Alishan National Park is one of the national parks in Taiwan and also one of the most visited national park by foreigners. It is located in Chiayi County near the central Taiwan region where the mountain ranges are. Alishan is well known for its famous sunrise photo. The sun rises about the mountain and sea of clouds are beneath it. There are also several folk songs from the locals praising the beauty of Alishan. Over the years, Alishan has attracted thousands of visitors every year.
Since we were visiting Taiwan, we were definitely not going to miss the chance to visit Alishan. We booked a private dedicated driver for our 2 day trip to Alishan. This was because we also wanted to stop at few other places and having a car was more convenient than taking trains and buses. The driver got to our hotel by 7AM and we started heading South from Taipei. Our driver was young and very social, he would also point out interesting facts as he drove the car down South on the highway.
The first place we stopped at was a local special cold noodle in Chiayi. It was a small shop and the driver highly recommended this place. There were many locals here having the cold noodle and it was the only dish that the shop served. The cold noodle was thicker than the usual ones we see in other places. Then there were sesame sauce and vinegar sauce added on top of it. We really loved having this cold noodle in such hot weather. Afterwards, the car driver took us to a famous restaurant called Alishan Turkey Rice. This restaurant was also amazing and the turkey rice was incredible.
After the incredible lunch, we went to Hinoki Village. It was an interesting small village showing the historical buildings during Japanese occupation in Taiwan. We spent about an hour there and then headed towards Alishan National Park, which was just about an hour away. As we got to Alishan National Park's main gate, the scenery was already incredible. The sea of cloud beneath the mountain was astonishing. We then headed towards the visitor center and that was where all the shops were at. The car driver dropped us down here as he cannot go any further and we had to take shuttle bus to Alishan Hotel.
After we checked in to Alishan Hotel, we had a walk around nearby trail. The trails were all very well paved and very family friendly. In addition, we went to the top of the Alishan Hotel and we saw incredible sunset view from there. The cloud formation was still unbelievable with golden sun rays peeking through the clouds.
On the second day morning, we woke up at 3AM to make sure we can hike up to the mountain top to see the sunrise. We took the trail beside Alishan Hotel to reach to the start of Zhushan trail. The Zhushan trail was only about 2.5km long. When we got to the viewpoint, it was only 4:30AM but there were already many small shops open near by the viewpoint. We waited there for almost an hour and the sunrise was finally here. It was just as incredible as people said. no word can really describe the scenery here. Although the viewpoint was only about 2500m high, the cloud beneath the mountain really made a big difference to the view. We really loved it.
After a decent breakfast buffer at Alishan Hotel, we went for a hike at the Giant Tree trail. Alishan was also known to have giant trees that were over a thousand years old. We saw several gigantic trees along the trail. The oldest one was approximately 1500 years old. These trees were not just tall, but they were also very side in length. As we walked down the trail, we passed by the Alishan train station where people could choose to ride the train within the Alishan National Park to go from one place to another.
We met up with our car driver at 11AM and headed down the Fenqihu Old Street. It was also a famous tourist attraction near Alishan. When we got to Fenqihu Old Street, it was extremely crowded and all the parking spaces were taken. Many people were parking on the side illegally. We went to Xiaoshe Bento Shop for an incredible Taiwan bento lunch. Then we went to Lavender Forest Ice Cream for an exotic dessert. Before we left and head back to Taipei, we also got this popular Aiyu drink from the local shop.
We got back to Taipei around 7PM and the car driver dropped us off at the front of the hotel. The trip to Alishan National Park was an incredible experience. Everything at Alishan was very family friendly. The only downside is that it is difficult to get there without a car. We would definitely visit Alishan National Park in the future.
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