Nantou

Taiwan Cherry Blossom Guide (臺灣櫻花地圖)

One of the clearest indications that spring has arrived in Taiwan is when the cherry blossoms start to bloom throughout the country. It’s one of those things that you can’t miss as the trees in cities large and small start to turn pink. It would be an understatement to say that the people of Taiwan have a tremendous amount of respect for the natural environment, but when it comes to cherry blossoms, viewing them is an important part of many, if not most families social calendars. 

The blossoms which are also referred to as "sakura" grow in the early months of the year when the Taiwanese winter is coming to an end and the weather starts to get better after a few months of rain. The blooming season also just so happens to take place near the conclusion of the all-important Lunar New Year (農曆新年) celebrations, when many families have a long winter vacation and are able to travel freely.

Taiwan is a fertile land with fruit, flowers and vegetables growing all over the place and when there are flowers to be seen, you can be sure to see crowds of people enjoying the beauty of nature and practicing the age-old tradition known in Japan as "Hanami" (花見) or “flower-viewing”.

Considered to be a cultural remnant from the Japanese Colonial Era, the people of Taiwan take their flowers very seriously and these days wherever you go you’ll be sure to find advertisements the various flower-related festivals held throughout the year.

You might be thinking that these festivals probably only appeal to a bunch of senior citizens with too much time on their hands, but you’d be wrong - Hanami is a serious thing and you’ll see people of all ages traveling to enjoy the natural beauty that this country has to offer. Flower viewing is often a family affair, but it is also a romantic one, so you’ll often see families as well as young couples enjoying the experience.

And there is no better experience than cherry blossom season, so for the few few months of the year when the blossoms are in bloom, the country turns a beautiful shade of pink and in the areas where they grow in abundance, you’ll also find large crowds rushing to see them.

One of the things I've come to realize in the years since opening this site is that there are very few English-language resources or information available about the cherry blossom blooming season. Some of my most popular blog posts (and the ones that generate the most comments or emails) are those about cherry-blossoms.

People travelling to Taiwan and expats living here want to know where to find them and unfortunately that information is often lacking. So, what I’m going to attempt to do with this post is explain a few of the most common varieties of cherry blossom in Taiwan, provide a list of the most popular places to see them and also provide a map that I’ve compiled of other places where you can find them.

I hope that this short guide helps out and that you can find the location most suitable for you to view these beautiful blossoms.

Cherry Blossoms (櫻花)

Taiwan is home to around two dozen different species of cherry blossom and while some of them appear similar to those in Japan, the majority of them can only be found in Taiwan, which makes the blossom-viewing experience here an especially unique one. The most common species of blossom is the dark-pink Taiwanese Mountain Sakura which can be seen all around the country. There are however several other species that only grow in specific locations and in high elevations, so if you want to check them out, you’ll have to head to the mountains to see them.

An important note when it comes to Taiwan’s cherry blossoms is that most of them are the result of hybridization, which means that the species have been mixed together to create something new.

Link: A Beginners Guide to Cherry Blossoms - Cherry Tree Varieties

With almost two dozen species of cherry blossom in Taiwan, how are you to differentiate between what you’re seeing? Take it from me, I’m no expert, I’ve put a lot of research into Taiwan’s blossoms, but no matter how much I read about them, they all look relatively similar. 

And hey, Taiwan is also home to Plum Blossoms (梅花), Peach Blossoms (桃花) and Tung Blossoms (桐花), which probably only help to exacerbate your confusion.

There are some characteristics that can help even beginners differentiate the various blossoms that you’ll find. 

  • Number of Petals

One of the easiest ways to figure out what you’re looking at is to count the number of petals on the blossom. The majority of Taiwan’s cherry blossoms have five petals, but there are others like the Double-Layered Cherry (八重櫻) that can have anywhere between ten or twenty petals. 

  • Colour of the Blossom

The most common cherry blossom in Taiwan is the Taiwan Mountain Cherry, which has dark-pink petals. The most popular blossoms however are light-pink, white or red. The colour of the petals however can sometimes be quite similar, so you’ll also have to pay attention to the stems inside which have their own distinct colours. 

  • Blooming Period

Taiwan’s various species of cherry blossoms bloom anywhere between January and April and one of the easiest ways to figure out what you’re looking at is by knowing the blooming time for the area you’re visiting. For example, when I visited the Loving Farm (恩愛農場) in Taoyuan, I knew that the Fuji Cherry bloomed in late February while the Japanese Alpine Cherry (千島櫻) grew sometime in March. Despite the fact that they both have five petals and the colour of their petals are similar, I knew that I was looking at Fuji Cherries because of the time I was there.

Even though the links below are in Chinese, they should help differentiate Taiwan’s various species: 

Link: 你賞的是什麼櫻?(Hiking Notebook) | 台灣櫻花種類 (Jeff Yen)

Taiwan’s Cherry Blossom Varieties 

  1. Taiwanese Mountain Cherry (台灣山櫻花) - Late-January - February

  2. Formosan Cherry (福爾摩沙櫻) - Late-January to February

  3. Taiwan Cherry (緋寒櫻) - Late-January to February

  4. Double-layered Cherry (八重櫻) - Mid-February - March

  5. Peony Cherry (牡丹櫻) - Late-March - Early-April

  6. Showa Cherry (昭和櫻) - February - March

  7. Pink Lady Cherry (紅粉佳人) - Mid-February - Late-February

  8. Wusheh Cherry (霧社櫻) - Mid-March - April

  9. Taiping Cherry (太平山櫻) - Mid-March - April

  10. Japanese Alpine Cherry (千島櫻) - March - April

  11. Oshima Cherry (大島櫻) - Late -March - April

  12. Takasago Cherry (高砂櫻) - Late-March - April

  13. Yoshino Cherry (吉野櫻) - Mid-March - April

  14. White Yoshino Cherry (白色吉野櫻) - March - April

  15. Kawazu Cherry (普賢象櫻) - Late-March to Mid-April

  16. Fuji Cherry (富士櫻) - Mid-February to Mid-March. 

Taiwan’s Most Common Cherry Blossoms

In this section, I’m going to introduce some of the most common varieties of cherry blossoms in Taiwan.

I’ll also continue to update this section as I get more photos in the future.

1. Taiwanese Cherry / Kanhizakura (臺灣山櫻花)

The indigenous Taiwanese Mountain Sakura are the most common type of cherry blossom in Taiwan.

The flowers are a dark shade of pink and when you are in an area where there are quite a few trees, it can be one of the most beautiful experiences of your life. Unfortunately even though these cherry blossoms are beautiful, they are viewed as less important by most local people than some of the other varieties.

These trees grow all over the country but the most common places to find them are on Alishan (阿里山), Yangmingshan (陽明山), Dakeng (大坑) and Zhongli's Ju-Guang Park (中壢莒光公園)

Blooming Period: Late January to March.

2. Yoshino Cherry (吉野櫻)

The Yoshino Cherry is probably the most popular of all the Sakura in Taiwan due to the fact that it is considered the most "Japanese". These trees with their beautiful light-pink blossoms are not endemic to Taiwan and were brought here during the Japanese colonial era from Mount Yoshinoyama (吉野山) in Japan's Nara Prefecture (奈良市). As Japan's most popular cherry blossom a lot of people in Taiwan will plan their yearly schedules around the blossoming season to take a trip to Japan to see them. You don't have to take a trip to Japan to see these flowers though, they grow in abundance in several places around the country.

The most common places to find Yoshino Cherries are on Alishan (阿里山), Wuling Farm (武陵農場), Aowanda (奧萬大), the Formosan Culture Village (九族文化村) and at Danshui's Tian-Yuan Temple (天元宮)

Blooming Period: Mid-March to Late-April.

3. Double-Layer Cherry / Yaezakura (八重櫻 / やえざくら)

Double-Layer Cherry go by a few names but they are common in both Taiwan and Japan. We can refer to them as 'Double-Layer Cherry', 'Yaezakura' or 'Late-Blooming Cherry'. The Double-Layer Cherry is a multi-layered cherry blossom and is a blanket term that defines several different species of cherry blossom that have more than 5 petals. The varieties of Sakura in this type vary in colour ranging from light to dark pink and are often hard to identify individually unless you're an expert. In Taiwan people refer to them simply as the "eight variety cherry" (八重櫻) which helps solve some of the confusion as to what they actually are. 

The most common places to find these types of blossoms growing in abundance are on Yangmingshan (陽明山) and Alishan (阿里山) while they can be found on many smaller mountains throughout northern Taiwan.

Blooming Period: February - March. 

4. Fuji Cherry (富士櫻)

GTJ-2020-0302-2.jpg

The Fuji Cherry is another of Taiwan’s most popular species of cherry blossom - A hybrid of the Taiwanese Cherry (台灣山櫻花) and the Japanese Yamazakura (山櫻花). As a hybrid species, the blossoms take on aspects of both the Taiwanese and Japanese cherries with the shape of the petals being similar to that of the Japanese cherry, with each blossom having five petals and are a light red or pink. The blossoms are usually clustered together in bunches and face down.

The best places to see Fuji Cherry Blossoms is at Taoyuan’s Lala Mountain (拉拉山), Nantou’s Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村) and Qingjing Farm (清境農場).

Blooming Period: Late-February - March


Where to find Cherry Blossoms in Taiwan

Between February and March, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find cherry blossoms growing around Taiwan.

If you’re like a lot of people though and you want to make the special effort to visit a pink-sakura forest, there are some places that you should definitely keep in mind.

This is the most current version of the top fifteen popular cherry blossom viewing locations around the country, with an estimation of when the blossoms will be in bloom in each area.

Each location can be found on the Cherry Blossom Map below represented by a heart, but you can also click on each of the links below to be taken to a Google Map link.

  1. Yangmingshan (陽明山), Taipei (Mid February - Mid March)

  2. Lane 42, Pingjing Street (平菁街櫻花), Taipei (Mid January - Mid February) 

  3. Donghu Park (東湖樂活公園), Neihu (February - March) 

  4. Tian-Yuan Temple (天元宮), Danshui (February - March)

  5. Jinguashi Museum (金瓜石博物館), Ruifang (March - April) 

  6. Xiong-Kong Sakura Forest (熊空櫻花林), Sanxia (January - April 

  7. Loving Farm (恩愛農場), Taoyuan (Late February - Mid March) 

  8. Wuling Farm (武陵農場), Taichung (February)

  9. Dongshi Forest Garden (東勢林場), Taichung (February) 

  10. Tai-An Police Station (泰安派出所), Taichung (Late February - Mid March) 

  11. Fushou Mountain Farm (福壽山農場), Taichung (Mid Feb - April) 

  12. Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村), Nantou (February - March)

  13. Aowanda Forest Recreation Area (奧萬大國家森林遊樂區), Nantou (Mid March - April)

  14. Alishan (阿里山), Chiayi (December - April)

  15. Taimali Green Mountain Farm (太麻里青山農場), Taidong (February - March)


Cherry Blossom Map (臺灣櫻花地圖)

This map is something that took quite a bit of time to create, so I hope it can help people find the best (and closest) locations for viewing Taiwan’s cherry blossoms so that you can have the best viewing experience.

You are welcome to use it for personal use or share it however you like.

If you are a media organization though, ask for permission.

All that I ask is that if you have any leads for locations that I haven’t added on the map, let me know so I can continue to update it for others!

On the map I’m simply providing the geographic location and the name in English and Chinese.

When I have more time I'll add a bit more information for travelers on how to get to each point, what blossoms you’ll find and when would be the best time to visit.

I hope what is available thus far is of use to you. 

 A few things to Keep in Mind

  • Cherry blossoms, while beautiful are extremely vulnerable to the weather.

  • Taiwan's winter's are often unpredictable and are known to be cold, rainy and windy. Weather conditions often affect the health and the amount of blossoms that are available.

  • A few locations like Danshui's Tian-Yuan Temple and Wuling Farm have websites that give the most recent information about the growth of the blossoms in their respective area.

  • Something else to take into consideration is that while the blossoming season is typically between March and April, Global Warming has affected the blossoming periods meaning that sometimes they appear a bit earlier. This means that if the blossoms appear earlier, they are also likely to disappear much more quickly.

  • If you are planning a trip to Taiwan to view the cherry blossoms, you should do a bit of research beforehand as you could end up a bit disappointed.

  • The cherry blossom season is one of the busiest flower-viewing seasons in Taiwan and is one that you won't want to miss if you're in the country.

  • I highly recommend a trip to any of the top spots listed above, but if you're shy and don’t like crowds, you can find some other great places to visit on the map I’ve provided.  

As always, if you have any questions feel free to comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! 

Happy Sakura hunting!  


Wuchang Temple (集集武昌宮)

Wuchang Temple (武昌宮) is another of Taiwan's famous temples, but its fame is somewhat based on the infamous nature of of its history. I will do my best to explain the history of the temple, but I think I should start out by mentioning the main reason why the temple holds a special place in the hearts of Taiwanese people. 

The temple wasn’t always a household name in Taiwan, but that changed when it became one of the iconic images of the terrible terrible events of September 21st, 1999, better known as the 921 Earthquake (921大地震) or the Jiji Earthquake (集集大地震) 

The earthquake, 7.3 -7.7 in magnitude struck central Taiwan killing 2415 people, injuring 11,305 and caused over 10 billion dollars worth of damage around the country. The earthquake etched itself into the consciousness of the entire country and its effects have been long-lasting. The slow response to the earthquake was also one of the deciding factors that took away the KMT’s 50 year grip on power, the first time since the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan in 1949.

Old Wuchang Temple (舊武昌宮)

New Wuchang (新武昌宮)

The epicentre of the massive earthquake was in the small town of Jiji (集集) in Nantou county (南投縣) yet it destroyed and damaged buildings throughout the entire country. The destruction of Jiji’s Wuchang Temple however became one of the iconic images of the earthquake and what remains of it today has been preserved as a reminder to the people of Taiwan of the events of that terrible day. 

The original Wuchang temple was built in 1923 and was dedicated to a Taoist deity named the Zhenwu Supreme Emperor (玄天上帝), but it is not the temple that lies in ruins today. The ruins of the temple that you see today (which has been designated as a 921 Memorial site) is relatively new. In 1990, a wealthy local person donated a 471 square meter (471坪) plot of land to the temple and a year later a newer version of the temple started construction. From the information I've seen, 70 million NT dollars (2 million US) were allocated for its construction and it took eight years to complete. If you do the math, that means that the completed temple was only about a year old before it was destroyed by the earthquake.

Some of the destruction

Completely warped metal bars

Normally in Taiwan, this kind of thing would be considered a really bad omen, and they probably wouldn't have built another version of the temple, but when rescue teams were sent into the ruins of the temple, they found that the statues inside the temple survived the ordeal unscathed and for some reason the beards on the statues grew. 

The story of the statues reverberated around the country and donations started to pile in to make a new Wuchang temple, and a new home for these statues which were considered blessed by the gods. The statues were thus placed in protective cases and preserved for years until a new temple could be built to house them. 

Stone carving on the of the side pillars of the temple.

The old temple was left in its original state, and has become somewhat of a tourist spot for people visiting the town of Jiji, which itself has seen somewhat of a renaissance in the amount of tourism that it attracts each year. The ruins of Wuchang temple thus sit there as a stark reminder of the destructive nature of mother nature and of course to the religious that nothing is permanent and that nothing lasts forever, which are important tenets of Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.

I won't bother going into very much detail about that kind of tourism however because my friend Alexander also blogged about the temple sharing some excellent photos and also going into excellent detail about how all of this has become a sort of “disaster tourism.” I think he did such a good job describing the current situation at the temple so I won't regurgitate his points here!

Shiny and New

They say the third time is a charm, so in April 2007, eight years after the earthquake and destruction of the second Wuchang temple, construction began on the third temple. This time they were serious and had a construction budget of one hundred million New Taiwan Dollars ($3 million US) commissioning well-known wood-work, stone-carving and painting artisans from around the country to assist in the completion of the new temple. 

Construction of the new temple lasted six years and was finally opened to the public on October 12th, 2013 with three days of celebrations and traditional rituals. The new Wuchang temple is much bigger than the original with two additional buildings off to the side of the main temple with shrines and offices.

The newly completed temple sits directly in front of the ruins of the former temple and is now a memorial museum. Since the temple has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, there is an option for guided tours (Mandarin only) that will explain the destruction of the former temple and the significance of the newer one. 

The main shrine room

The main shrine room.

What strikes me most about the new temple is the craftsmanship that went into its construction. Taiwanese temples, especially Taoist temples are usually quite extravagant, but this one goes out of its way, and that is probably due to the large budget that was used to construct the temple.

The wood-work inside the main shrine room is beautiful and highly detailed. I could have just grabbed a chair and sat there looking at it for hours. The stone work on the outside of the temple and on the pillars is also highly detailed and I think the artists who contributed to the construction of the temple deserve a hand for not only their work, but their dedication to the preservation of traditional Taiwanese temple art. 

If you are in the Jiji area, make sure you check out both the old temple and spend some time taking in the atmosphere and artistry of the new version and of course take some time to learn about the terrible 921 earthquake that forever changed this country. 

Hopefully the third time is a charm and this time Wuchang Temple has better luck. The amount of craftsmanship and work that went into constructing this one is quite considerable! 

Stay safe Wuchang Temple! 


Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)

For most North Americans who come to Taiwan it can be a bit of a strange feeling seeing how excited Taiwanese people get when they talk about how large and beautiful their 7.93 km² Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is even when the smallest of our Great Lakes, Lake Ontario is 18,960 km² in comparison. 

That being said, everything is relative. The Great Lakes are polluted and are frozen nine months of the year, and as all arguments like this go: Size isn't Everything

Sun Moon Lake is majestic and even though its not actually that big, its easy to see why it is the pride of Taiwanese people from every part of the country.

Oddly enough, Sun Moon Lake is so popular that it also appears on one of the pages of the most recent version of the passport of the People's Republic of China (not to be confused with the Republic of China) despite it not even being within the territory that it actually governs.

That is almost tantamount to Canada having Mount Rushmore in our passport. Nevertheless, that whole predicament is an argument for another day. 

The lake is situated in Taiwan's Nantou County (南投縣) and is surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Nantou happens to be one of my favourite places in Taiwan as its one of the most scenic areas for hiking with the Alishan scenic area (阿里山國家風景區) and the Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園.)

The county is directly in the middle of the country and gives easy access to some of the highest points of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range (中央山脈) with 41 of Taiwan's 100 mountains which have peaks over 3000 meters high.   

The lake is considered holy land and the area surrounding it is home to the “Thao” (邵族), one of Taiwan's Indigenous tribes which has unfortunately become one of Taiwan's smallest remaining (recognized) indigenous groups. 

Like many other indigenous groups in Taiwan who are still unrecognized by the central government, it took far too long for the Thao people to actually get the recognition they deserved when it came to their home and their claim that Sun Moon Lake is part of their holy land. 

Over the past century, they have had to endure the Japanese occupation which considered all indigenous groups “savages” and then the latter half of the century with the Chinese Nationalists who did their best to “sinicize” all of Taiwan’s indigenous people by forcing them to learn Mandarin and changing their way of life. 

They fortunately received recognition in 2001 as one of Taiwan’s ten different ethnic indigenous groups and the population has slowly started to rise due to efforts to preserve the culture.  

Lalu island (拉魯島), a small island in the middle of the lake is especially important to the Thao people, but has been used in the past as a popular place for weddings by other ethnic groups who came to the island.

Even more unfortunate is that the island has suffered over the past century due to the construction of a dam that raised the water levels in the lake and the effects of the devastating earthquake on September 21st 1999 (九二一大地震) which rocked central Taiwan and wreaked massive destruction. 

Since the cooling of hostilities between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (China) tourism has become a major source of income for the area and what was once a very relaxing and peaceful area to visit has now become laden with development and littered with tourists who take boat rides across the lake ultimately causing a lot of pollution. 

When I first visited the lake years ago I thought it was a perfect escape from the bustling cities in the north. You could sit on the board walk and watch the sun rise or the sun set in perfect quiet.

When I visited this time however every five meters that I walked I was asked by somebody if I wanted a boat ride, which made me feel like I was touring somewhere in South East Asia.

The lake itself, despite all of this however is still beautiful. I visited on Christmas, and while most Canadians oddly wish for a white Christmas, I was perfectly happy with my colourful Christmas with the emerald green waters of the lake, the blue sky and the green mountains that surround it. It was also a nice escape from the weather in the north of Taiwan which at the time was pretty dreary. 

I didn’t have much time during this visit to Sun Moon Lake as I was just stopping by for a few hours before making my way up into to the mountains. I did have a nice walk around half of the lake and had an excellent view of the lake from the Starbucks by the boardwalk. 

I sincerely hope that the Taiwanese central government and the Nantou county government has the foresight to curb some of the development around the lake and do more to preserve the pristine beauty of the area so that future generations can enjoy it as much as we do now. 

If you have a chance to visit Taiwan, make sure Sun Moon Lake and Nantou is on your list of places to visit. 

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)