Lost in Lungtan

Travel Taiwan Travel
1

I’m teaching and living in Lungtan. I’ve recently been surfing the internet, looking for tourist attractions near here, and I was very surprised at the amount of places I’ve found. Lungtan is near: Leeofooh Village Amusement Park, Blue Lagoon Water Park ( I think), Window on China, Shirmen Reservoir/Dam, Lungtan Racing Track, Peach Garden Sports Village/Fruit Farm/Entertainment Stadium/Park, Fushing Mountain Resort, Wulai Sightseeing Paradise/waterfalls, Brother’s Baseball Stadium/Hotel, Hunlin Herb Garden, Baiji Mountain, Sanshia Tzushr Temple, Sanying Bridge, Chiding Lighthouse, various hiking trails on mountains, and various fishing spots on rivers.

Lungtan is also close enough to white sand beaches near Tamshui on the West Coast, and Honeymoon Beach, near Ilan, which is famous for surfing, on the East Coast.

I’ve recently purchased a scooter and would love to travel to some of these places. The only problem is, very few of the maps/ web sites that I’ve found are in English. The contact phone numbers I’ve called also have very few English-speaking people. I’ve tried to find these wonderful places by asking for directions from townspeople but I always seem to get lost!

These are some of the Chinese sites I’ve visited. I’ve even translated them with BabelFish, but to no avail.

kunlun.com.tw/

waterpark.com.tw/web_2004/

tyhg.gov.tw/season/summer/index.shtml

tauyuan.com.tw/

tyhg.gov.tw/cgi-bin/Dir/alldir/1c

slowing.com.tw/html/trave1.htm

Any information on travelling in northern Taiwan would be much appreciated. I would like to get my hands on : a decent “all-in-one” guidebook, a current, detailed Taoyuan/Taipei county road map in English or Pinyin, and links to Northern Taiwan tourist sites in English.

Thanks a bunch for any help!

2

Almost any basic map is fine for getting around Taiwan as the roads are all numbered and the areas you want to go to have English highway signs too. All you need the English map for is to compare with the Chinese so you know you’re going to the right place and which major roads to take.

I guess your main problem is how to get to the major roads like the number 7. If you need detailed city maps you can pick them up in Taipei at eslite on Dunhua. But Lungtan is pretty small and you should be able to find your way to the 7 by drivign around or asking a co-worker. For drivign down smaller roads check out the Complete Formosan Driving Atlas by Sunriver. It’s all in Chinese, but again, use an English map to find the location and characters for the place you want to go, and then map out your route by road number. It’s not difficult. There really aren’t that many roads in Taiwan.

Taoyuan County’s tourist office is just before Cihu (where Chiang Kai Shek is buried) on the number 7. There’s usually someone who can speak English there (often a young guy doing his military service) and the tourist maps are more than adequate to show you how to get around.

Here’s the main english tourist website for Taiwan:
202.39.225.132/jsp/Eng/html/search/index.jsp

Note that a lot of tourist maps are available for download. Most are a little dated but still servicable.

There is a ton of tourist info in English now available in Taiwan at the various tourist centers. In addition, the new Lonely Planet will be out in November and it will have a lot of new information. In the meantime pick up a copy of Taipei Day Trips II at Eslite. It covers day trips in the north of taiwan as far south as Sanyi. Also check out the Forumosa threads, especially the ones on the number 7 (the Northern Cross Island highway) as it is full of fantastic spots and right in your backyard.

Also try the 24 hour english tourist hotline (no I’m not kidding). 0800-011-765

3

I can give you detailed info on how to get to the 7 or anywhere else in north Taiwan by motorcycle from Lungtan…Just send me a PM

4

Thanks Mucha…!! Very detailed and helpful!! I can’t wait to start the adventures.