The Eastern Tourism of Taiwan — Hualien County – ខេមរបក្សីសាស្ត្រិន

Hualien is the biggest county of Taiwan in the eastern part with a population ca. 230,000 and many tourist attractions by nature and human creatives.

Thanks to Victor Yu, the President of Ecotourism Taiwan and Madam Belle for all the arrangement and facilitation.

Thanks to Hualien Leisure Travel Association for all arrangements and thanks to Taroko National Park for the arrangement at Swallow Grotto, Tunnel of 9 Turns, and Changchun Shrine, Bolouwan Resort, Li Chuan Aquafarm, Danongdafu Forest Park, Princess Coffee which is the best place for Tea and Coffee in Hualien I’ve experienced, Silence Manor with the Hot spring, Shin Liu Farm at Fata’an Wetland Ecological Park, Wild Monkey Exploring Forest, Month of the House Restaurant, Castle Villa 19, Liyu Lake, and Indigenous Flavour of Chinan Village.

Arriving on 25th afternoon by train, we were welcomed by the Director of Hualien Leisure Travel Association to the pacific ocean cliff with cycling trails followed by seaside lunch and goat milk latté at Qixintan Restaurant. The Bay is called 48 Highland or Qinxi Tan (clear water) and it’s artificially made of small stones to prevent the cliff corrosion. There are many people both local and international visiting the cliff before going up to the Gorge. The peak tourism is from June to August. Visitor can travel by train from Taipei or Domestic Flight operated by UniAir and with three shuttle flights from Busan every week and one from Incheon.

The Gorge in Taiwan is one of the famous tourist attractions in Hualien with at least 2,000 visitors a day. The government makes this attraction free admission for all visitors and the construction is really secured and well constructed. I found that most visitors are from South Korea and Japan mixed with local ones. We ended our day at Bulouwan Resort.

Bolouwan Resort is a government owned property and granted the management right to private sector with employment of local indigenous villagers. The manager of the resort is very friendly and helpful to visitors and work together with his staffs from lower to the top. The performance of local dance and music is great, the menu is fantastic especially the local rice wine in the little cutie piggy cup 🙂 which I kept drinking again and again. This resort is also a good birding location which you may see White-eyes, Taiwan Barbet and many other birds very easily in the morning which is fun for me. Other visitors leave early to go for their Yoga or meditation course up in the mountain.

Li Chuan Aquafarm is another great spot people should experience and understand the process of raising the clams and enjoy many creative and unforgettable cuisines from fish, clams etc. that we experienced while we were at the farm, especially the tablets made out of clams to help your internal organs which said one tablet required 70 clams.

The Silence Manor is one of the high class accommodation with private hot spring for each room. This place offer you variety of food for dinner and selective breakfast — Chinese Style or Western Style breakfast. Staffs are friendly and helpful which will make your stay here comfortable. I woke up early and walked around the property for birding with Victor and we found many good birds includes 6 Bamboo Partridge feeding nearby the building itself.

Danongdafu Forest Park is a great place to bring young kids to learn and explore the nature and it’s also a great place for cycling in the forest path with fresh air and seeing some birds — Taiwan Pheasants that were run after by Victor and myself after a ride.

Princess Coffee, the best coffee and tea farm I’ve experienced ever! The setup is great, the owner is friendly, informative and kind! We were greeted with 3 types of tea by the owner along with explanation on how to make and drink tea. The quality and taste of coffee and tea here is amazing which I haven’t experienced before (but that’s for me 🙂 ) She took us around and explained the process of growing tea and coffee with details before we continued our journey to Castlle Villa 19 — a nice and calm place for those who prefer the peaceful vicinity.