I’ll be traveling with my boyfriend through Taiwan for three weeks and been having a hard time finding information about inexpensive and good hostels. Are there any people have been to that they highly recommend? We’re interested in getting into the mountains and wilderness. If you know of hostels or websites or other information that could help, I’d appreciate hearing from you. Thank you!
You may want to try this one, for example:
skyfae.hubpages.com/hub/Backpacking-in-Hualien
There are more places in town, though, just from what i’ve seen when passing along here and there…
Thank you! What about specific hostels that you or other people have stayed in and can recommend. I speak Chinese but my boyfriend does not. We don’t need English speaking staff and can read okay.
I hate to say this normally, but in this case, do a search of the forums! There are countless threads about all kinds of places to stay in those regions, from backpacker frugality to 5-star opulence and everything in between.
If you are not restricted to English, you’ll find many hostels available to you in Hualien City and in the smaller towns (especially near railway stations) - just walk down any of the less busy streets and look for a sign with 民宿 (mínsù) and ask them how much a room costs for a night. You can easily find places for less than NT$1000 (which is per room, not per person), and many places are used to customers who negotiate. The only place where i’ve stayed in Hualien other than my apartment is this mínsù run by an international couple (she Taiwanese, he Japanese): shinyi.net/ (they don’t speak English and don’t negotiate on the rate there - I stayed there because of the Japanese language support), but you’ll find plenty of cheaper places from what they told me there. 
EDIT: Sandman said it better than me…!
Google Tai[color=#000040]t[/color]ung city hostels… first listing is SeaArt. It’s a wonderful place and the owner Roman can tell you where to see waterfalls, beaches, hiking ect. SeaArt is in Dulan, 20 minutes from Taidong City,
on Dulan mountain. You can BBQ on a campfire, see a million starts at night, full of nature – just what you’re looking for … and inexpensive.
Wow! That sounds great. Thanks so much.
You can try the Monkey Surfing Backpacker Hostel in Hualien facebook.com/monkeysurfingbackpackershostel
It is a bit newer and cleaner than Amigo’s/Formosa Backpackers