January 9th, 2025
We started off the day early traveling to Alishan National Forest Park. It was a long drive, taking us a few hours to reach the top. However, I would say it was worth the wait for the natural beauty of the park. We started off by hiking, which was quite tiring due to the number of stairs we had to walk uphill, but it did not take too long. Before reaching the park we stopped at an indigenous place, where we had a brief tour about the history of their clan and then watched a performance of the dances from the clan, learning a little about their history and culture, which was informative as I knew nothing about that part of Taiwanese history and culture. Afterward, we walked around the park itself looking around at the greenery of the forest, and the misty looking clouds. It was interesting I don’t usually hike, including walking around a park or forest much at all, so that was something new to do, and it was nice as well, as apart from all the walking, it was also refreshing. But it was pretty chilly up in the mountains. That was definitely the difference with the rest of Taiwan as when we arrived Taipei was warm, including Chiayi, and the south in Kaohsiung, which is more tropical. However, it wasn’t as bad as once we went hiking. It felt warmer, and being from the Northeast, where it’s cold in the winter, I’m used to that kind of weather. Although the cherry blossoms weren’t in season, which would have been great to see, from what I’ve seen in pictures, the scenery of the forest was still nice, especially at the end of the forest near the station with the view of the stream overlooking the mountain. I prefer seeing historical or cultural sites, but I do occasionally enjoy seeing natural sites as well, and even though it’s not the season for the cherry blossoms, which is one of the best things from the park, it’s a famous site, and a pretty sight. From what I’ve read, and heard about, one of the most famous aspects of the park itself is the train, which we took back to the station at the entrance of the park, and that was a little fun & nice ride. It was built in the early 1900s under Japanese rule, and it was used to transport Cyprus trees to Chiayi. These trees are home to the park, some of which are over a thousand years old, such as the one we saw (3rd picture). Interestingly, Alishan’s train station is one of the highest train stations in Asia, which isn’t surprising considering how far up in the mountains Alishan is. This trip to Alishan allowed us to get a glimpse into the natural beauty of Taiwan.
