石碇

Thousand Island Lake (千島湖)

Over the past few weeks there has been a considerable amount of discussion and heated debate with regard to the methods that the government has been using to promote the country as a tourist destination. The government-run social media efforts in particular have been extremely unprofessional and have likely done more harm to the nation's reputation than good.

This was all expertly pointed out by blogger Tricky Taipei in her post: "Something Very Wrong is Happening at Taiwan Tourism Bureau" which focused on a government run social media account that was full of spelling and grammatical errors. It would be easy for some to say that English isn't the native language of Taiwan, so a little leeway should be given in these matters, but in truth, the account in question was maintained by an outsourced company based in the USA, which more or less pointed to the government wasting funds. 

The government has since acknowledged some of its mistakes and has promised to both improve and provide more oversight into the way it does its business, but the way the Taiwan Tourism Bureau promotes the country has always been problematic.

The picturesque national beauty of this country in addition to its beautiful cultures and traditions should be enough to attract people, but when it comes to promoting Taiwan overseas, the Tourism Bureau has traditionally only focused on the food scene or a few select locations. I'll gladly admit that the most common locations that are used are scenic, but it would be much easier to attract tourists if you let people know that there is more to Taiwan than just Taipei 101 and Stinky Tofu. 

One of the most popular locations used in tourism publications is that of Taipei’s Thousand-Island Lake (千島湖) which itself is not actually a popular tourist attraction for tourists, but is I'm sure beautiful and exotic enough to entice people to visit. 

I've lived in Taiwan for well over a decade and over that time I've seen hundreds if not thousands of beautiful photos of Thousand-Island Lake, but never really felt the urge to visit on my own. There are of course a few reasons for this - most importantly, I feel like this location is overdone. 

I've also learned that when visiting photo hot-spots like this, you're very likely going to have to wage war against a large group of territorial old dudes with cameras who take up all the best spots. In cases like this I feel like it wouldn't be worth my time. 

Over the recent extra-long Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, one of my hiking pals asked if I wanted to join her and some friends on a short day-trip to the area. I figured that since most people in Taipei had already gone south for the holidays that it was probably an opportune time to visit, so I thought why not go check it out to see what all the fuss was about. 

Thousand-Island Lake (千島湖)

To start, I think its important to note that the area, which is known in English as ‘Thousand-Island Lake’ or in romanized pinyin as ‘Qiandaohu’ doesn’t actually have a 'thousand islands' nor is it even a 'lake'.

The water comes from the Beishi River (北勢溪) which flows between New Taipei City and Yilan County and is a tributary of the much larger Xindian River (新店溪). The so-called ‘islands’ are actually just submerged mountains in what is a man-made environment.

The 'lake' gets its name from a similar man-made lake in China’s North-Eastern Zhejiang Province (浙江省) which is similar in terms of landscape. China's lake however actually does have more than one thousand ‘islands’, which again are just submerged mountains from when the Xin’An Reservoir (新安水庫) was constructed in 1959.

The Taiwan version of ‘Qiandaohu’ was created in 1987 with the construction of the nation’s largest dam, the Feicui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) which supplies water to both Taipei City and New Taipei City and their almost seven million residents. 

Plans for the reservoir project started in the 1970’s to solve the problem of water shortages in the north caused by severe droughts and damage caused by typhoons which often forced residents to have to go without water service for long periods of time.

The construction of the dam meant that the area where 'Qiandaohu' now exists would have to be flooded with water - The area at that time was scarcely populated, but to complete the project the government was forced to relocate over a thousand residents who resided in the now abandoned Bishan Village (碧山村).

Link:  Taiwan in Time: The ‘Atlantis of Taiwan’ - Taipei Times

As usual with forced relocations or evictions in Taiwan, the government did a terrible job of forcing people out of their homes and they resisted the relocation for a number of reasons:  

  • Most of them were dependent on the tea trade and their livelihoods were attached to the land.
  • Families had lived in the area for hundreds of years and their ancestors were all buried there.
  • The government offered little in terms of financial compensation - a battle that took until 1994 to resolve.

Today the Shiding (石碇) and Pinglin (坪林) areas continue to be an important player in Taiwan’s tea production. The area is considered to provide the perfect climate for growing Taiwan’s famous Pouchong Tea (文山包種茶) as well as Oriental Beauty Tea (東方美人茶). If you are a fan of Oolong teas, you will appreciate the hard work of the local people in the area, especially those who were relocated but persevered nonetheless.  

When visiting the scenic areas of Qiandaohu, it would be difficult not to notice the terraced fields of tea which grow on almost every mountainside in the area. For tourists who want to experience Taiwan’s tea culture, I’d suggest that a trip to this area in conjunction with nearby Pinglin village would offer a much more authentic experience than a visit to the very touristy area of Maokong (貓空), which is closer to the city.

What most people are looking for from a visit to Qiandaohu is a wide view of the mountains,  the terraced tea fields and the emerald green water of the river. Some think that you need to hike all the way down to riverside to get these photos, but you’d seriously be wasting a whole lot of time and energy if you did. The most iconic views of the area are from above and there are well constructed platforms in several different locations for visitors to view the beautiful landscape.

If you have access to your own means of transportation, then it will be easy to visit each spot to get photos. If you are a tourist and relying on public transportation however, you are going to have to decide how far you are willing to walk to check out the different views.

Getting There

 

'Thousand-Island Lake' is situated on Taipei’s notorious Number Nine highway (北宜公路) which is more or less a playground for the morons of the country who own fast cars and motorcycles. The ‘highway’ is a narrow and winding mountain road that is dangerous even without the Fast & the Furious wannabes. The road apparently averages at least one (or more) traffic fatality daily. 

If you are a foreign tourist and driving either a scooter or a car on this road, you need to take extreme caution. Take your time. 

If you are driving, just follow the road roads on the number nine until you reach the “Yong-An Community” (永安社區) where you’ll turn off the highway and head down the mountain. 

Thankfully, Taiwan is a convenient country and you are able to make use of public transportation to get there - From the Xindian MRT station (新店捷運站) take the Green #12 bus to Shiding (石碇) to the “Shisangu” (十三股) bus stop where you get off and walk down the hill.

The walk shouldn’t take you any more than ten minutes to get to the first platform. From there its up to you if you wish to continue onto the others. Make sure to keep track of the time though and be aware of the bus schedule which takes you back into town.

Once you arrive on the hill you’ll notice detailed maps for the Yongan Trail (永安步道) which show each destination, the route and the distance.

Depending on your method of transportation, a trip to Qiandaohu can be a short stop on a day trip where you could also stop by the Shiding Old Street (石碇老街), Pinglin District (坪林), Wulai District (烏來區) or further into Yilan County. If you have to rely on public transportation however, its probably best to plan an entire day around your visit.

No matter how you get there, I'm sure you'll enjoy the beautiful scenery and will be able to take some nice photos. Be sure to share them online and help show people that there is more to Taiwan than just Taipei 101 and Stinky Tofu! 

Enjoy yourself and be safe on that road!


Huang Di Dian (皇帝殿)

The Lunar New Year holiday was a terribly busy week that had me up and on the road early almost every day and back home to sleep in my bed every night! I had to take several day trips for work-related stuff but was still fortunate to manage having some free time to get in a couple of hikes on the days in between the stuff I was doing.

One of the hikes was one that I did a while ago and wanted to do a second time and the other - the one I'm writing about today is a hike that I've wanted to do for a long time and one that I'm sure I'll go back to quite often as it was really fun!

Huang Di Dian (皇帝殿) or the "Emperors Palace" is one of the most popular trails for avid hikers in northern Taiwan and is often compared with Wuliaojian (五寮尖) in terms of difficulty and of course the sense of accomplishment you feel when you reach the top. The hike is quite difficult and shouldn't be taken lightly - but if you are in relatively good shape then it shouldn't really be a problem!

I've hiked Wuliaojian more times than I can count and when I'm in need of a full body workout it is my go-to trail that gives me the exercise I so desperately need.

Some people compare the difficulty of these two hikes and will say that Huang Di Dian is JUST AS difficult or even more difficult than Wuliaojian. I can't really say that I agree with those assessments as Huang Di Dian seemed much easier than I was expecting and the day after the hike when I woke up I didn't feel like my body had died over night.

The difficulty (for most people) with Huang Di Dian really just depends on your method of transportation to the trailhead. If you are arriving by car or scooter then you will have a much easier experience than those who take the bus and have to hike to the trailhead.

If you arrive by car you can easily park by the trailhead and start the hike directly. If you are like most people (including myself) you probably will have arrived by means of public transport and that requires a long walk up a paved road to the trailhead.

The walk from the bus stop to the trailhead could add 20-40 minutes based on how fast you walk and can be just as difficult for some as the hike itself can be.

Small temple near the trailhead

Once you arrive at the trailhead there are two options and it's really important that you pay attention to this part - No matter which option you choose, you are going to come face-to-face with about 30-40 minutes worth of stairs which (If you just walked up that road from the bus stop) will be the worst part of the hike for the majority of people.

Now here's the important part: There are two trailhead markers and a map. The map will show you the trails and what the hike will look like. The trail beside the map leads to the East Peak (東峰) while the trail to the left takes you to the West Peak (西峰)

The trail going to the East Peak is the easier route but I don't recommend taking it - I recommend taking what's considered the more difficult route, not because it is more difficult but because you will get to enjoy much more scenery as you ascend and will be able to easily get to the Western Peak, a few other ridges and the East Peak in a short amount of time.

If you take this route, the walk down to the parking lot from the East Peak is much easier and is mostly covered by trees. This route is also a lot easier on your knees and once you reach the road you can walk slowly back down rather than descending a bunch of ridges, the mountain and a long set of stairs.

When we reached the trailhead a scooter pulled up beside us and dropped off an old woman. The old woman wasn't wearing hiking gear and didn't have a backpack so we asked where she was hiking? She replied that she was "going home' which kind of confused me. This is a popular hiking trail - What home? She went on to explain that her home was about 20 minutes up the hill and that she takes care of a temple up there. The interesting thing was that while we were taking a break, she passed us and gave us the normal '加油' (Go, Go, Go!) and once we made it to the temple she was there to greet us and asked us to sit down for a drink and to take a break.

She had water, snacks and gloves available to the hikers who were braving the trail and it got me thinking: How does she get this stuff up here? She would have had to carry it up herself. It amazed me that a woman of her age could carry that stuff up such a terrible set of stairs.

Senior citizens in Taiwan never cease to amaze me. They are battle-hardened war machines that put youth to shame and I love it!

Once we passed the temple we quickly rid ourselves of the annoying stairs and were into the climbing part of the hike. The path isn't as steep as the stairs but through the trees you can see some pretty awesome scenery. After about five minutes of climbing you come up to a cliff with a chain that you have to climb up. Truthfully you don't even need to use the chain. I had my camera in one hand and walked up the cliff easily enough.

After climbing up the ridge you get to the cool part of the hike, the part that everybody came for - the ridge walk. The ridge walk on this hike is actually a lot more beautiful than what you get at Wuliaojian and I found myself stopping for long periods of time to enjoy the view.

The western peak of this hike has great views and if you're brave enough you can climb up on the ridge, have a seat, eat a snack and enjoy 360 degree views of New Taipei City. On a clear day you can even see as far as Taipei 101!

After sitting on the ridge and finishing off a quick snack we moved on for the short hike to the East Peak - If you take the route I mentioned it should only be about a 15-20 minute hike to the East Peak although there is a bit of climbing involved.

The views from the East Peak are much better than the previous one and it can be a bit scary if you stand on top of the ridge and walk towards the edge. I stayed on the peak for a while but I was sweaty and the it got really windy so I decided it was time to head back to the parking lot.

We were unfortunately running out of time and didn't have time to continue on further past the East Peak. If you do have time though you can continue on past the East Peak to another cliff face and a bat cave. In the future, and time permitting I will update this post with photos from the bat cave as it seems like another pretty awesome place to visit on the hike. 

From the East Peak, the parking lot is a short walk down some tree covered stairs and if you take the route I mentioned it should be a bit more relaxing than your way up. Once back at the trailhead you'll be able to use the bathroom, throw out your trash (DON'T LITTER) and take a break on the benches.

If you took the bus you should be careful to check the bus times and be sure to make your way back to the bus station before the bus leaves - which brings me to the practicalities of this hike:

If you are taking the bus, you need to be careful. You need to take what other bloggers have termed "The Bus from Hell" (#666) from either Jingmei (景美站) or from Muzha MRT station (木柵捷運站) The problem is that bus #666 has several destinations. You need to make sure that you take the bus that goes either to "Huang Di Dian" or "Huafan University" (華梵大學) otherwise you are in for a long hike from Shiding Old Street (石碇老街.)

The best way to do this is to ask whatever friendly Taipei bus driver who is driving the bus where the bus is heading and whether or not he or she could drop you off at the bus stop. Likewise when you need to head back to Taipei you need to make sure what time the bus will arrive at the station to pick you up.

Remember to wear some hiking shoes, bring a raincoat (just in case) and bring some water and snacks. You could also plan pretty epic (or romantic) picnic with friends (or your loved one) on one of the ridges so bring whatever suits your needs!

This hike is now probably my second favourite hike in northern Taipei and if it weren't such a pain in the ass to get to, I'd hike it just as often as I hike Wuliaojian. The ridge walk is really fun and the scenery from the peaks is honestly a lot better.

Don't let people fool you that this hike is difficult - when I did the hike there were children, fathers, mothers and grandparents enjoying the beautiful scenery.

You CAN do this hike and you SHOULD do this hike!

It's a great time and an easy enough hike for the whole family or a group of friends to enjoy! Have fun and be safe!

If you have any questions, comments or criticisms don't be shy - comment below and I'll get back to you pretty quickly!