Alishan is famous for cherry trees and a lot of Taiwanese like to go up there every March to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms. My wife thought it would be a good idea to go there as well and since I've never visited this famously beautiful mountain, I gladly accepted her invitation. After we made it up there with the bus and found our way through the masses of Chinese visitors, it was about time to start exploring the beautiful nature. After I took a short rest in the hotel, I was ready to go on a walk. My wife and I decided to follow a popular trail and visit few beautiful spots along the way.
This is what we saw:
Taiwanese guys shooting girls from above... sometimes.
Beautiful cherry blossoms (photos taken by my wife).
Pink petals in the wind.
Another batch of them.
White petals.
A small lake near the Alishan village.
An old tree trunk, reminding us of times long passed.
Pavilion amid the lake - solitude in harmony.
The Chushan footpath.
The misty Alishan mountain.
The Alishan railway station.
Local visitors strolling to the cherry blossom garden nearby.
The famous Alishan hotel.
Beautiful woman keeping the hotel's front yard clean.
We decided to go down and deeper inside the old forest.
Crossing a suspension bridge.
View from below.
Path leading deeper down.
Wifey slowly walking down, passing by a huge old tree.
Dead-end rail.
A misty stream.
Wifey curiously inspecting the area.
Small temple on the way back impressed us.
The fresh air above 2400m is truly refreshing and something I am not used to breath in Taipei. It was also colder, which was very pleasant, as I generally hate this humidity, that already covers most of Taiwan's north in spring. When I return to Alishan the next time, I will definitely hike longer - there is so much to explore, most trails are very well maintained and nicely laid out. The sunrise on Alishan is breathtaking, but very quickly passed, what remains are these trails, hiking on Alishan is a real pleasure. I hope you enjoyed viewing my photos as much as I have enjoyed taking them.
Alishan Mountain is known for its breathtaking views, clean air and untouched nature. It's one of Taiwan's top travel destinations, attracting masses of local as well as foreign visitors every year. Among those are visitors from People's Republic of China, who have created their own particular tourist landscape in the past 4 years, since they are allowed to visit Taiwan. It was for me interesting to observe, how different the two peoples are exploring and experiencing Alishan and today I would like to share with you some photos, that highlight this phenomenon.
Former Chinese leaders in the form of cute figurines. What might they be thinking?
Although natives of communist China are allowed to travel around Taiwan individually, most prefer group travel, which is organized by various travel agencies back at home and in cooperation with local Taiwanese agents and bus companies. These cross-strait joint ventures most likely get the biggest piece of the pie in this multi-billion business and I'm sure, that they are the harbingers of some kind of unity, even if as fake as the one among the figurines on the picture above.
So what do Chinese brethren do, when they arrive on Alishan village?
They cause a big commotion on 2200m above the sea.
Alishan for them is just a brief stopover - they usually only stay 3 hours here.
Imagine: Taking few hours long bus ride up here for a brief stopover: Is it worth it?
These visitors are mostly seniors.
One of the first things visitors from China do is eating very average yet overpriced food in some of the specific restaurants reserved for them. It looks like it meets their standard.
After the meal it's time for orientation: What to do now?
"Let's gather around the leader with the funny little flag."
Off to a small lake nearby, taking few pictures and then quickly rushing back to the overpriced souvenir shops loaded with Made in China stuff. And then off to the bus.
These dolls are typical for Yunnan province, the clerk admitted, after my wife asked.
And around 5pm most Chinese are gone and Alishan village turns into a ghost town (almost). The ones, who stay are mostly locals, some Chinese and a few Japanese.
I admit, that I was a little shocked to see so many people in this small mountain resort - and it's not about where they come from. The problem lays within the agencies, who push for the mass tourism and the government, that allows it. If Taiwan wants to preserve the beautiful nature up there for the future generations, this is just not the way to do it. Zhongzheng, a.k.a. Alishan Village is a big parking lot next to a bigger parking lot. It's surrounded with a mix of run-down neoclassical Chinese architecture and those tiled generic boxes, seen throughout Taiwan's cities, which are practical, but ugly. Fortunately, you can see some very beautiful buildings as well such as the main railway station, made of wood. But the real reason, why you should visit Alishan, is outside Zhongzheng: It's the beautiful forests, lakes and breathtaking views, that will mystify you. That's what lures most of Taiwanese up there.
A photo shoot duel.
Unlike patriotic Taiwanese visitors, who see Alishan as one of their biggest national gems, most Chinese group travelers just take it as one of the must-see destinations in the "breakaway province": They take few photos, buy a souvenir and leave (that's the impression I got). And I couldn't blame them: After all, they have the Forbidden City, the Yangtze river, the Yellow river, Xian, Guilin, the Great Wall... even Mount Everest is half in China. So how can the relatively small Alishan meet their grand expectations?
A lot of Taiwanese visitors park their cars in the middle of Alishan village.
Taiwan in general is very small for visitors from China, they've seen the most of it in a few days, something which is impossible when traveling around their home country. Those of us, who happen to live here, see things much differently, because it's our home. We are connected to the history, even if it's only a few hundred years old. We appreciate the small things such as an old tree trunk or cherry blossoms. I'm not saying Chinese are not like that back at home or while visiting Taiwan, but when it comes to Alishan, the difference pretty obvious.
So what do Taiwanese do, when they arrive on Alishan village?
They take a walk to the beautiful spots in the area in small groups or in couples.
The cherry blossom season is attracting a lot of Taiwanese to Alishan.
Taiwanese are obsessed with cherry blossoms - taking photos of them is a serious matter.
A young couple taking photos. Did you notice the matching colors of the clothes?
My wife and I went deeper in the forest and crossed this bridge.
A look below exposed thrown trash and corncobs: We all know, who loves to eat corn!
Taiwanese have to see the famous Alishan sunrise. They wake up at 4am for that.
They don't mind waiting for over 1h and get shouted at by some guy with a megaphone.
They feel happiness to see the sun rise above a tall guy's head.
From what it seems to me, Chinese and Taiwanese are still living in parallel worlds and taking the political and historic reality into consideration, this is not surprising. It's also no shocker, that there are two different ways of enjoying holidays and traveling. I hope, that this post won't shy you away from visiting Alishan, it's still worth it, because the area is huge and you don't need to go where the masses go. Avoid weekends or holidays and you should be fine.
▷ Some interesting blog posts from Chinese visitors to Alishan:
Alishan or 阿里山, commonly known as Mount Ali, is not only one of the most beautiful mountains in Taiwan (or in a little wider context - Asia), no, it's probably one of the most beautiful mountains in the world, as ancient Chinese poets would've said it, had they ever had the chance to see it. Peaking at 2663m, it's one of Taiwan's smaller mountains, but definitely one of the most scenic. The Japanese colonialists, the crusaders of the 20th century Formosa, have extracted the area's finest wood in order to build their imperial shrines and to do so easier, they have created a system of railways throughout the area. That's today one of the biggest tourist attractions in Taiwan and one of the reasons, why I wanted to go up there. Another one was the breathtaking nature and the famous sunrise. But there was a challenge to overcome. The question was: How to go up there?
The bus is man's four-wheeled best friend.
To go to Alishan from Taipei, it's best, if you take the comfortable and fast high-speed train ride to Chiayi City, or to be specific, to Taibao, a small town nearby, where the station is located. You will need 1 hour to arrive. From there you can a bus directly to a small settlement atop the Alishan National Scenic Area 阿里山國家風景區 called Zhongzheng, it will take you about 2.5 hours to arrive. Zhongzheng, also known as the "Alishan Village", is commonly the last stop for visitors and offers a plenty of accommodation possibilities (our hotel was located there as well). So if you ever wondered, how long it takes from Taipei City to the top of Alishan: 3.5 to 4 hours would be the answer. The ride is bumpy, because the road is very winding and in a lot of parts particularly dangerous, so if you're easy to puke, you might want to bring a sick sack with you.
Let me show you some photos I took while riding up the Ali Mountain:
A bus ascending.
Look at that canyon!
Another deadly curve.
Getting higher.
Flatlands on highlands.
This part is being fixed after the 2009 typhoon Morakot.
Ta-dah: The Ali Mountain says hi!
A beautiful tea plantation.
Ruili 瑞里, a small village half way up.
We made a 15 min stop here.
Tea plantations are all over the area here.
A Taiwanese traffic officer with a miniature lightsaber.
Moving further: Off to Alishan village!
A bridge is being built for future influx of tourists.
And then we arrived at Alishan village.
Groups of tourists from China were greeting us.
Girls marching to the buses. It's time for them to return.
More tourists from China waiting to flood Chaing Kai-Shek's village.
The highest parking lot in Taiwan amid the oh so typically Taiwanese Zhongzheng.
The ride up to Alishan is almost as exciting as everything else up there, well, if you're going for the first time, of course. The second time might not be so thrilling, but that's something I will be able to tell you next time. Meanwhile, check a map from Taibao to Alishan Village:
