Taidong, Hualian, Yilan (Travel)

A 2009 art film (documentary) with a connection to Taidong and its native people:
(the film follows the lives of several young people from different tribes who are all members of the band “Totem”)

“Totem: Song for home”

kff.tw/2009/film_detail.php?id=1374
totem-movie.net/ (in Japanese, but with some beautiful picture)


Typhoon Information and Weather Charts

Threads:

Typhoon 2009

Websites:

Typhoon Warnings (US Navy)
usno.navy.mil/JTWC

A weather map, covering Taiwan, the eastern provinces of China,
the northern Philippines, Korea, and Japan (updated every 3 hours)
jma.go.jp/jp/g3/

A weather map covering a wider area (from Vietnam to the Marshall Islands)
Particularly useful in the summer, because one can see the development of
tropical low pressure areas and typhoons (updated every 3 hours)
jma.go.jp/en/g3/


Weather Reports and Forecasts

Taiwan Weather Office’s main page
cwb.gov.tw/ (中文)
cwb.gov.tw/eng/ (English)

If you click on the displayed map, you see detailed weather information for the area of your choice in a new frame. Here are the direct links to the individual frames:

Taidong Weather
cwb.gov.tw/V6/forecast/taiwan/36_19_data.htm? (中文)
cwb.gov.tw/V6e/forecast/taiw … 9_data.htm? (English)

Hualien Weather
cwb.gov.tw/V6/forecast/taiwan/36_18_data.htm (中文)
cwb.gov.tw/V6e/forecast/taiw … 8_data.htm (English)
wunderground.com/global/stations/59362.html (English)

Yilan Weather
cwb.gov.tw/V6/forecast/taiwan/36_17_data.htm (中文)
cwb.gov.tw/V6e/forecast/taiw … 7_data.htm (English)


Yaeyama Weather (covering the islands to the east of Hualien)
jma.go.jp/jp/week/356.html (日本語)
jma.go.jp/en/week/356.html (English)

Taitung, Pure & Natural:
chinapost.com.tw/travel/taiw … aiwans.htm

Digging Up Taiwan’s Ancient Heritage (Taitung): thewildeast.net/news/?p=191

The Secret of Green Island: Spectacular Diving: chinapost.com.tw/travel/taiw … Secret.htm

[quote=“yaoshema”]Taitung, Pure & Natural:
chinapost.com.tw/travel/taiw … aiwans.htm

Digging Up Taiwan’s Ancient Heritage (Taitung): thewildeast.net/news/?p=191

The Secret of Green Island: Spectacular Diving: chinapost.com.tw/travel/taiw … Secret.htm[/quote]

Thanks for those links about Taidong!

Sad to hear that the prevalent political/economic opportunism (simply sacrificing Taiwan to gain access to the mainland Chinese market) prevents the recognition, exploration, and protection of some very important ancient cultural heritage - according to the research done by linguists, Taiwan may well have been the jump-off point for the original human migration into Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Polynesia, etc., and thus archaeological information from Taiwan would seem of particular importance to humankind.

The information about diving and snorkeling at Green Island is of interest to me in light of tourism planning, since our own islands here (known as the Yaeyama Islands) have the same coral reef environment and similarly offer diving, snorkeling, and glas bottom boat tours. When i have time i’d like to check out Green Island and Orchid Island to see whether there is anything we can learn for our operations here. From what i have read so far, there might be an overdevelopment problem in those tourist areas (we have that problem here, too).


Maps
:

:arrow_right: Taidong

taiwaning.zening.info/map/Taitung_County/ (Google; map with links to the individual townships, including the islands)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Earth … an/Taitung (Google; map and satellite image)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Panor … an/Taitung (Google; map and photos)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Flick … an/Taitung (Flickr; map and photos taken by visitors)

:arrow_right: Hualien

taiwaning.zening.info/map/Hualie … /index.htm (Google; map with links to the individual townships)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Earth … an/Hualien (Google; map and satellite image)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Panor … an/Hualien (Google; map and photos)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Flick … an/Hualien (Flickr; map and photos taken by visitors)

:arrow_right: Yilan

taiwaning.zening.info/map/Yilan_County/index.htm (Google; map with links to the individual townships)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Earth … iwan/Yilan (map and satellite image)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Panor … iwan/Yilan (Google; map and photos)

worldmapfinder.com/Map_Flick … iwan/Yilan (Flickr; map and photos taken by visitors)


Hotsprings (Pingdong)

Kending National Park

Overview (日文):
温泉名称: 場所 / 泉質 / 露出温度 / PH値
四重渓温泉: 屏東県車城郷 / 弱アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 60度 / 7
(Source: otoa.com/support/country_ns_ … &code=3429)


Hotsprings (Taidong)

Overview (日文):
温泉名称: 場所 / 泉質 / 露出温度 / PH値
台東紅葉温泉: 台東県紅葉村 / 化水素泉 / 45〜63度 / 7
知本温泉: 台東県卑南郷 / ナトリウム炭酸水素塩泉 / 45〜56度 / 7〜8
金崙温泉: 台東県金峰郷 / 弱アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 48度 / 7.1
緑島温泉: 台東県緑島郷 / 硫オウ泉 / 53〜93度 / 5
(Source: otoa.com/support/country_ns_ … &code=3429)

  • Hongye 紅葉温泉 (“Red Leaves Hotspring”, 延平郷 Yánpíng Rural Township)

Yes, I have been there. Lovely campground right next to the springs. They springs are piped into a couple large tiled pools but whatever, it’s a great setting. Some lovely gorges to explore up there too. A few wild hot springs too but you need to befriend some locals to be taken to them.[/quote]
I visited this hotspring on March 10, 2010 and, given the afternoon air temperature on that day was about 15C, was looking forward to the hot soak there - but i found the whole facility buried in over a meter of (by now) hardened black mud that must have run off the mountain during the last typhoon. Oops… And no “hotspring not open” sign anywhere along the road - more oops…


Hotsprings (Hualian)

Overview (日文):
瑞穂温泉: 花蓮県万栄郷紅葉村 / 含鉄性塩化ナトリウム炭酸温泉 / 48度 / 7
花蓮紅葉温泉: 花蓮県万栄郷紅葉村 / 炭酸水酸化ナトリウム / 47度 / 6.7
安通温泉: 花蓮県玉里鎮 / 食塩性硫化水素泉 / 47度 / 8.8
文山温泉: 花蓮県秀林郷 / 弱アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 48度 / 7.1
(Source: otoa.com/support/country_ns_ … &code=3429)


Hotsprings (Yilan)

Overview (日文):
温泉名称: 場所 / 泉質 / 露出温度 / PH値
南澳温泉: 宜蘭県南澳郷 / 弱アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 65度 / 7.4
蘇澳冷泉: 宜蘭県蘇澳鎮 / 単純炭酸泉 / 21度 / 7.5
員山温泉: 宜蘭県員山郷永和村 / 単純泉 / 42度 / 7.2
清水温泉: 宜蘭県三星郷清水村 / アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 95度 / 9.8
天狗渓温泉: 宜蘭県大同郷土場村 / アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 80度 / 9
仁澤温泉: 宜蘭県大同郷土場村 / アルカリ性炭酸泉 / 90度 / 9
礁渓温泉: 宜蘭県礁渓郷 / 弱アルカリ性水酸化ナトリウム泉 / 60度 / 7.5
(Source: otoa.com/support/country_ns_ … &code=3429)

This thread was split from another in Living in Taiwan, as it’s more relevant to those travelling to the East Coast.

Yuli, thanks for all the east coast info you put together.


Post Offices

Threads:

Getting a mailbox at the post office (post office box)

Websites:

Post Office website: detailed information (map and searchable listing of post offices)
post.gov.tw/post/internet/u_ … al_h_1.jsp

:arrow_right: Taidong

Taidong Branch 901 (Main Post Office)
No. 126, Datong Rd., Taidong City

:arrow_right: Hualian

Hualian Branch 901 (Guo-An Post Office / New Main Post Office)
No. 408, 中山路 (Zhong1 Shan1 Lu4 / Jhongshan Rd.), Hualian City

Hualian Branch 19 (Jhongshan Rd. Post Office / Old Main Post Office)
No. 188, 中山路 (Zhong1 Shan1 Lu4 / Jhongshan Rd.), Hualian City
(at the corner of 中山路 and 中正路 (Zhong1 Zheng4 Lu4 / Jhongjheng Rd. / Hwy. 9)

:arrow_right: Yilan

Yilan Branch 25
No. 69, Singdong Rd., Luodong 265-41

Yilan Branch 901 (Main Post Office)
No. 130, Sec. 3, Jhongshan Rd., Yilan 260-44

Yilan County website: post offices in Yilan
e-land.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=4 … e=757&mp=5


Tourism Portal Sites

Note for Japanese travelers:
下記の英語のHPの上、日本語のHPへのリンクもある。

:arrow_right: Taidong

Taidong County Tourism Portal
tour.taitung.gov.tw/en/

:arrow_right: Taidong & Hualian

East Coast National Scenic Area
eastcoast-nsa.gov.tw/en/

:arrow_right: Hualian

Hualian County Tourism Portal
tour-hualien.hl.gov.tw/en/

Taroko National Park Portal
taroko.gov.tw/TarokoPortalEng/

East Rift Valley National Scenic Area
erv-nsa.gov.tw/user/main.aspx?Lang=2

Hualian Tourism Portal (Travel, Accommodation, Food, News, Videos)
花蓮旅遊網(花蓮旅遊、花蓮住宿、花蓮美食、花蓮新聞、花蓮影音)
poja.com.tw/ (Chinese)

Hualian Tourism
tourguide.sinotour.com/hualien/

:arrow_right: Yilan

Yilan Tourism
tourguide.sinotour.com/yilan/


Hotspring Hotels

For travelers who don’t want to “rough it”, there are plenty of options of using hotspring baths that are integrated with hotels.

A comprehensive site for related information is at
taiwankanko.com/onsen/onsen.html
(This site is in Japanese, but if you are familiar with the Chinese characters for the regions and cities in Taiwan, you won’t have any difficulty navigating your way to a suitable hotel: choose a region from the menu at the top right side and then a hotel from the menu in the top center of the newly opened page - you will get pictures, an address, and a phone number.)

Links for two of the eastern counties:

:arrow_right: Taidong

5 hotels in 卑南 (Bei1 Nan2 / Beinan)
1 hotel in 台東 (Tai2 Dong1 / Taidong)
taiwankanko.com/onsen/0009/

:arrow_right: Yilan

6 hotels in 礁溪 (Jiao1 Xi1 / Jiaosi)
taiwankanko.com/onsen/0008/


More places to stay

:arrow_right: Taidong
真德文教中心 (Zhen1 De2 Wen2 Jiao4 Zhong1 Xin1 / ) No. 57, 四維路一段 (1st Section, Si4 Wei2 Lu4), Taidong City, 08-933-4167
Simple accommodation (bedding on soft mats laid out on the floor), clean, quiet; NT$350 per person

(I wonder what it means that all websites carrying information about this place show the same wrong phone number “089-34167”. Maybe i am the only person who has actually stayed there?)


Note: Recently updated the hotsprings page and the netcafe page in this thread…


… and more about places to stay (as well as eat and play)

:arrow_right: Hualian

馨憶精緻民宿 (Xin1 Yi4 Jing1 Zhi4 Min2 Su4 / Guesthouse Shin’i) No. 218, 南京街 (Nan2​ Jing1​ Jie1), Hualian City, Tel. 03-835-8767
Rooms with 1, 2, or 3 twin beds. Using one bed per person comes to NT$900-1000 (weekends NT$1000-1200) per person,
and with 2 people per bed you pay NT$450-600 (weekends NT$500-750) per person.
Details at sinyi.17357.tw/sinyi/ (Chinese) - the actual rates are those on the Japanese page. The managers speak Chinese and Japanese, but they have English speaking staff, as well.

A selection of useful tips on places and activities:
Hualien mid-week

Taroko Gorge (2)

If you are planning to visit the Taroko Gorge you should really consult the comprehensive Taroko National Park Headquarters website, where you find not only detailed descriptions of the interesting locations but, most importantly, regular updates on accessibility and safety. (Conditions in the gorge tend to change frequently and rapidly: landslides, rockfall, flooding and washout are common occurrences, and access to all or part of the park may be restricted at any time.)

October 2011 update

Trails
[ul][li]Trail descriptions[/li]
[li]Trail Conditions (open? closed?):[/li]
[li][url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/recent-info-on-some-taroko-trails-sep-2011/67319/1 Info on some Taroko Trails? (Sep 2011)[/url][/li][/ul]

Accommodation[ul]
[li][url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/tianxiang-accommodation-taroko-gorge/66433/1 accommodation"[/url][/li][/ul]

Wenshan Hotsprings
[ul][li]In March 2011, a newspaper had reported that the park authorities were planning to re-open the Wenshan Hotspring Trail in July, and in the following months several people managed to get around the barriers blocking the path to the hotsprings and posted reports of their investigstion on the web. It also became apparent during the summer that the trail was being repaired. The barriers were finally removed at the beginning of September 2011: the spring is now officially accessible again.[/li]
[li][url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/wenshan-hotsprings-taroko-gorge/66432/1 Hotsprings"[/url][/li][/ul]

This is a copy from a living on the east coast post, but since it’s applies to travelers too, I’ll post it here.

Maps/GPS/Photos for waterfalls and wild hot springs.

All Taiwan:
followxiaofei.com/region/

Google Maps: Waterfalls / Wild Hot Springs / Wild Camping
google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewe … D-lNVlUzxU

Yilan
followxiaofei.com/region/yilan-county

Hualian
followxiaofei.com/region/hualien-county

Taitung
followxiaofei.com/region/taitung-county

Feel free to add any of these links to existing posts.