🏞 Taiwan Travel - Unique places to go in Taiwan

[qwertyxyz]

Hi! I have been in Taiwan (Staying in Kaohsiung) for 2 1/2 months and will be here for about 2 more months.

Have visited popular places like:

Taipei (Yehliu, Wulai, Jiufen, Shifen, Beitou, Danshui, Wufenpu, temples & memorial halls)
Taichung (Rainbow village, carton king, banana new paradise, temples) (didn’t visit lavender farm as it’s not in season)
Hualien (Dolphin/Whale watching, east rift valley)
Leofoo Village
Cingjing farm
Chiayi & Alishan
Kenting
Kaohsiung (FoGuangShan, Baseball place, Dragon Tiger Pagoda, British consulate, sizihwan, cijin island, dream mall etc)

I’m planning to travel more while I’m still in Taiwan, but I’m not sure where else I should go!
Currently I’m planning for Flying cow ranch, shen xian valley, jing yuan leisure farm, taroko gorge & kenting water sports.

Any suggestions on where else I can go? Looking for more unique experiences rather than visiting temples/night markets as I have been to quite a few already.

Really hope to get some advice!! Thank you

[OrangeOrganics]

I really like Beipu and the scenery around there.

[headhonchoII]

Good suggestion. I recommend back mountains of Chiayi Ruili area , need transportation. I also recommend Sanyi and Neiwan and Nanzhuang. Dulan and Taidong are nice in general and very relaxed with aboriginal folk.

[hansioux]

You seem to be targeting many themed farms/resorts. Along that line, I recommend Shanshangrenjia (山上人家) in Hsinchu.

If you don’t mind going a bit more off road, there’s Smangus(司馬庫斯) in Hsinchu, Walami (瓦拉米) in Hualien, Cuilu Trail (錐鹿古道) in Hualien. You also seemed to have skipped Tainan in terms of major metropolitan areas.

[headhonchoII]

Shanlinsea and Xitou are also resorty but also very natural.

[hannes]

How about the offshore islands? I like all of them, cause they are so different from Taiwan mainland.

[qwertyxyz]

Wow thanks so much for all the suggestions! So many new places that I didn’t find from Google haha

I want to go to the islands but will it be fun to go during the coming months when the cold weather is starting to set in?

Also, I was planning to travel to Taipei for the Taipei 101 NYE fireworks! But a friend said concerts in Kaohsiung would be better. Can’t find any lineups for Taipei and Kaohshiung, was wondering if you guys have any suggestions?

[Xeno]

@headhonchoII

Shanlinsea and Xitou are also resorty but also very natural.

A few photos from up the road:
synapticism.com/a-trip-into-the- … s-of-lugu/

[hansioux]

@Xeno

[quote=“headhonchoII”]Shanlinsea and Xitou are also resorty but also very natural.

A few photos from up the road:
synapticism.com/a-trip-into-the- … s-of-lugu/[/quote]

if you go even more up the road… a lot harder to get to, probably need to camp out there for a night.

you’ll get to here:
http://www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/gallery/images/406124/1_IMAG0434.jpg

similar view. Wangyou Forest’s entrance is by the tea house, Shuiyang Forest’s entrance is in Shanlinsea.

[Hokwongwei]

May I recommend GeoGuessr. They have a Taiwan-specific version.

geoguessr.com/taiwan/play

[hannes]

[quote=“Hokwongwei”]May I recommend GeoGuessr. They have a Taiwan-specific version.

geoguessr.com/taiwan/play[/quote]

Love playing that!

[hannes]

[quote=“hannes”][quote=“Hokwongwei”]May I recommend GeoGuessr. They have a Taiwan-specific version.

geoguessr.com/taiwan/play[/quote]

Love playing that! [/quote]

Hit 600 meter from one rural spot in Yunlin that could have been anywhere.

[hansioux]

only got 8823 points…

ok, just upped the score to 22623

[hansioux]

@shwanz

hansioux your shared information is really informative for me and other tourists as well. It seems you are having great knowledge about Taiwan’s street area. I have been there for one then more times but still want to explore it most historical sites. would you like to suggest me some of best historical sites of this region??

In terms of man-made historic sites, Tainan and Taipei probably have the highest concentration. I’d say Hualien, Yilan, Taidong are worth going as well.

Although you have been to Kaohsiung’s Former British Consulate, many of them have the same kind of feel.

In Tainan you would find An-ping ruins (former Dutch Fort Zeelandia), near by there are a couple of Qing era European trade houses, a really famous one is the Tree House, where an entire building is slowly being covered by a giant tree. Near by you’d find the An-ping old district, and it’s pretty fun to wonder inside it. By the way, this place is where Taiwan got its name. There’s also Yizaijincheng, a Qing era cannon fort near by.

Going a bit farther south, you’d get to Sicao, where you a take a short boat ride through the mangroves or all the way back to Tainan City. It was a major battle field between the Dutch and Koxinga’s armies. The temple there by the dock was built to ease the souls of nameless soldiers, and there’s a burial for unnamed Dutch soldiers next to the temple.

They’ve painted it recently…

Sicao Mangroves

At down town Tainan you can find the oldest Confucius temple in Taiwan, worth going to. Near-by there’s Japanese era Martial Art House, and Taiwan Literature Building, which I highly recommend. The building served as Tainan’s City Hall during the Japanese era.

I don’t know if Chikanlou (former Dutch Fort Provincia) is worth going to, but the Qing era Wumiao (martial arts temple) I think is pretty amazing. I also find Wufeimiao (burial of the wives of the last Ming dynasty Emperor) pretty unique as well.

Finally, a new National Museum of Taiwan’s History in Tainan is pretty amazing too.
nmth.gov.tw/enmain/

zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%BA% … 7%E7%94%A2
there’s a good list of Tainan’s historic sites on wiki

Although really, historic sites are only fun when you are interested in the historic stories, otherwise you have to really enjoy classical architecture.

There are so many more in other cities… I guess I’ll leave it for another day. Although I have to say I have very fond memories of Taidong’s National Museum of Prehistory and the Puyuma Prehistoric Culture Park next to it… Old distric of Taipei’s Sanxia I think is worth going to also…

[Xeno]

[quote=“Hokwongwei”]May I recommend GeoGuessr. They have a Taiwan-specific version.

geoguessr.com/taiwan/play[/quote]

Addictive!

Also, wouldn’t you know it, but they’re using one of my photos…

[Hokwongwei]

Err, uhm, congrats I guess? But get on that. Do not let those thieves off the hook.

[Xeno]

@Hokwongwei

Err, uhm, congrats I guess? But get on that. Do not let those thieves off the hook.

I tend not to get overly concerned about these things… almost all my images are licensed under the Creative Commons, after all. But for that same reason I do try and chase people down to provide credit wherever possible.

[KHHville]

CPR still works on some threads.

What’s up with this conflict? Not enough money spread out to those involved? Been to this place before. Pretty cool.

Police probe vandalism of Rainbow Village - Taipei Times

[Marco]

Some of the buildings were not intended to be permanent and thus were not built to last. They require extensive renovation to preserve the structure.

A business did not want to move out so renovations and structural improvements could take place. When forced to leave, they decided in their infinite wisdom that they should destroy what makes the place special because if they can’t use it, nobody should be able to.

[SunWuKong]

@Marco

A business did not want to move out so renovations and structural improvements could take place. When forced to leave, they decided in their infinite wisdom that they should destroy what makes the place special because if they can’t use it, nobody should be able to.

That’s a piece of it. The business was contracted to maintain the site and many of the paintings were their original works. I think they also sold stuff. The city decided to close the site for renovations and terminated the contract. The company claims the work they painted was their intellectual property. They destroyed what they considered to be their own work rather than let the government claim it. The original paintings of the resident who started it all are still there except for what the city destroyed in previous renovations. Some news is saying the company painted over his work, but it may have been what they repainted after renovations. The company was fighting for the intellectual property rights in court. The city may have wanted more renovations to get rid of them, or they may have suspected that. Still a dickish thing for artists to do.