My sister, a fellow OFW, flew home for her annual vacation and we decided she would come to Taiwan for the nth time. I decided to bring her to Xitou and Shanlinxi (or Sun Link Sea) since I haven’t been back there for many years now. I’m also hoping to see some foliage since it’s autumn season.
In this post
- Planning the Trip
- Day 1: Late lunch at Monster Village 妖怪創界(糖狗村) and check-in!
- Day 2: Shanlinxi 杉林溪森林生態渡假園區 Forest Walk
- Day 3: Xitou Nature Education Area 溪頭自然教育園區 Forest Walk
Planning the Trip
What I liked about these spots is that they’re easily accessible as long as you don’t miss the train or bus schedule.
To get there
- Take the HSR from Taipei to Taichung. Now don’t make the same mistake I made, I forgot to book HSR tickets earlier and was only able to book an 11 AM train.
- From Taichung HSR station, go to Exit 5, take the escalator down, and the bus information counter is right at the bottom waiting for passengers. Take the bus 6883.
I was hoping to eat lunch first but there was a bus leaving in a minute, so we were told to get on! We used EasyCard to board the bus. It’s about an hour from Taichung to Xitou and a few hundred steps to the entrance of Xitou Nature Education Area.
Where to stay
We booked a room at Xitou Youth Activity Center 溪頭森林行旅(溪頭青年活動中心) via Agoda. It has a buffet breakfast and offers lunch and dinner as well, but since we were going out, we didn’t eat lunch and dinner at their restaurant.
There is a hot and cold water dispenser in the cabin, water heater in the shower, fridge, dehumidifier, generous charging ports, and a TV. The room is huge and clean—not spotless, but it’s in the woods so what are we expecting? The bed is comfortable!
What we packed
- Backpacks: Dueter Aircontact 55 + 10 and Northface Basecamp Fuse Box
- Stargazing equipments
- Layered clothes for temperature of 12C and personal toiletries
- A brand new Kinyo Plus Electric Cooker
- Noodles, coffee, chips and chocolates
Day 1: Late lunch at Monster Village 妖怪創界(糖狗村) and check-in!
We had wonton noodle soup and a plate of spicy wontons. I’m glad I decided to buy my favorite winter melon drinks at FamilyMart and 1L of cold water before starting our forest walk to our accommodation.
After eating, we headed to the entrance of Xitou Forest Park and paid for our tickets. It cost us 220 NT each, then we took the pond trail to reach our accommodation, about 1.7km away – a 30-min forest walk.
After checking in, we took a walk around the Center, unpacked our stargazing equipments, and found a spot in the parking lot. We had another round of dinner, cooking noodles with the new toy I recently bought then went to bed.
Day 2: Shanlinxi 杉林溪森林生態渡假園區
Forest Walk
We woke up at 6 AM, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant around 7 AM, and headed out by 8 AM to catch the 9:30 AM bus to Shanlinxi.
A few notes about the buses (because this is important):
- The buses to Shanlinxi are limited and come from Taichung, so by the time they reach Xitou, they’re almost full. Make sure you’re at the front of the line. Fair warning: it’s pretty normal for older people to cut the line, so don’t be too surprised.
- Once you’re at Shanlinxi, the line for the resort shuttle is surprisingly long, expect a 30-40 minute wait.
- The return bus to Xitou is also limited, which means another long line. We spent about an hour waiting under direct sun, and even when we were boarding, some people cut in line. Fortunately, we still got seats.
We paid the resort entrance fee directly on the bus, super convenient but causes traffic to incoming cars and buses. Ticket costs 350NT each. Then we took the resort shuttle to the end of the trail.
From there, we walked back via the forest trail. We stopped at the Flower Center for some maple and autumn foliage shots, then continued our way back to the bus stop.
Back in Xitou, we bought rice balls at FamilyMart and a box of tarts from one of the shops, then watched a monster dancing show in Monster Village.
We had to pay the Xitou entrance fee again to get back in, then walked back to our cabin for a very late lunch/early dinner.
We headed out during sunset to catch the Milky Way and squeezed another stargazing! Stay tuned for the November stargazing post!
Day 3: Xitou Nature Education Area 溪頭自然教育園區 Forest Walk
“Forest walk” is what I tell my sister (and friends, actually) when we’re hiking without telling them we’re hiking – and somehow they buy it every time.
We woke up at 5:30 AM to pack our stuff and, as planned, had breakfast at 7 AM before heading out for our forest walk at 8 AM. I booked a 2PM HSR ticket, which meant we had to check out at 11 AM to catch the noon bus back to Taichung.
And we executed the plan perfectly!
We took the quiet trail to the Meadows, then the mountain road to the Sky Walk then to Giant Tree, and finally the tree logging trail back to University Pond. We made it back to our cabin by 10:10 AM, which gave us plenty of time to rest, freshen up, and walk through the trail again to reach the bus stop.
Somehow, when we arrived at the bus stop, we were once again rushed onto a bus leaving in one minute, so we took it. At the HSR station, I asked for an earlier ticket since we’d arrived ahead of schedule. We got home by 3 PM, and I was already taking meetings until 5 PM! By 5:30PM, we were out having our late lunch/early dinner, went to PX Mart/RT Mart to grab some souvenirs.
I took another day off to bring my sister to Wulai, check out my guide for it!
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That’s it for now! Stay tuned for more adventures and tips on balancing work and travel!
🌹
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