Hello friends,
I am planning to visit Alishan on a weekend in October. My primary intention is to enjoy the scenic beauty of the area and to get some photographs. I know that the touristy places will not be suitable for this purpose and I need to find some less touristy spots. Hundreds of tourists gather to watch the sunrise on ZhuShan observatory from which photographing a good sunrise is nearly impossible. Therefore, I will be glad to find some suggestions from the people who already visited the place.
Any suggestion will be highly appreciated.
Regards,
Tanmay Chatterjee
Most of Taiwanese friends say that it’s pretty much all wrecked by the Daluders. Spitting, smoking, shouting across the entire mountain side. You might be better of consulting with Taiwanese friends to find somewhere more off the Chinese radar. If it’s mountain beauty your after - Taiwan has plenty of it.
You don’t have to go far from Alishan to escape the nonsense. I like the Rueli/Ruifang area on roads 166/162甲. tons of hiking and amazing scenery. Very few people.
theworldisnotthatbig.com/2012/09 … ric-trail/
theworldisnotthatbig.com/2012/05 … waterfall/
I have never actually bothered to go to Alishan itself…
Hmph. Yeah, that sums up my first experience of the place pretty well, except that was back in 2000, long before the Daluder tour groups. It was an interesting cultural experience, but natural beauty it was not.
Sorry I can’t be more constructive - my favourite mountain views used to be from driving and camping on the South Cross-Island Highway, but big stretches of that road have been washed off the mountainside.
Ha ha ha ha…Thanks all…I got some points…
Don’t go to Alishan follow the above posters advice back roads in Chiayi are spectacular , hikes and waterfalls, but may need a car.
Check out the latest LP Taiwan for places to stay in the aboriginal villages along County Rd 169, as well as Ruili. Also, there’s lots of day hiking around Tatajia (the start of the trail to Yushan) that you don’t need permits for. Gorgeous scenery.
Fengshan is also a cool place to explore with the highest waterfall in Taiwan as a highlight. Caoling is not exactly quiet by the route up there from Jhushan is amazing, and you can visit Taiji Gorge.
I’d imagine aside from villages along 169, any trails leading far enough away from the tourist center would have a lot less people, that is if one doesn’t mind hiking long distances… Walking a portion of the Xitou-Alisan trail should be relatively quiet, I’d imagine.