Resources: Living on the East Coast (Taidong, Hualian, or Yilan)

The Hualien Bus link isn’t working on page 1, so I thought I’d update it. MODS: Please move this post if you think it would be better served elsewhere.

Hualien Bus Company (in Chinese, but Chrome can translate): http://www.yati.url.tw/hua6.html

Specific Route Timetables:
(All buses originate from the bus station located adjacent to the Hualien FRONT Train Station)

[ul][li]Taroko Gorge (English/Chinese): http://www.yati.url.tw/1011217/hualtb.htm[/li]
[li][b]Jici/Jiqi/Jihci Beach /b: http://www.yati.url.tw/20110701t/sww.htm[/li]
[li]Hualien Airport (English/Chinese): http://www.yati.url.tw/1011217/hualti.htm[/li]
[li]Qixingtan (Chinese): http://www.yati.url.tw/20110701t/hua6m.html[/li][/ul]

Note: To get “Downtown”, take the Taroko Gorge or Hualien Airport buses. If you get off at the Taiwan Business Bank station (台灣企銀站 Táiwān qǐ yín zhàn)—corner of Zhong Shan & Zhong Zheng roads—you can walk to…
[ul][li]Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.[/li]
[li]“Famous” 24-hour baozi/night market-style shopping (Zhong Shan & Gong Zheng roads)[/li]
[li]“Artsy” walking street Zhong Zheng Rd. Lane 551 (中正路551巷)[/li]
[li]Immigration Office (Zhong Shan & Lin Sen roads)[/li][/ul]

Thanks…!

(Although it feels like yesterday that i posted stuff like that, it’s going on 5 years. And for the last 2 years i’ve been living elsewhere, with my most recent visit there having been in December of last year, so i’m really out of touch now. :blush: )

looks like that darn bus url has changed again…
none of those links work.

[quote=“Nuit”]looks like that darn bus url has changed again…
none of those links work.[/quote]
Forget the bus - it was a nice idea at the time.

The government’s tourist information page lists only cars, the railway, and bicycles as modes of transport for Hualien.
They probably know something we don’t: tour-hualien.hl.gov.tw/Portal/Co … ea=3&id=67

I have been using bicycles and the occasional taxi for inner-city transportation and the railway for long-distance travel.
Long-distance buses are available, too - i’ve seen them, know some of their routes, and know where the terminal is.
But i have no recollection of public buses or bus stops. :idunno:

( EDIT: Looks like i got confused here and thought you were talking about public transport within Hualien City - if you go to the bus ticket office, near the railway station, you should be able to get all the info you need about the long-distance buses, including those going to Ilan and Taipei. )

Not very helpful (the Hualien office, not yuli). There are buses, I’ve seen them!
Particularly interested in the bus that supposedly now runs from Hualien up Taroko all the way to Lishan, think it’s once a day.
I’ll get the wife on the case.

Of course - those are the long distance buses, many of which have their terminal near the railway station (to the northeast of the station)

[quote]Particularly interested in the bus that supposedly now runs from Hualien up Taroko all the way to Lishan, think it’s once a day.
I’ll get the wife on the case.[/quote]
Try this one: hualienbus.com.tw/bus/hualien_bus.php
Here you get the bus lines, the major stops and the fares… :wink:

[quote=“yuli”]Try this one: hualienbus.com.tw/bus/hualien_bus.php
Here you get the bus lines, the major stops and the fares… :wink:[/quote]

Well thanks, that does seem to vaguely work. But it has the ridiculous requirement that I need to know the bus route, before I select my from & to stations. So I have to work through all the Central Cross bus numbers before I find the one that goes to Lishan. And the ‘from’ station resets each time.

At least it works in Firefox - I should be grateful.

I don’t know anything about this subject. Does this URL help?

hualienbus.com.tw/bus/ticket_info.php

Great Idea. I’d like to share my experiences with waterfalls and wild hot springs on the east coast (GPS + maps)

All Taiwan:
followxiaofei.com/region/

Google Maps: Waterfalls / Hot Springs / Camping
google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewe … D-lNVlUzxU

Yilan
followxiaofei.com/region/yilan-county

Hualian
followxiaofei.com/region/hualien-county

Taitung
followxiaofei.com/region/taitung-county

Feel free to add any of these links to existing posts.

[quote=“yuli”]
Living in Taidong, Hualian, or Yilan

~ ~ References and Resources for people who have just moved to, or are thinking of moving to, the eastern counties ~ ~

The population of Taidong (Taidong), Hualian (Hualian), and Yilan (Yilan, Gilan) taken together is only about 5% of the population of Taiwan, and there aren’t many foreigners living and working here. This thread is meant to serve as an easy access point for relevant information about the eastern counties, and I am not only including local references here (i.e., links to various related threads on Forumosa), but also information from government websites and first-hand experience. :slight_smile:
Do you known any thing that should be included here? Please don’t hesitate to post it… :2cents: :secret: !
(If you’d rather like me to add your information to an existing post, just send me a PM.)

Note 1: Individual entries in this thread get revised and expanded from time to time, so if you’ve visited here before you may find it useful to check all the entries again. :wink: [Last edited 2011-10-08]

Note 2: In the Travel forum there is a related thread, containing information for tourists (much of which is definitely also useful for residents): Taidong, Hualian, Yilan (Travel)

:thanks:[/quote]

Also your kid can learn to surf on the beautiful rugged Pacific Ocean coastline near Dulan

The gentle coastal mountains near Dulan are just gorgeous. And the ocean views so relaxing. It is paradise. The cliffs near Hualien (on the central mountain range) are too dangerous during the frequent earthquakes in Hualian

Ah, Dulan…But the township itself is over-rated IMO. SCMP practically called it the up & coming hipster capital of Asia, which is just a total joke. Lonely Planet (specifically former LP writer Robert Kelly aka Mucha Man on forumosa) also hypes up Dulan, but I just totally disagree.

I’d rather be based in Taitung proper itself.

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I think the place (Dulan) will grow into this article’s hype. Just a matter of time. There are few places left in North Asia so good for surfing and so undiscovered

Perhaps. But Lonely Planet Taiwan 2011 hyped up Dulan and even after 7-8 years, it still doesn’t seem like worthy of such high praise - nowhere close. I wonder if it will be that much different in 10 years, 20 years, etc…

There were some reasonable expectations but they all fall flat. Nothing really happening doesn’t look like much of a future.

Very little almost no infrastructure, almost nothing to do and surfing is okay not great.

Very little reason for people to go except to maybe totally drop out for a few weeks.

I’m glad the east coast hasn’t developed into its “hype”.
I want the East Coast from 東河 and northward on Route 11 to just south of Hualien city to remain quiet forever.

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Ready for the rain with windshield wipers.
Something I’ve noticed more in Yilan than anywhere else in Taiwan.

20190317_204714

20190317_204702

20190317_204631

20190317_204624

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Director of “East of Taiwan,” who was informed by event organizer that the film had won the award, said that the film conveys the true feeling of tourists traveling in Taiwan’s eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung, Central News Agency reported.

Click on 3-minute video of it at bottom of the link.
In the bottom-right of the clip you’ll see Chinese and English names of the places being shown.

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Nice video: Pretty images, soothing audio, and not a cheesy cartoon character in sight! It made me think of the year I lived in Hualien, probably the most relaxed I’ve ever felt. Of course, I wasn’t working at the time, so that was a big factor. But still, the the east coast is amazing.

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