TAIWAN HUALIEN(花莲)

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Hualien and alisan offer 2 of the most scenic views available in Taiwan. In this post today, I will be covering all about Hualien in some words but mainly pictures. It is simply a true beauty in terms of mountainous view and panoramic outskirts sceneries.


Before I begin, I would really like to thank this person who has made our(my friend and I) time in Hualien a complete success. It might sound odd, but I would like to thank cab driver uncle Li fu lai for bringing us to places and charging us an extremely affordable price for such a service. In Hualien, it is impossible to go to places without a cab/hiring a cab for the entire day. Even if we were to do that, our pockets would be burnt huge holes by drivers who are distinctly out there to make full use of tourists' money. And chances are, even if reasonable amounts are paid the amount of sightseeing places the cab drivers would probably bring people to are limited and not substantial. That is why I would like to recommend this cab driver here who has just made a whatsapp account for easy business liaison. 

 This cab driver alone brought us to more than 10 sightseeing places throughout 2 days, excluding the 2 night markets we spent on our 2 nights there. Although some of the food places he brought us to might be debatable(not up to standard) he still has done a decent job in being a tour guide-cum-chauffeur during our time there. We were charged a total of NT4500 which is approximately around sgd$200 for 2 nights which was entirely worth it - a rate cheaper as compared to the normal rates one can find for such a service in Hualien. The places he brought us to are decent and I will come to them in a second. 

 So for anyone who would want a good worthwhile, full value for money time in Hualien, do contact this super chatty uncle! I am extremely sure you would not be disappointed. Just a point that he serves mainly people coming from China and Singapore so for those less well versed in Chinese, you might not have as pleasant a time being brought around by him due to language barrier.

So with all the thank you messages being conveyed, let me begin on my time in Hualien.



 Taroko National Park:

Taroko national park is one of the most iconic places to pay a visit to in Hualien. The area of the national park is gargantuan and it contains many trails and landmarks of the natural and man made environment. Most of the man made environments have a link to the time when Taiwan was under the rule of Japan in the early 1900s. 

There are even walking trails like the Lushui trail where you would have to enter an extremely dark cave which requires a torchlight to be utilized. My friend and I were stunned when the cab driver left us alone and passed us a torchlight when he told us to walk the trail. 

 He even passed us helmets when we walked through a tunnel along a cliff for safety reasons so that we can take a look at the rivers and majestic cliffs in the area. Such experiences made our time in Hualien interesting and it made our money spent truly worthwhile.  

 So without further ado, I shall let the pictures do the talking for most of this post!

Suao-Hualien Highway:
  
The old highway that was used in this place during the early 1900s. Look how close the road is to the edge of the cliff
 


 Breathtaking view of the cliffs and coastline waters
Lushui trail:


The short tunnel that required us to use torchlights 




Scenic view from the top of the pathway   




Stone structures found towards the end of the trail 


Qingshui Cliff, Tunnel of Nine Turns and Bridge:

Minute fragments of gold that can be seen on the rock 

Bridge that is connecting to the hiking trail up the mountain  

   



   









How it looks like right before the hiking trail up the mountain

Flower fields:



Besides the national park, Hualien has got flower fields and the driver brought us to 2 of those fields. It's hard to believe that beautiful flower fields can be found in this area and I was definitely awestruck by the view here. The driver told us that the flower fields would be prettier a few months later due to a more suitable season and I simply can't imagine how beautiful it could be if the flowers were in full bloom. This was truly a touch of Netherlands within Taiwan.






Outskirts and miscellaneous scenery:
  

Hualien is on the eastern side of taiwan. It is also famous for its scenic outskirts and those winding roads. The most renowned of those is probably called qixingtan which we simply stopped by to take a few pictures from the cab before moving off. It was raining and the weather was extremely windy and cold so we preferred to stay inside the cab. We struggled to take pictures at certain landmarks due to the weather but ultimately, we still managed to pull through.

Tropic of Cancer

Landmark structure signifying that it lies on Earth's Latitude 23.5 Degrees North



Hualien Sugar Factory
Hualien Sugar Factory that was part destroyed during the Japanese Occupation

Machine used to alert locals that the Japanese were coming. I even got a hand at trying it out!



Decent Red bean paste with Taro Ice Cream sold at this Museum

Xueshanshui minsu(雪山水民俗)



Winding Roads in the area





Tree Museum in Hualien

Night markets:

There are only 2 night markets within Hualien - Rainbow and Zhiguang. I have done up a post on Zhiguang night market and very soon, the one on rainbow night market will be up too. So do stay tuned to my post for more on that!

So with that, Peanut has left a marker on a travel destination.

 Stay tuned for more adventures!

 Signing off,
KY

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About the Author

A casual Singaporean blogger who whims about food, travel and perspectives and dreams of travelling the World. As I travel around in Europe for the next 6 months, I would try to cover interesting aspects of my trip

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