My wife and I just took 40 kids camping out at a place in Sanxia, Taipei County. The place is called Queentown, or Queenstown …
It has a swimming pool, rental tents, which they will set up, canopies, rental bikes, hot and cold showers, a creek to splash in, and a good place to have an evening campfire, and, get this, a quasi-restaurant for coffee/cakes/drinks NA, and dinner. They also set us up with BBQ stuff and tons of food.
The place is big, clean, quiet at night, and convenient. We can’t think of a better place to have a family camping trip…lots of room for the kids to run around, and the best part…it’s 30 minutes from Taipei/Taoyuan/an hour and change from Taichung.
You can bring you own gear and rent a spot for like 600NT/night…or you can rent their stuff, tents and sleeping bags.
We’d love to get together with other families and commiserate…uhh, coMMUNicate about life in Taiwan, life in general, and basically, as Paul Simon says…“Have a goood tiiime.”
Anyway…I’ve mentioned this to a couple of Forumosans and I figured I’d give it a shot.
I’m getting the directions and the chinese web site. For the camping purists out there it is more like a public campsite back home, with all the amenities…not Neiwan at all. Yes, I was thinking more about kids and Taiwanese wives in particular. I think my wife wants to start a “Mrs. Hsiadohga Club” or something.
Basic directions: driving thorugh Sanxia on Fu Shing rd, go all the way thorugh town and I believe you end up on Rt 110.
It’s 15 minutes away from Sanxia.
It’s a biggish sized place, and I’m sure if we reserved sites we could get the end of the campgrounds, furthest away from anyone else who happened to be there. We rented the whole right-side end part for our students and had tons and tons of space.
That link doesn’t seem to work. It’s on the 110? That’s easily accessible from Xindian (Ankeng) too.
And as I type, the site just popped up. That’s at Zhulun, on the road to Baiji. I’ve ridden past there on my scooter a few times. A few Forumosans just rented a house just around the corner.
I’d like to go, but I’m not sure if my ‘family’ would want to come.
The link worked for me. What a cool place. Definitely NOT camping, but it looks like fun.
This weekend’s out for me as we’re making the periodic family pilgrimage to Chiayi to see the inlaws, but maybe in the future. I’m sure our girl would love the change of scenery, the swimming, and all the kids running around acting crazy.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]The link worked for me. What a cool place. Definitely NOT camping, but it looks like fun.
This weekend’s out for me as we’re making the periodic family pilgrimage to Chiayi (Jiayi) to see the inlaws, but maybe in the future. I’m sure our girl would love the change of scenery, the swimming, and all the kids running around acting crazy.[/quote]
Yes, and the moms and dads sitting back doing that thing…what was it again…ah yes, RELAXING.
[quote=“MJB”]Is it actually high enough up in the hills to make it cool at night?
Sounds interesting for a quick getaway, but Neiwan is about as civilised as I want to get for camping. Might be nice for the kids though[/quote]
You’d have to ask jdsmith if it gets cooler at night, but I just realized I’ve been to Sanxia. We only pulled off the highway to get something to eat there, but I remember being very surprised and impressed at the different scenery – higher elevation and more trees. I almost never get out of Taipei so I can’t compare it to more remote areas of Taiwan, but for a quick getaway from Taipei it would be a very nice change.
Jdsmith, I’ll definitely join y’all in Sanxia if I’m in Taiwan then (I’ll be in the states for much of August).
[quote][quote=“MJB”]Just saw the link…That’s not camping.
But it sure would be convenient for the people living in Ankeng or Xindian.
quote][/quote][/quote]
Sleeping in a tent, under the stars is camping. :raspberry:
Anyway, given the “cultural differences” some of us foreigner-he-men share with our SO, this place is a good middle ground. My wife likes a shower at night. I like when my wife is happy. Get me?
Oh ok…it’s “camping.”
edit:
possible weekend dates:
august 5-6-7-8
12-13-14-15
Could be one or two days, an overnighter, or the whole weekend. I’m pretty much up for anything, but the middle/end of August, if I don’t get a real vacation I may be homocidal and that might not work out best for the rest of you…
I’m open for suggestions and chances are I’ll go anyway next weekend.
[quote=“jdsmith”]
Sleeping in a tent, under the stars is camping. :raspberry:
Anyway, given the “cultural differences” some of us foreigner-he-men share with our SO, this place is a good middle ground. My wife likes a shower at night. I like when my wife is happy. Get me?
jds[/quote]
Sorry, I laughed off Neiwan too in the beginning, but have enjoyed the place for it’s comfort AND hot showers…It’s already a compromise for me.
Call me silly but it’s only 40 minutes farther or so to Neiwan from my place, and I much prefer a deep, cool mountain swimming hole to any waist deep swimming pool.
Hmm, wonder how valuable the info MJB has is, when you consider that you have to take a look at the toilets, the showers, the spacing, if they have power outlets etc, before you can say that the place is a good deal.
Longmen isgreat, but not cheap. Up for that again anytime.
about life in Taiwan, life in general, and basically, as Paul Simon says…“Have a goood tiiime.”
it is more like a public campsite back home, with all the amenities…not Neiwan at all. Yes, I was thinking more about kids and Taiwanese wives in particular. 
