Alishan Natural Forest Recreation Area

I thought I had planned so well staying close to the Taichung Main Station but unfortunately my trip today ran out of the Taichung High Speed Railway Station so that meant a short, four stop ride on the metro-

HSRS is huge and very modern.  I had excellent directions  where to meet the group and in no time we were off.  It was a 4 hour drive to get there.  Along the way-

As we ascended, we drove through some tea plantations-

and stopped for a break where a woman was offering tea tasting.  I’m not a big tea lover because it all tastes like grass soaked in hot water to me-

At the Chukou Visitor’s Center there is a large rock called a tribute stone placed at the entrance to a village.  Every village had one.  Every time the villagers passed by the stone they placed a small offering- food or wine to thank the blessing god-

We carried on-

Once we arrived it was lunchtime.  I had delicious dumplings-

and not so delicious meatball soup.  The broth tasted like butchering day- there’s a smell, I think it’s the blood and even though the broth is clear, I couldn’t eat it.  The meatballs were sausage meat-

Alishan Forrest is the number one tourist attraction in Taiwan.  It was developed during the Japanese occupation which started in 1913.  The Japanese practically decimated the forest, cutting down the huge cypress trees and taking them back to Japan to build homes and their massive temples.  A positive from this time is they built a railroad up the mountain which is still used today but only for tourist rides-

After WW2 the Japanese were kicked out but it wasn’t until 1980 when the timber industry stopped. During this time 300,000 600 - 1000 year old trees were cut down. 

Some interesting facts about the area include most inhabitants are originally from China ( Taiwan used to belong to China and China still thinks it does), the Tropic of Cancer passes through Alishan, July to October is typhoon season, there are earthquakes everyday but only level 4 and above are severe enough for warnings to be issued.  The population of Taiwan is 23 million and 2% are indigenous.  It’s the size of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut combined which is pretty small for a lot of people!

Alishan has boardwalks everywhere so you can’t get lost-

It’s also cherry blossom time-

Views in the forest-

Cypress bark-

Moss-

Sister ponds-

Some of the larger trees called Formosa Cypress are numbered.  Number 32 is 2.38 meters at breast height, 31 meters tall and 600 years old-

Number 33 is 29.5 meters tall and 900 years old-

The four sisters grew out of a cut trunk-

Lots of the cut trunks are rotting and becoming moss covered odd shapes-

The highest peak is 2663m but we couldn’t see it because of the clouds-

Magnolia trees and blossoms-

We stopped at a huge pagoda.  Most Tiawanese are Shinto-

The altar-

Offerings-

Nearby is a smaller chimney-

Interesting food for sale:  tofu, eggs, mushrooms and roasted sweet potato-

To return to the bus we rode the train-

At the parking lot are lots of souvenir shops-

I had some mochi balls which are made from sweet glutinous rice-

They have a sticky elastic inside so kind of like chewing on a squishy rubber ball-

Beautiful succulents-

It took four hours to get back to Taichung HSR then another 30 minutes to ride the subway back.  I was trying to get into the train area with my ticket instead of the subway.  A woman had already passed through and she saw the trouble I was having so she came back out, met me at the ticket machine and showed me where to go.  Everyone has been so kind and helpful!

Tomorrow I hope to visit the Earthquake Museum and the National Theatre/ Opera.  They are a good distance away so I might spend most of my day on buses!  Maybe if I’m not too tired I’ll check out a night market for supper.  

P.S.