲新城88號)
Tel: (037) 876-009
Website:
Shengxing Kezhan Restaurant
Add: No. 72, Neighborhood 14, Shengxing Village, Sanyi Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣三義鄉勝興村14鄰72號)
Tel: (037) 973-883
Website: (Chinese)
Zhuo Ye Cottage
Add: No. 1-5, Bengshan Xia, Neighborhood 13, Shuangtan Village, Sanyi Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣三義鄉雙潭村13鄰崩山下1-5號)
Tel: (037) 879-198
Website: (Chinese)
Taiwan Hakka Museum (Miaoli Hakka Culture Park)
Add: No. 6, Tongke S. Rd., Jiuhu Village, Tongluo Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣銅鑼郷九湖村銅科南路6號)
Tel: (037) 985-558
Three days in Tainan, southern Taiwan doing sightseeing and goofing around. Fun Times!
02:05 Tainan Judicial Museum 台南司法博物館
05:10 Little Secret restaurant 小覓秘麵食所
05:40 Blueprint Culture and Creative Park 藍晒圖文創園區
06:50 Old Taiwan Magistrate Residence 台南知事官邸
07:50 The Place Tainan 台南老爺
09:30 Lin Mo-Niang Park 林默娘公園
10:15 Eternal Golden Castle 億載金城
11:45 Yuguang Island 漁光島
13:15 Taijiang National Park Visitor Center 台江國家公園遊客中心
14:30 Anping Tree House 安平樹屋
15:55 Anping Fort 安平古堡
16:50 Chou’s Spring Rolls 周氏蝦捲
17:30 Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields 井仔腳瓦盤鹽田
18:00 Vanaheim 愛莊園
24:35 Anping Canal Cruise 安平運河
29:05 Zhu Xin Ju restaurant 筑馨居
30:30 Duiyue Gate 兌悅門
30:50 Cloudy Mountain Tea Shop 雲澗茶小賣所
31:20 Fox Café 狐狸小屋
32:25 Zhengxing Street 正興街
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WHO ARE WE?
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing you to Taiwan as a travel destination. Read it! Lot of useful information. We also have a website with lots of articles about Taiwan. Visit it! We try to make a video or two every week. Let us know what you think about this channel and what you would like to see about Taiwan. All the best to you!
From Travel in Taiwan magazine 2018-5-6:
Tainan Judicial Museum
The Tainan Judicial Museum (No. 307, Sec. 1, Fuqian Rd., West Central Dist.; judicial.gov.tw/museum/; Chinese) complex, inaugurated as the Taiwan District Court in 1914, is considered one of Taiwan’s three supreme Japanese-era works of architecture.
Blueprint Culture and Creative Park
This is a narrow-lane complex of renovated simple, cement-walled dormitories originally built by the Japanese to house judicial-authority employees. The dorm buildings are today home to an attractive cluster of artisanal outlets and creative eateries.
Little Secret
The “hidden-away” Little Secret (No. 17, Ln. 689, Sec. 1, Ximen Rd., South Dist.; facebook.com/littlesecret17) restaurant is the go-to foodie haunt here. The emphasis is on bringing cultural-creative flourishes to familiar Taiwanese noodle classics, each dish celebrating a regional icon ingredient.
Old Taiwan Magistrate Residence
The Old Taiwan Magistrate Residence (No. 1, Weimin Street, East Dist.; otmr.com.tw), built in 1900, was used as a residence by visiting Japanese royals, most notably the future Emperor Hirohito during his 1923 grand Taiwan inspection.
The Place Tainan
This new boutique hotel is situated at one end of a monstrous block-style retail/entertainment/leisure complex. The contemporary-décor hotel has minimalist-theme guestrooms with strong black and white schemes. hotelroyal.com.tw/tainan
Lin Mo-Niang Park
Overlooking the south side of Anping Harbor is a giant 16m-high hilltop statue of Lin Mo-Niang located in the breezy Lin Mo-Niang Park. Lin was the young mortal maiden who became the immortal Mazu, Goddess of the Sea, protector of seafarers.
Eternal Golden Castle
This “castle,” actually a fort (No. 3, Guangzhou Rd., Anping Dist.), was built by the Chinese in the 1870s as protection against grasping colonial powers. Massive bastions are found at the ends of the four high, thick walls, with a moat making enemy access even more difficult.
Taijiang National Park Visitor Center
Taijiang National Park (tjnp.gov.tw) is a watery world of estuaries, sandbars, tidal flats, old irrigation canals and small-craft shipping channels, mangrove swamps, wetlands, and aquaculture farms. The white-walled buildings of the visitor complex, built on stilts above retired fish farms, resemble traditional fishermen dwellings and circle a faux “lagoon.”
Anping Fort
This stronghold, originally called Fort Zeelandia, was built at the north-end head of a great sometimes sandbar/sometimes silt island (at high tide) that jutted out from the mainland.
Anping Tree House
Old Tait & Company Merchant House (No. 108, Gubao St., Anping Dist.) and, directly behind, the Anping Tree House, were both built by a British trading firm after the Second Opium War forced China to open ports to Western trade in 1858. The treehouse, originally conjoined warehouses, has been completely overrun by massive banyan trees, creating a fairytale maze.
Chou’s Shrimp Rolls
This restaurant (No. 125 Anping Street, Anping Dist.) is one of the best restaurants in Anping serving shrimp rolls, a local the delicacy.
Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields
Just south of the fishing village of Beimen are the Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields, Taiwan’s oldest salt fields, created in 1818. This site is a showcase example of how the bottom of evaporation ponds were paved with pottery shards, producing cleaner salt and making harvesting easier.
MIAOLI Old Mountain Line Railbike (苗栗舊山線軌道自行車)
On this one-day trip we experienced rail-biking on the Old Mountain Line. That was fun! We also visited the strawberry village of Dahu and the Hakka village of Beipu.
If you want to do the rail-biking make a reservation on this site (I was wrong, they do have English now):
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Travel in Taiwan 2019-03/04
TEXT: STEVEN CROOK
The picturesque village of Shengxing has one of Taiwan’s best-known train stations, which is surprising considering regular passenger services on the railroad that passes through here ceased more than 20 years ago. Between 1903 and 1998, what’s called the Old Mountain Line carried local, express, and freight trains across the Da’an River into the greater Taichung area. At an altitude of 402.36m, Shengxing Railway Station was the highest station above sea level on Taiwan's conventional railway network. The station, a quaint wooden cottage-style building built in 1930, is a highly photogenic structure.
After the completion of a shorter, straighter alternative to the Old Mountain Line, 15.9km of track, along with eight tunnels and three bridges, were decommissioned. The Shengxing station was closed, but never forgotten – and since last year tourists have had a new reason to come here.
Sanyi Rail Bike Fun
The Old Mountain Line Rail Bike attraction offers an unusual 90-minute experience, a railway journey amid gorgeous scenery at the speed of a bicycle, but with no pedaling required. “Rail bike” is something of a misnomer. Each vehicle is about the size of a golf cart, has four train-type wheels, and runs on unmodified rail tracks. A canopy protects the passengers (there are four seats) from sunshine and rain.
I was impressed by the number of staff on duty, and their diligence. Safety belts must be fastened, and before starting the 6km-long ride from the train station to Tunnel No. 6, each “driver” – I was the one on our “locomotive” – is shown how to start the electric motor, release the hand brake, and accelerate. If you’ve ridden one of the scooters that are ubiquitous in Taiwan, you can do this. If anything, it’s far easier: There’s no need to steer, and the vehicle has been rigged to never exceed 12 km/h.
We were instructed to pull away from the station at intervals. Having a good bit of space between each rail bike is a good idea, as drivers often get distracted by the scenery and slow right down. Almost immediately, we were heading through the 725m-long tunnel south of the station, disturbing the bats that roost within.
Much of the route is single-track, and soon we were traversing a narrow bridge far above a mountain creek. Looking left, we enjoyed excellent views of one of Miaoli’s most-adored sights: the Longteng Bridge.
We were instructed to park our rail bikes at the point on the track where riders look down onto Liyu Elementary School. Glancing toward the west, we could see rugged Mt. Huoyan, located by the Taiwan Strait coast. Its bare, sandy ridges are highly unusual in lush, tropical Taiwan.
Everyone then proceeded on foot through Tunnel No. 6 to the Neishechuan Iron Bridge. The bridge itself is off-limits, but from its north end it’s possible to enjoy views up and down the waterway that drains the Liyutan Reservoir. After learning about this spot and the history of the railway line, we rode back to Shengxing.
If you’d like to take a look at this part of the Old Mountain Line without signing up for the rail bike experience, you can reach the iron bridge via Township Road 52. Steps connect the road with the southern end of the tunnel. There’s nothing to stop you walking north through the tunnel, but a flashlight is advised.
English and Chinese
Beipu 北埔
Beipu Old Street 北埔老街
Dahu 大湖
Dapu Reservoir 大埔水庫
leicha 擂茶
Longteng Bridge 龍騰斷橋
Neishechuan Iron Bridge 內社川鐵橋
Old Mountain Line 舊山線
Shengxing Railway Station 勝興車站
The Well Teahouse水井茶堂
Tunnel No. 6 六號隧道
On this trip, we went to the East Coast of Taiwan and saw a lot of ocean. :)
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Thanks for asking. We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing you to Taiwan as a travel destination. Read it! Lot of useful information. We also have a website with lots of articles about Taiwan. Visit it! We try to make a video or two every week.
Let us know what you think about this channel and what you would like to see about Taiwan. All the best to you!
Music: The Coconut Monkeyrocket & Martinibomb Split! (
Niushan 牛山
Qingshui Cliff 清水斷崖
Qixingtan 七星潭
Sanzhan River 三棧溪
Shitiping 石梯坪
Yuedong (Moon Cave) 月洞
Qixingtan Star Sea Bed & Breakfast (七星潭星海民宿)
Add: 12, Lane 79, Qixing St., Dahan Village, Xincheng Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣新城鄉大漢村七星街79巷12號)
Tel: 0932-307-912
Website: 7starocean.com
Go to Sea Café Homestay (來去海邊咖啡民宿)
Add: 1-2 Yongfeng Rd., Fengbin Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣豐濱鄉豐濱村永豐路1-2號); near the 48km marker on Prov. Hwy 11
Tel: (03) 879-1898
Website: goto-sea.com.tw/ (Chinese)
Sawalian (莎娃綠岸)
Add: 2-1, Ward 4, Gangkou Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣豐濱鄉港口村4鄰2-1號)
Tel: (03) 842-1224 / 0920-330-842
Website: makutaay.com/page4.php (Chinese)
Kavalan Cuisine Restaurant (噶瑪蘭風味餐廳)
Add: 42 Xinshe Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣豐濱鄉新社村42號)
Tel: (03) 871-1339
Hailang Café (海浪 Café)
Add: 73-1 Lide, Fengbin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣豐濱鄉立德73-1號); near the 58km marker on Prov. Hwy 11
Tel: 0912-935-208
Website: facebook.com/tapalik
Lily Studio (百合工作室)
Add: 15 Guangfeng Rd., Fengbin Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣豐濱鄉豐濱村光豐路15號)
Tel: (03) 879-1591
Paterongan (Xinshe) Banana Fiber Workshop (新社香蕉絲工坊)
Add: 42, Ward 2, Xiaohu, Xinshe Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣豐濱鄉新社村小湖2鄰42); near 43km marker of Prov. Hwy 11
Tel: (03) 871-1361
Website: pataronang.com (Chinese)
Travel in Taiwan (2015, 7/8)
By Rick Charette
Qixingtan is a landscaped area immediately north of Hualien City. The name means “Seven Star Lake,” but this is in fact a lovely arcing bay of crystalline blue-green Pacific waters, invariably made even more photo-friendly by local fishermen busy on their craft close inshore. The bay’s north end is the north terminus of a breezy seaside bike path stretching 21km to Nanbin Park on Hualien City’s south side. There are bike-rental stations near the bay’s north and south ends. Among the many other facilities are the Stone Sculpture Park, Star Watching Plaza, Sunrise Building (Qixingtan’s sunrises are renowned), children’s playground, and seaside botanical garden. At bikeway-side are signboards explaining the seaside ecology, many with English. Another key draw is the terrific camera-perfect view of distant Qingshui Cliff.
Shitiping. The name means “stone steps.” The dramatically terraced volcanic rock and raised-coral formations here form what looks like a staircase rising out to sea. The sea’s great erosive powers are in visually inspiring evidence here – all about are kettle holes and surging tide pools. The teeming marine life draws fishermen, shellfish collectors, and scuba divers. The distinctive ecology also features such oceanside-adapted plants as screw pine, cactus, and morning glory. There isn’t much shade, so bring water; there’s also ice cream, popsicles, and other cooling goodies available at the visitor center.
Starchasers (as in “movie stars”) will be especially thrilled to learn about the existence of Niushan, where legendary director Martin Scorcese, Irish actor Liam Neeson, and other big names recently did shooting for the movie Silence, scheduled for release in 2016. What you’ll find at the end of a steep, narrow, long-grass-brushed road that leads off the here inland-and-upland coastal highway is a long and dramatically fetching arc beach bracketed by mountains that drop into the sea. The only buildings here are right behind the isolated beach – those of the Niushan Huting, a combination restaurant/café/bar/homestay/campground complex (rainbowiscoming.com/huting; Chinese), owned by members of the Amis tribe, Taiwan’s largest, and beside these a couple of tourist-draw thatch-roof structures from the faux village built for Silence (the rest were being torn down the day we visited). “Niushan” means “cow mountain”; to find the side-road entrance, look for the highway-side “Niushan Huting” sign on a totem pole capped with a steer-head sculpture (26.6km mark).
#Taiwan #Hualien
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We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing you to Taiwan as a travel destination. Read it and you'll find lots of useful information about Taiwan. We also have a website with many fun-to-read articles. We try to make a video or two every week.
Let us know what you think about this channel and what you would like to see about Taiwan. Happy travels!
Travel in Taiwan 2017/09/10
Wulai is a small indigenous settlement that can be quickly reached from central Taipei. For many decades it has been a popular day-trip destination for local residents and international visitors looking for some respite from the capital’s urban jungle. This is a great area to experience indigenous culture, do some hot-spring bathing, and take in refreshing mountain scenery. Wulai still has a host of attractions that make a trip worthwhile.
1. Wulai Old Street (02:30)
Bus No. 849 drops you off close to the northern end of Wulai Old Street, a narrow street lined with eateries and shops selling myriad indigenous specialties and souvenirs. Among the enticing foods you can try here are millet mochi, stir-fried mountain vegetables, bamboo-tube rice, millet and mountain litsea ice cream, wild-boar sausages, range chicken, millet wine, lamb chop soup, almond tea, and much more. If you are looking for souvenirs there is no shortage of indigenous-theme items, such as woven hats, purses, bags, and vests, glass bead bracelets, and also many packaged food and drink products, including mochi cakes and millet wine.
2. Atayal Culture (03:20)
The inhabitants of Wulai are mainly from the Atayal tribe, the third-largest indigenous group in Taiwan. If – apart from eating the yummy indigenous food offerings – you want to learn more about this tribe while in Wulai, visit the Wulai Atayal Museum, located close to the northern end of Wulai Old Street (No. 12, Wulai Street). The museum provides you with plenty of info in Chinese and English about the origins of the Atayal and their traditional ways of life, including sections about hunting, weaving, facial tattooing, and so on. At the Waterfall Area you also have the chance to witness song-and-dance performances by tribe members.
3. Hot-Spring Bathing (20:20)
Wulai is well known for its hot springs. The clear and odorless Wulai spring waters, about 80 degrees centigrade at their source, are rich in alkaline sodium bicarbonate and believed to have beneficial properties for your skin. While the free riverside open-air hot-spring pools, popular with experienced Taiwan soakers, were dismantled earlier this year, there is no lack of brick-and-mortar hot-spring establishments in and around the village. You can choose from upscale hot-spring resorts such as the Pause Landis Wulai, elegantly designed with private and public hot-spring facilities and offering fine-cuisine dining, to simple hot-spring hotels providing rooms with hot-spring bathtubs for less than NT$100/hour.
4. Waterfall Area (08:00)
The scene most closely associated with Wulai is Wulai Waterfall. To get there, cross the bridge at the southern end of Wulai Old Street, turn left, and follow the road along the river, which is closed to vehicles. The walk to the Waterfall Area takes about 20 minutes. The waterfall is an impressive 80 meters high, and is in full view from observation spots on the opposite (road) side of the river it feeds (Nanshi River).
5. Cable Car (08:42)
The cable cars you see crossing the river and ascending to a spot above the waterfall have been part of the Wulai scenery for 50 years now. To get to the base station, take the stairs adjacent to the Chief’s Cultural Village. The cable car (adult return ticket: NT$220) not only takes you above the waterfall, but also to the Yun Hsien Resort (yun-hsien.com.tw), a small recreation area – like the cable car built in the 1960s – where you can go for a walk among dense forest, row a boat on a small lake, and engage in other pleasantries. Included in these is the Yun Hsien Hotel, should you want to stay a night at the resort.
Getting there:
Getting to Wulai is simple and convenient. Take the MRT Songshan-Xindian Line to its southern terminal, Xindian. Then take bus No. 849 to the last stop, Wulai, which is at the car park near Wulai Old Street.
For more information about Wulai, visit wulai.gov.tw.
English and Chinese
Atayal tribe 泰雅族
Chief’s Cultural Village 酋長文化村
Nanshi River 南勢溪
Waterfall Area 瀑布區
Wulai 烏來
Wulai Atayal Museum 烏來泰雅民族博物館
Wulai Forestry Life Museum 烏來林業生活館
Wulai Old Street 烏來老街
Wulai Waterfall 烏來瀑布
Yun Hsien Resort 雲仙樂園
Son of Man Communal Village, Sanyi District, Miaoli County, Taiwan
The Coolidge family spent a wonderful 3 days/2 nights at the Son of Man Communal Village in Sanyi District of Miaoli County, Taiwan. This is not a normal village or farm. This is a center for communal living, where different families live together and raise their children by home schooling them and giving them a life full of purpose, experiences, and activities. During our time with this friendly community, we enjoyed generous hospitality, kindness and positive energy. Our kids were taught many skills and given various tasks around the farm. They have many opportunities to learn and play, and made new friends quickly. Every night, everyone spent time talking, expressing themselves, and enjoying meaningful conversations.
I met someone from Hong Kong, who said he was visiting for the first time. He said he was there to find his purpose in life.
My kids were very happy, and my youngest didn't want to leave. They all want to come back. My dog lived freely there, without a leash, and was given constant love and attention.
It was one of the most memorable weekends we have had as a family, and we recommend this experience to anyone who wants a new, alternative, wholesome experience, or a lifestyle that can inspire one to find their purpose in life.
A day in Taiwan Miaoli County
I was in Taiwan Miaoli producing for a documentary. A thought of showing the life in Miaoli came across my mind when I am listening to Not Alone a track from Linkin Park album. The moment of what I saw through my journey from place to place for filming just happens to match the music that I'm listening to. So I just grab my camera and try to capture down whenever i can to piece up a video portraying A day in Taiwan Miaoli County. Travelling period: 14th-20th Feb. Video shot on Canon 5D Mark2, 24-70mm lens. Feature: Taiwan Lantern Festival and Bombing of Dragon Festival 2011
Changhua to Lukang Tourist Place in Taiwan
Der Weg ist das Ziel... komm fahr mit in meinem Goggomobil =G=
Sightseeing in Krisenregionen, Armenviertel, Bürgerkriegsgebieten.
Along radioactive Death-Zones, MOAs, No-Go and Civil-War Areas.
Two day trip to Miaoli County in northern/central Taiwan, visiting hot-spring hotel in Tai'an, a tea factory in Tongluo, and a brick factory in Yuanli. We had fun. :)
00:40 Dahu Wineland Resort 大湖酒莊
02:30 Wenshui Visitor Center 汶水遊客中心
04:25 Xishuikeng Tofu Street洗水坑豆腐街
07:20 Onsen Papawaqa 泰安觀止溫泉會館
08:50 Atayal Cultural Museum 泰雅文物館
10:40 Hushan Suspension Bridge 虎山吊橋
11:30 Onsen Papawaqa
12:40 Shuiyun Suspension Bridge 水雲吊橋
13:25 Onsen Papawaqa
16:05 Tongluo Skywalk 銅鑼天空步道
17:15 Tongluo Tea Factory 銅鑼茶廠
21:50 Jin Liang Shing (JLS) Brick Factory 金良興觀光磚廠
25:55 Yuanli Triangle Rush Exhibition Hall 藺草文化館
28:35 Dongli Jiafeng 東里家風古宅
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Dahu Wineland Resort (大湖酒莊)
Add: No. 2-4, Baliaowan, Fuxing Village, Dahu Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣大湖鄉富興村八寮灣2-4號)
Tel: (03) 799-4986
Onsen Papawaqa (泰安觀止溫泉會館)
Add: No. 58, Yuandun, Jinshui Village, Tai’an Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣泰安鄉錦水村圓墩58號)
Tel: (037) 941-777
Website:
Atayal Cultural Museum (泰雅文物館)
Add: No. 46-3, Neighborhood 6, Jinshui Village, Tai’an Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣泰安鄉錦水村圓墩6鄰46-3號)
Tongluo Tea Factory (銅鑼茶廠)
Add: No. 132-16, Jiuhu, Jiuhu Village, Tongluo Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣銅鑼鄉九湖村九湖132-16號)
Tel: (037) 987-358
Website: (Chinese)
Jin Liang Shing (JLS) Brick Factory (金良興觀光磚廠)
Add: No. 71-17, Jinshan, Shanjiao Borough, Yuanli Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣苑裡鎮山腳里錦山71-17號)
Tel: (037) 746-368
Website: (Chinese)
Yuanli Triangle Rush Exhibition Hall, (藺草文化館)
Add: No. 65, Weigong Rd., Yuanli Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣苑裡鎮為公路65號)
Tel: (037) 862-141
Website: (Chinese)
Dongli Jiafeng (東里家風古宅)
Add: No. 8, Neighborhood 2, Yuankeng Borough, Yuanli Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣苑裡鎮苑坑裡2鄰8號)
Tel: (037) 853-158
Website: (Chinese)
Onsen Papawaqa
The Onsen Papawaqa is a forceful work of modernist architecture directly overlooking the Wenshui riverbed. Its grey-hue exposed-concrete exterior walls, proudly and boldly showcased, echo the colors of the exposed cliff rock on the valley’s opposite side. Inside, two additional interior-décor elements are wood and stone, also chosen to echo the surrounding natural environment.
The key attraction here is, of course, the mineral-water soaking. Each room faces the river through floor-to-ceiling glass, with a window-side Japanese-style in-floor stone-slab tub. “The extensive public-area spa facilities are outside the main building; there are separate nude bathing areas for males and females, a non-nude mixed bathing area, and a wonderful cool-temperature narrow swimming pool that runs the entire main building’s length between building and riverside bluff-edge.” The evening starry-sky viewing is scintillating. In the midst of all this is a friendly, breezy thatch-roof open-air bar.
Both restaurants, on the 5th and 6th floors (the top floors), have eyrie-like views of the river before and mountain behind. The complimentary Chinese/Western buffet breakfast is taken in the 5th-floor Running Water Restaurant, which has a laddered spatial design evoking the river’s cascading waters. Lunch and dinner are served in the 6th-floor Flying Cloud Restaurant; the cuisine is Chinese, with strong Hakka and indigenous infusions, along with Western elements. Locally sourced ingredients are stressed. The Dongpo pork and sesame-oil chicken are especially good. (Rooms start at NT$7,500)
Gazing east from the Taiwan Hakka Museum, you can look down into the valley below and out over the hills toward the central mountains beyond. Just to the south, you’ll see row upon row of neatly spaced tea bushes. This is part of the 30ha tourist-oriented Tongluo Tea Factory operation. It’s centered on a factory/retail building of eye-catching modern design that offers a picture-perfect panorama of the valley through its east-side glass wall. Trains regularly run through the valley, through what looks like a model-train set. Patrons are helped in their train-spotting via a large signboard with run-through times and train types.
The main type of tea grown here is Dongfang Meiren (Oriental Beauty), which is primarily grown in Hakka areas in the hills of the northwest at lower altitudes (300~800m). Visitors can enjoy tea-tasting sessions, tours of the processing facilities and fields (in one interesting section, each row is dedicated to a single type of Taiwan-grown tea, with English signage), DIY picking for tour groups, and a meal. The latter consists of a traditional type of biandang (boxed lunch) eaten by Hakka tea-pickers and railroad workers. This comes wrapped in a gratis traditional bright-color Hakka-style head kerchief worn by female tea-pickers (separate payment for each option).
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Yageo Company tour in Miaoli
Miaoli County
The main attraction in Miaoli is Shitoushan, or Lion's Head Mountain. This isn't one of the oldest temples on the island, but it is said to be very nice, and an interesting place to spend some restful days and nights.
Located between Hsinchu and Taichung counties, Miaoli is one of the best travel and vacation spots in western Taiwan. The county attracts over 6.5 million local and international tourism visitors every year with the help of its pleasing climate, convenient transportation, and six major attractions: the tung blossoms, wood sculpture, hot springs, fruit, ceramics, and Hakka food. Visitors will want to arrange a three-day stay to take it all in.
Each year in April and May, Miaoli turns into a beautiful sea of tung blossoms. These snow-white blooms blanket entire mountainsides and reflect the tranquility of the county lakes. Every year they attract throngs of visitors with their seasonal cheer, much like the cherry blossoms in Japan.
There are five major tourism areas in Miaoli, including: the Sanyi Wood Sculpture and Old Mountain Line Tourism Area, Dahu Strawberry Culture Park, Taian Hot Spring Scenic Area, Mingde Reservoir Scenic Area, and Nanzhuang Lion's Head Mountain Scenic Area. At all of these sites, visitors can also enjoy the local Hakka cuisine, aboriginal culture, recreational farms, coastal recreation, and festival activities.
Taichung Windmill Farm
#Enjoy #happyday