28 March 2024
The cherry blossoms at the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area generally bloom from mid March to April. March is also the best time to enjoy wisterias.
The downside is that it also brings in crowds and possibly a strain on the public transport system and hotels within the park. Even when it is not cherry blossom season, Alishan does not have many hotels within the park and they are usually much overpriced.
I had chosen to stay in Shizhuo instead, a picturesque tea village along the highway up to Alishan. There are several tea farms offering excellent homestays in this area. Travelling by public bus from Shizhuo to Alishan would take about 45 minutes.
The weather forecast was clear sky in the morning with rain in the afternoon. Hence, we chose to have an early start for the trip to Alishan.
There is the #7322 bus leaving for Alishan at 8.40 AM from the Shizhuo bus stop. This bus originates from Chiayi, the gateway city to Alishan, and Shizhuo is one of the intermediate stops along the main highway to Alishan.
After a nice morning breakfast with views of the surrounding tea farms and mountains, our host from the Siang Ting B&B offered us a ride to the bus stop. Otherwise, it would be a 20 to 30 minutes walk.
There were a few other folks waiting at the bus stop even though we were like 20 minutes ahead of time. It is prudent to arrive early as the bus arrival timings could be erratic and the next bus is scheduled an hour later.
The bus arrived about 10 minutes before 8.40 AM and it was FULL! Not surprising. I was hoping that some passengers would alight at Shizhuo (since there are a few B&Bs located near the town) but there were none. The driver was kind enough to allow passengers to board the bus but it is standing room only. We decided that to board the bus and stand rather than wait an hour for the next bus (it could be full as well). Payment for the journey (about 82 TWD) is by swiping the IC card or Easycard when boarding and alighting the bus.
It was really a rock and roll journey as the bus went through the many hairpin turns up Highway 18. Hanging onto the straps from the ceiling of the bus was tiring. Along the way, I learnt that the best way was to lead one’s body sideway against something e.g. the side of a seat.
I also decided to face the right side of the bus to get a view of the scenery. It was quite thrilling experience. I wonder how the low metal railings on the narrow mountain road can stop the bus from falling over the edge of the steep cliffs in the event of an accident. Thankfully we survived to tell our tale.
We arrived at the Alishan Transport Station at about 9.30 AM. The bus driver handed out a slip of paper that would give passengers a 150 TWD discount from the usual 300 TWD entrance fee to the park.
At approximately 2000m above sea level, the air at Alishan is at a comfortable16 degrees C. There is a 7-Eleven shop selling the usual stuff, plus souvenirs and bus tickets!
Tip: If you are not staying overnight at the park, it is prudent to buy the tickets for your return trip upon arrival at the 7-11 store located at the Alishan bus station. We tried to book our tickets back to Shizhou but the tickets are only sold to those who are making the full journey from Alishan to Chiayi. For those alighting at the intermediate stops like Shizhuo, Fenqihu or Xiding have to queue and use the Easycard (IC card) on the bus if there seats available.
The Alishan National Forest Recreation Area spans 14 square kilometers. There are four main areas:
- Main tourist hub where most hotels, restaurants and shops are located. This is the area directly after the entrance and near to the Alishan Train Station.
- Chushan (also spelled Zhushan) where visitors go to catch the famous Alishan sunrise. Day trippers like us can ignore this area.
- Chaoping (also spelled Zhaoping), where the Zhaoping Park (Cherry Blossoms trail) and the Sister Ponds are located.
- Sacred Tree (Shenmu) area where the Sacred Tree and other attractions like the Shouzhen Temple, the Shun Bao Fu De Temple, the Three Generations Tree are located.
A key attraction in the park is the Alishan Forest Railway. A relic of the Japanese logging industry in the past, the Alishan Forest Railway has been repurposed for transporting visitors within the park. The red locomotive will either pull or push the narrow gauge train carriages up or down the park, with Alishan Train Station as the central point and connecting to Chusan, Chaoping and Sacred Tree Stations.
Our plan was to ride the train from Alishan Station to Chaoping Station, hike and visit the attractions from Chaoping area to the Sacred Tree area and then take the train from the Sacred Tree Station back to the Alishan Station. Fare to and from Chaoping, Sacred Tree or Alishan Station is NT$ 100. Fare to or from Chushan is NT$ 150. After entering the park, it is a 5 minutes slight uphill walk to the Alishan Forest Railway Station. 
End of March is supposed to the best time for cherry blossoms in Alishan. The weather had been unusually warm this year. This was unfortunate for us since the sakura season came early and the blooms peaked about 2 to 3 weeks earlier.
We queued and bought tickets for the train ride from Alishan to Chaoping Station. Most visitors seem to be heading the same way.
Most people left the Chaoping Station immediately upon arrival. We stayed behind to take some photos of the trains, especially the old logging trains left on the tracks.
Just outside the Chaoping Station is the Chaoping Park with many cherry and plum trees. The cherry blossoms may be past its peak but there are still a few trees with nice blooms.
We waited for the next train to arrive so as to snap photos of the train with the flowers.
Visitors snapping photos of the red Alishan train going past the cherry blossoms.
Hiking on the Sister Pond Trail
One of the main hiking trails in Alishan is the Sister Pond Trail that starts at Chaoping Station. Being a popular trail, it was quite busy.
From the Chaoping Station, we hiked past the Alishan-gou Hotel and then entered a beautiful forest with huge trees.
It was a pleasant walk in cypress forest without breaking up a sweat. On days with clouds rolling in, the forest would be misty (like what we experienced in Fenqihu’s Cedar Boardwalk Trail). However, not on this clear day.
This trail also features several gigantic trees with exposed cavernous roots. These trees are very interesting subjects for photographers.
We came to the Sister Ponds, featuring a small Younger Sister Pond and a larger Elder Sister Pond.
More cherry blossoms to view at the Sister Ponds.
There are a few tall cypress trees and even old tree stumps that had been given very imaginative and creative names.
There are three straight Taiwan red cypress trees growing side by side out from some remaining stumps. Since they looked so identical, this group of trees is named the Three Brothers.
Not to be outdone, another group of trees growing out from an old tree stump is named the Four Sisters Trees.
Nearby, an old tree stump has been named the Pig Shaped Old Stump as one could possibly imagine seeing a pig’s snort and drooping ears on the left side.
Another interesting tree stump.
After passing the two pretty ponds, we arrived at Magnolia Garden (木蘭園), where we saw more flower blossoms. As the name implies, this garden features many trees with different varieties of the colourful magnolia ranging from white to purple.
Continuing on the trail, we hiked to Shouzhen Temple (阿里山受鎮宮). It is quite a large and impressive temple. It is also the highest temple in all of Taiwan!
The temple was undergoing some external renovations but remained open for visitors. We could hear the intermittent sounds of a gong being struck and firecrackers being lit while in the area.
There are stalls selling food (bentos, tea egg, stewed tofu, sausage, drinks etc) near the temple. This is a good place to rest and take our lunch. The stalls sell only takeaway food but there are benches available. 
Taiwanese sausages are a must try. Their signature dish is sausage wrapped in sticky rice. The seller offered to cut the sausages and sticky rice into pieces as she knew we were sharing.
In the middle of food vendors, there is staircase leading to Giant Tree Trail (巨木群棧道) which we took after lunch.
As we were now entering the land of the giants, it was good to learn a bit about how the cypress trees fuse into gigantic forms.
We followed signage on the Giant Tree Trail Boardwalk for the Xianglin Sacred Tree. It led us across a small suspension bridge and then to a small shrine with a tree with hollowed out roots next to it.
We thought that this was the “sacred tree”.
Actually, if we had continued along the trail, we would have reached the area with the 3 Generation Tree, Ciyun Temple, Elephant Trunk Tree and Xianglin Sacred Tree. Instead, we turned back and returned to the Giant Tree Trail Boardwalk.
Note: This was actually a mistake. We missed seeing the 3 Generation Tree, Ciyun Temple, Elephant Trunk Tree and Xianlin Sacred Tree located nearby and had to make another steep climb up the Giant Tree Trail Boardwalk from Sacred Tree Station to see them.
The trail led downhill, through forest with several large trees. One of giants along the Giant Tree Trail is the No. 28 Giant Tree, one of the 8 new wonders of Alishan. This Formosan red cypress is the tallest and oldest of the trees on the Giant Tree Plank Trail. It is estimated to be around 2000 years old. 
The Giant Tree Trail Boardwalk led to the Shenyi Waterfall, another one of the 8 new wonders of Alishan. There is not much of a waterfall in spring. I think the waterfall would be more impressive in summer.
The Shenyi Waterfall is near to the Sacred Tree (Shenmu) Station which was supposed to the end point of our hike.
Checking our map, we realised that we had missed out on seeing quite a few attractions that was located on the high ground near the Shouzhen Temple area.
We took the Giant Tree Trail Boardwalk from across the Shenmu Station and followed signs for Xianglin Sacred Tree again.
The trail led us uphill through the forest.
Giant Tree Trail Boardwalk. It started to rain a little and we were well prepared for bad weather. We had our hiking jackets and also an umbrella.
Back up the hill, we saw several interesting attractions of Alishan, including the Ciyun Temple, Alishan Musuem, the Xianglin Scared Tree and the 3-Generations Tree.
Thousand year old cypress near the Ciyun Temple.
With drizzle coming down, it was a good time to go inside the Alishan Museum. The small museum was built with quality Taiwanese cypress wood, which is abundant in the area. The museum showcased the history of Alishan with themes such as early logging history, forest railways, and forest conservation. We could view models of locomotives, Tsou nationality Aboriginal cultural relics and several old black and white photos which I particularly enjoy.
Close by to the museum is the Ciyun Temple. This Buddhist temple was built in 1919 by the Japanese. It was a small and quiet place.
Ciyun Temple is one of the places where the wisteria flowers in Alishan bloom. There is a side temple with red moon gate, dedicated to the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. The small garden inside featured a small pond with wisteria flowers on the trellis over it.
For those staying overnight within the park, the observation deck at the back of the temple is supposed to be a good place to watch the sunset and the sea of clouds. We could not stay for the sunset since the last bus leaving Alishan is at 5 PM.
After seeing the museum and the temple, we went in search of the elusive Xianglin Sacred Tree. What we saw next was a “pagoda of the tree spirit”.
In 1934, the Japanese Government held a ceremony to comfort the souls of 77 loggers who died on the job, as well as placate the spirits of the 100,000 trees that were felled. This pagoda was erected one year later for the same purpose. We finally found the elusive tree, located next to Xianglin Elementary School. The school is actually quite interesting too. Since we visited on a Saturday, the school was empty. I wonder who come to study in this school. Children of the park’s employees perhaps. The Xiang Lin Sacred Tree is actually the second Sacred Tree (Shenmu) in Alishan. The original one was a 3000-year-old Formosan cypress which stood next to the Alishan Forest Railway line, close to where the Sacred Tree Station is location. This giant tree measured 23 meters at its trunk circumference and required 16 adults to reach around it. Being so huge, it was revered as the sacred tree. In 1956, this Formosan cypress was struck by lightning twice, causing it to burn inside out. Subsequently, on 1st July 1997, it started to tilt forcing the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency to make the difficult decision to fall the sacred tree on June 29, 1998.
The 43.5-meter-high Guangwu cypress (光武檜) was then selected to be the second Sacred Tree of Alishan after the fall of the first one and was later renamed “Xianglin Giant Tree.”
Also, not to miss in the area is a very unique “3G Tree” or 3-Generations Tree. The first generation tree was a victim of the logging industry. The stump became the foundation of 2 new generations of trees, growing atop one another!
Next to the 3-Generations tree is an interesting tree stump.
With a bit of imagination, the stump with the ferns on top does look like an elephant or a woolly mammoth. Having seen all the attractions, we made our way back to the Sacred Tree Station. By now, clouds were rolling in and the Shenyi Waterfall area was now misty and mysterious.
We arrived at the Sacred Tree Station at about 2.15 PM. Overall, our hike from the Chaoping Station to the Sacred Tree Station had taken about 4 hours, including many stops for photos and a stop for lunch.
From the Sacred Tree Station, we took a short train ride back to the Alishan Station.
On our way out of the park, we made a detour to check out the main tourist hub area where most hotels, restaurants and shops are located.
Main tourist hub area with a large car park, restaurants and souvenir shops. The shops were selling almost similar products as those at Fenqihu. Having done most of our shopping at Fenqihu, we did not buy anything.
Back at the Alishan Bus Station, we queued and managed to board the 3.10pm bus down from Alishan to Shizhuo. Those with reserved seats were boarded first, followed by those without reserved seats. The driver did not allow any standing passengers in the bus which is a good safety procedure since an overloaded bus going downhill is a bad idea. We were the last 2 persons allowed up the bus. The guys immediately behind us had to wait for the next bus.
Dinner at Shizhuo
We had our early (4 PM!) dinner at the 達官現炒 restaurant in Shizhuo. This time, we ordered à la carte and finally got to eat the deep fried bitter tea oil chicken.
As expected, the deep fried tea oil chicken with a nice crispy skin was excellent. However, it was a little salty for me. But that is just my personal preference for less salty food.
Don’t just eat the chicken and missed the crispy slices of ginger. We finished every bits of the ginger on the plate!
We also had the wild boar stir fry. The pork was fatty and yet chewy. It was not as nice as the similar dish we had on Day 1 in the neighbouring restaurant.
We also chose to taste a local green produce called the “Dragon Whiskers” vegetable. It is so named because of the curly tendrils of this climbing plant.
Soup with lily flower buds, pork, sprouts and spring onions.
For the soup dish, it is a simple soup made with local produce as well. Overall, the meals at Shizhuo had been delicious and value for money.
Watching sunset at Ding Shizhuo
One of the things to do at Alishan (including Shizhuo) was to watch the sunset over the mountains. There are several sunset viewing spots in the Shizhuo area. The nearest one for us was at the Ding Shizhuo observation deck and it was on the route back to our B&B. Timing for the sunset at this time of year was at 6.10 PM. Since we had an early dinner, we were just in time to go see the sunset.
The weather was sunny as we left the restaurant. Google Map suggested 2 walking routes to the observation deck. We wisely chose the route along Highway 18 which is the Shizhuo Tea Street. Many tea shops and 2 observation decks are located along this route.
Leaving Highway 18, we hiked up a small road and arrived at the Ding Shizhuo Observation Deck at about 5.45 PM. The observation deck is by the road and there are spaces for a few cars. There were already some other groups gathered there, some having travelled by car to this spot.
The Ding Shizhuo Observation Deck faces west. It offers nice views of the tea farms and Shizhuo town in the valley below us and mountain ranges in the distance.
The weather changed so rapidly. Sunny earlier, there were now clouds in the western sky and the sun was shy to show itself. All of us left the place slightly disappointed.
Although the host at our B&B had told us he could pick us from Shizhuo, we decided to walk back to the B&B ourselves since we wanted to experience how it was to walk from Shizhuo to the B&B. It was a steep walk but manageable without luggage.
On the way, we saw some coffee plants with beans on the plants. Besides the high mountain tea, the misty and cool Alishan climate also produces good coffee. 
There was nothing much to do in Shizhuo area once night fall. I was hoping that I could do some stars gazing at night in the high mountains. But not on this night!
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