Hi, Can anyone recommend a good bed and breakfast in the mountains of Hsinchu and Miaoli counties? These are the things my wife and I like: natural, quiet environment with hiking nearby. My wife would like a TV and coffee machine within if possible. I’d like vegetarian food. Also reasonably priced during 5/28 and 5/29/09. TIA
Does it have to be a B&B? How about a hot spring hotel, nice and quiet on those weekdays? Check out Cedarwood Villa in Taian, Maioli County. Lots of hiking just a few minutes from the resort (which is on it’s own up a mountain) and a beautiful river you can follow upstream at the end of the road (just 1km from hotel). Lots of lovely deep swimming holes.
cedarwood-villa.com.tw/en/room.php
Never stayed here but it’s in the same area.
info.taiwan.net.tw/homestay/english/central.html
Check out the tourism webiste list of local B&B. I have stayed or visited about half and they have all been very nice. Haven’t stayed in any on Miaoli or Hsinchu.
I just returned from a couple days in Nanzhuang and Tai’an (both Miaoli County). Very nice there. But I stayed in cabins, not B&Bs.
The Web site for the East River Spa Resort Garden links to some area B&Bs it recommends.
When you go east on hiway 7 from the general area of Hsinchu over to where it intersects with north/south highway 7 (not freeway) on the rift valley, you will come across a couple of forest reserve parks. The first one looks the best. These are nicely done hotel style rooms. I haven’t stayed there but understand they are very nice and since there are no resteraunts around, I suspect they also serve some meals on site. I didn’t do the research to offer you more but these look really good. They are high in the mountainous area, surrounded by forest with many hiking trails nearby. I always thought I would stay there someday but just haven’t got around too it.
[quote=“cranky laowai”]I just returned from a couple days in Nanzhuang and Tai’an (both Miaoli County). Very nice there. But I stayed in cabins, not B&Bs.
The Web site for the East River Spa Resort Garden links to some area B&Bs it recommends.[/quote]
Did you hot spring at east river? I have been there many times. Love that Norman Rockwell traditional Taiwanese style.
OP, this is a great area.
cranky, how were the cabins? How close to the springs? Price?
Incidentally, if the OP and wife are really energetic they can actually hike from Nanzuang all the way over to Taian on an old Japanese era patrol route. The trip takes 12-14 hours I think. Plan to do it this summer so will need to stay in Nanzhuang. Thanks, cranky.
[quote=“cranky laowai”]I just returned from a couple days in Nanzhuang and Tai’an (both Miaoli County). Very nice there. But I stayed in cabins, not B&Bs.
The Web site for the East River Spa Resort Garden links to some area B&Bs it recommends.[/quote]
Thanks for the idea. I’m also interested in cabins. Any thoughts on them?
The East River web site looks interesting. I’ll look into it in more detail.
[quote=“Mucha Man”][quote=“cranky laowai”]I just returned from a couple days in Nanzhuang and Tai’an (both Miaoli County). Very nice there. But I stayed in cabins, not B&Bs.
The Web site for the East River Spa Resort Garden links to some area B&Bs it recommends.[/quote]
Did you hot spring at east river? I have been there many times. Love that Norman Rockwell traditional Taiwanese style. [/quote]
No, unfortunately I missed it. It had been on my list of places to go because your write-up of it made it sound great. But I somehow managed to get the mistaken idea that East River was around Tai’an, so I went right past the place without knowing. 
Speaking of which, a map of the County Road 124 loop might be nice in the next edition, esp. since the highway signs in that area aren’t always particularly helpful to the stranger (giving unfamiliar place names but no highway numbers, or vice versa).
This was a last-minute trip. I’m sure it would have been possible to do things a bit better with more planning.
We spent Sunday night just past Nanzhuang in a place just across the street from the small hotel with the windmill on top. (Sorry, my wife already tossed out the brochures I grabbed, so I don’t have the name or the exact address.)
The place had duplex cabins. Small and nothing particularly special, but OK enough for the price (NT$1800 at the non-weekend rate, with the usual breakfast of eggs and zhōu with misc. condiments). About 100 meters down the road was a small road into the hills – lots of fireflies … and I say this as an American jaded by having grown up with fireflies in his back yard. No hotsprings associated with this motel. Probably best to get a cabin that doesn’t back onto the main road.
The windmill place, Lily Village, looked interesting. Apparently the laoban is a designer. But it was full (on a Sunday night!), so I didn’t get to look in any of the rooms. FWIW, the owner has pet rabbits that hop around the lobby and outside; so kids might like that.
Lots of “April snow” (Sìyuè xuě) – or is it May snow? – around Nanzhuang this time of year. Locals told me it hadn’t peaked yet.
We spent the next night in Tai’an. The Sunrise looked nice; but we ended up in Tenglong (NT$2250, with the usual breakfast). No complaints.
If I were camping around there, I’d be tempted to do so just past the small orchard at the top of the trail by Tenglong. A farmer told me that “hao duo waiguoren” like to camp there; but I didn’t see anyone.
Damn, but that area is nice! I should have gone there a long time ago, even if getting there does involve driving myself – something I try to avoid as much as possible in Taiwan. Driving time: approximately 2 hours from Tai’an to Banqiao.
Yeah, it really is a great area of Taiwan. I am very happy that Taian is not being overdeveloped. One reason is the aboriginals in the area still own most of the land and are leasing to larger hotels. I’ve stayed at both Sunrise and Tenglong and both are nice. Cedarwood, which I mention above is great for a more special occassions. They lease the whole side of the mountain and the views are outstanding. You can also rent a hot spring room by the hour. The views are the best I’ve seen in Taian. Get the last room at the end:
The campground you mention can be reached by car. When you cross the bridge to Tenglong and swing round just stay on the left of that side stream and head up 1km. It is on a high bluff surrounded by higher mountains. Lovely swiming holes in the sidestream.
At the end of the road is a new forest reserve. You can follow the road and then the river upstream. There are some good pools not far including this one:
That’s a good idea to maybe have a map of the Taian/Nanzhuang area and in any case I want to expand coverage of the area. It is confusing and everytime I come back from East River I seem to take a different route.
[quote=“cranky laowai”]
If I were camping around there, I’d be tempted to do so just past the small orchard at the top of the trail by Tenglong. A farmer told me that “hao duo waiguoren” like to camp there; but I didn’t see anyone. [/quote]
That would be us…
We stayed at a lovely aboriginal homestay in the mountains of Xinzhu, not far from Wufeng on the way to Guanwu. Nice rooms, no coffee machine though. I was so hungover from the aboriginal festival that I don’t remember if there was a TV. They did serve meals (and could easily do vegetarian - all of it home-grown and organic) and the rooms are not right next to the main house where the owners live, they’re their own wing. Not accessible by public transport. About $2900NT/night for a room with two double beds, so it would be less for a double meant for 2 as opposed to our 4.
I think you’d need your own transport to do a lot of hiking though. Beautiful view from the main yard.
My boyfriend, who was not quite so bad off as me (he drank somewhat less millet wine and didn’t try as much of the sketchy bathtub brew that some drunk old Saisiyat dude gave us) says he does not remember a TV in the room either.
If you’re interested I’ll try to track the place down. The owner goes by “Ah-Q Mama” so you might be able to google that.
I recently stayed at the Shuǐ Yún Jiān (水雲間), which is not far past Nanzhuang’s East River Spa. (Nope, I didn’t pào in the hot spring this time either, because I was pressed for time and the weather was kind of warm that day.)
The turnoff for the road up to the inn is just a little before the pedestrian suspension bridge. The road quickly gets narrow and steep; and you have to drive about two miles of this before reaching your destination. (No signs in English or romanization. Just look for “水雲間”.) I wouldn’t want to have done that in a large car or one without a good engine.
The place is nice and has a terrific view. (Let the splash page of the Web site load fully. It really does look like that.) It’s clearly a labor of love for the laoban, who’s a retired dentist with a love of gardening.
The two-person rooms were full, which worked out for the best since the one we saw looked tiny and the owner let us stay in a much larger four-person room for just a little more money than for the two-person room.
Recommended.
Jesus, that looks great. Wow. Reminds me a bit of a place I found in Taian a few months ago. Wow again!
But really I hate you. Now I absolutely have to research this area more for the next LP. :fume: 
BTW, Steve Crook told me about a place he stayed in nearby at Penglai. Laoban takes people out at night to see flying squirrels. Now according to Green Tours of the UK Taiwan is probably the best place in the world for seeing flying squirrels. I have never seen one but if you go out at night with a light they are everywhere in some places. The giants have a metre wing span.
I forgot to add that one can go to the place just for [Taiwanese-style] Western-style tea (about NT$180) or food (NT$350 and up). But I’d be careful with the timing so as to avoid having to do that road in the dark. (On the other hand, those used to driving a lot in Taiwan might not be afraid of anything, especially without many other cars around…)
I’ve never seen one either; that certainly sounds interesting, though. But if they can get that big I’m a bit surprised there aren’t dried ones stretched out across the walls of Chinese medicine shops islandwide.
They find themselves on aboriginal tables very often. Here’s a description of a sighting on Green Tours recent trip to Taiwan:
Anyway, so glad you posted this. I want to do the hike from the Nanzhuang area down to Taian and this sounds like the perfect place to stay the nigth before.
Hi! This is great information! Can some of you include the prices you paid, and the dates you stayed?
I may be in Tai’an tomorrow night. (It’s a last-minute trip.) Do you happen to have info on the place you found there?
The last time I was in Tai’an I stayed at the Sunrise. My parents were with me, so I went more upscale than I usually would (NT$6,400 for a four-person room, including dinner and breakfast, as well as entry to the nice hot spring pools there).
But this time it will be me, my wife, my mother-in-law, and my 3-year-old nephew.
I’ve heard about a Japanese-era inn that supposedly one has to walk (not drive) across a long bridge to get to. Ring any bells? It sounds like the kind of place that would be either horribly run down or pleasantly rustic.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]They find themselves on aboriginal tables very often.
an answering quote from chelonia.org
what was that saying about Guangzhou and four legs and tables?
Many years ago some aborigines asked me to go shooting them at night, I didn’t know what they wanted to shoot at and since they were steaming drunk I thankfully declined the offer.
I have seen squirrels with another B&B owner in ChiaYi and it is a really cool thing to do even though it was also disturbing them a bit on their night-time prowls. They make piercing whistling sounds and it’s awesome when you see them glide from branch to branch. It also took him a while to actually locate them and their numbers weren’t very many. In many areas that used to have them they are extinct from hunting and loss of habitat (they prefer certain types and ages of trees for making nests and food source).
I may be in Tai’an tomorrow night. (It’s a last-minute trip.) Do you happen to have info on the place you found there?
The last time I was in Tai’an I stayed at the Sunrise. My parents were with me, so I went more upscale than I usually would (NT$6,400 for a four-person room, including dinner and breakfast, as well as entry to the nice hot spring pools there).
But this time it will be me, my wife, my mother-in-law, and my 3-year-old nephew.
I’ve heard about a Japanese-era inn that supposedly one has to walk (not drive) across a long bridge to get to. Ring any bells? It sounds like the kind of place that would be either horribly run down or pleasantly rustic.[/quote]
Oh, you caught me with internet these days. The place I mentioned. Damn, I am not home so I can’t give you a number or website. But, go into little Qing’an village as you drive up County Road 62. Don’t go in the first entrance to the village but the one across from a parking lot with a wood cabin on the left (as the road does a wide turn). Cross the small bridge and then turn left and just stay on that road a couple km as it climbs untill you enter a pretty village and an obvious place to stay on the right (wood deck, some buildings, a red brick house in the back).
The place you are talking about is Hushan hot spring. It’s nice. On a little island. It’s a modern looking place now even if there is some jap heritage. You’ll see a sign for it on the way in.
A nice place to eat is just after you cross the long bridge on the 62 (maybe 10 km in); there is that weird hotel on the left before the bridge that looks unfinished (you can’t miss it . Across the bridge on the left is a funky little cafe-restaurant run by two Atayal sisters. Good food and music.
For a group of you, you might want to go with a cabin at Tenglong (037 941 002). That’s near the end of 62 to the right. It looks like a little village across a red bridge. There’s also a new row of cabins as you drive down the side road. Not sure what they are like.