Here’s a spot you won’t find in the Lonely Planet. Taian in Miaoli county. It’s a small area that’s been recently opened to tourism. So far there is not much development there though enough that you can enjoy more than just the great outdoors.
In a 3 kilometer stretch you can: hotspring cheaply or luxuriously and soon outdoors by a river, hike along a path blazed by the Japanese to patrol the Taiyang tribe, hike to ancient trees, hike to numerous waterfalls, swim in a pure mountain creek, swim in a pure mountain river, camp or stay at a 5 star hotel (or even at an old Officers Club built by the Japanese to take advantage of what they considered the best hotspring water in Taiwan)boulder, abseil, paintball, creek climb (climb up inside a creek wearing special shoes and equipment), walk for hours in a wide river valley, bike, and eat deer, wild boar, mountain chicken, flying squirrel and a host of delicious, fresh mountain vegetables and Hakkanese snacks.
I just came back from spending three days there and had a really fun time. The scenery is as good as in Alishan but in Taian everything is concentrated in one small area. You could camp here and enjoy yourself even without transportation. Now’s the perfect time to go, before the cold weather and the strawberry season brings in the crowds.
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