To the Alishan Forest Railway

I am now on my sixth day going around Taiwan using only public transportation. Today I leave from Tainan Railway station and travel to Chiayi City where I will spend the night and then in the morning take the Alishan Forest Railway to Fenchihu (Fenqihu) Station. 

Map of the Alishan Forest Railway

The Alishan Forest Railway does not continue past the Fenchihu station to Alishan. Apparently, typhoons and earthquakes have taken their toll on that part of the railway. You can continue to Alishan from Fenchihu station by the Taiwan Tourist shuttle bus that meets the train. My schedule did not allow an overnight on Alishan and I did not want to make a rush up and rush down trip, so I only went as far as Fenchihu, which surprisingly has a lot of things to do (most involve eating and hiking).

What is amazing to me is that the Railway and Taiwan government has kept this railway going. It is constantly needing repairs from washouts and earthquake damage.

Leaving Tainan Station for Chiayi Station

The day began leaving the excellent breakfast at the Shangri-la Far Eastern Plaza hotel in Tainan and walking across the street to the train station.  Actually, you go into a tunnel that goes under the tracks so you can get to the front of the station. I had purchased my train ticket the day before when I arrived in Tainan. I did not want to buy a ticket at the last minute and risk not having a seat. It was a nice train ride up to Chiayi City passing many scenic farms.

 I saw this man playing a Guzheng in the tunnel under the tracks in Tainan station

Just as exited the train station at Chiayi City, I turned left and saw the ticket window for the Alishan Forest Railway. I then purchased my ticket for the next morning.  I understand tickets sell-out so it is best to get them in advance.

At the Chiayi Station, you can catch the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle to the
 Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum

There is good signage at the Chiayi Station, just look up!

The Alishan Forest Railway ticket booth in front
of the Chiayi Train Station

I then went to find my hotel, Maison de Chine. I walked to it from the train station, but later I found out they have a free shuttle pickup from the train station which I probably should have done because it was so hot!

King room in Maison de Chine, Chiayi City

I checked into my very adequate room. Time for lunch! The specialty in the area is the turkey rice bowls. Apparently, turkey was introduced to the area by early Americans stationed here. However, the good restaurant was too far to walk, so I settled for some Japanese curry about a block from the hotel.

A small Japanese curry restaurant near the hotel

Price not too bad

After lunch, I headed to the Alishan Forest Railway Garage Park which was an outdoor museum of old railway cars and engines and also part arboretum. Some of the rail cars and engines had been restored and it looks like some of the old engines are still runnable. To preserve this history, I would like to have seen the items protected from the elements.

Next stop was the Hinoki Village. It was a cultural village with many shops. While the old building architecture was very cool, inside of the shops looked very touristy.

The next morning I got the FREE hotel shuttle to the train station. Since I checked out of the hotel and didn’t want to carry my bag on the train, I put it in the storage locker at the train station. To lock the locker, you only need to insert the minimum amount for that size locker. When you come back it will tell you what additional money you owe. SAVE YOUR RECEIPT and have the exact change ready.

There are different size storage lockers at the Chiayi Train Station

The Alishan Forest Railway train is Platform 1
all the way down to the right

The train car that will take me up the mountain, at least part-way

Inside is pretty nice, even a bathroom!

Alishan Forest Railway train schedule

You see a lot of trees, drop-offs and sometimes a glimpse of the farms and ocean in the distant. The train makes a few stops where you can get off, depending on your ticket. Since I had a one-way to Fenchihu, that is where I will get off.

Arrived at Fenchihu Station

Visiting the Fenchihu station was like going back in time, I was picturing the railroad as it was intended back during the Japanese colonial period as a way to bring logging harvests back down the mountain. Directly in front of the train is the old workshop now turned into a small railroad museum.

This is the workshop museum. Go through it and turn left on the road to catch the
 Taiwan Tourist shuttle bus to Alishan

Old steam engine in the workshop museum

If you are going on to Alishan, walk through the workshop and turn left, you will see the bus stop up the hill a little ways. Take the Taiwan Tourist shuttle bus to Alishan. Since I didn’t have time to go to Alishan on this trip, I went into the train station and bought a ticket for a return to Chiayi City.

You have about 10 minutes to catch the bus after the train arrives

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus to Alishan

Alishan Tourist Shuttle bus schedule

Finchihu Station ticket office to get a return ticket

It was time for lunch so I went down Fenchihu Old Street and saw many people eating at this traditional food eatery. The proprietor was very busy and shouting out orders. It was obvious he didn’t speak English, but with help of some other tourists, I got a plate ordered. When a plate is good and cheap you get this very satisfied feeling. That is what I had.

Popular lunch place!

Railway luchbox type of lunch

There are many hiking trails around the village, but most are them are uphill. I did find one that was an easy hike with a great lookout over the station and Fenchihu Village. I couldn’t understand why more tourists were not here. They continued to stay around the train taking selfies while I got a great view and some peace and quiet in the forest.

Good hiking around Fenchihu

Overview of the Fenchihu station

It was time to head back on the train. Going down the mountain on the train was faster than going up. The greater speed exaggerated the swaying of the car back and forth.  Pretty thrilling.  It was only later that I learned that there have been derailments with tourists killed. Yikes!

My train to Taichung!

I made it safely back to Chiayi City and got my bag from the luggage locker. My next stop will be to Taichung by train so I timed everything just right so I only had a short wait at the Chiayi Station before my train to Taichung came. 

All Aboard Taiwan!

If you only go to Shifen for lanterns, you are missing a lot

I was intrigued by the Pingxi Rail Line during my research of day trips from Taipei. It has a historical aspect and it travels through many picturesque towns. The Pingxi Rail Line was a railway built mainly to haul coal from the area of Jingtong down to the coast by Keelung. Instead of abandoning the line when the coal mines closed, the Taiwan government keep it going and now it has turned into a fun tourist experience.

Pingxi Line map

Most tourists start at the Ruifang train station and take the Pingxi Rail Line west toward Pingxi or only to Shifen and do the lantern thing. The Pingxi Line ends at the town of Jingtong.  I took the Taiwan Tourism Bureau suggestion and started in Taipei on the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus to catch the train at Jingtong. From my Taipei hotel, I hopped on the brown MRT going to the Taipei zoo and got off at the Muzha Station.  The  Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus stops near the Muzha MRT station.

Muzha MRT station is the next to the last stop

Follow the arrow to the bus stop from Muzha MRT station

Go under this bridge and cross the road at the stoplight

  

How to find the bus: As you come down the escalator at the station exit, turn left. You will see a diagonal street that goes under a bridge.  Take it to the stoplight.  CROSS THE STREET and turn right a little to get to the stop for bus 795 going to Pengxi. For the bus fare, use your Easy Card.

Bus #795 

Bus stop

If you see this temple from your bus stop, you are at the correct stop

For some reason the scheduled times the bus leaves from the station are not at constant intervals. I missed the 7:15 am bus and had to wait an hour for the 8:20 bus and since this was rush hour of people going to work plus tourists it was standing room only for about an hour on the bus until Jingtong. My suggestion is if you want to leave in the morning, get one of the earlier buses, e.g. 6:20, 6:50, or 7:15.

I choose to get off at Jingtong to see this former coal-mining town and catch the Pingxi Rail Line train here. Jingtong is the terminus stop of the Pingxi Line. There are at least three ways to purchase tickets for the train once you arrive at Jingtong. You can use the Easy Card as you enter and exit at each stop, buy a single-use ticket to the station you wish to go to, or buy an all-day hop-on-hop-off pass for NT$80. Which is what I did. The all-day pass will give you the flexibility to stop and get off at the other interesting towns on the line.

Scanner for Easy Card. Make sure you scan again when you exit!

Jingtong has a small and quaint old street and when I was there in the early morning there were only a few tourists. Up the hill behind the station is the Coal Mining Memorial Park with an old sealed off mine entrance. There are many cool derelict buildings that were used during the coal mining days that make for good selfie backgrounds.

Jingtong Old Street. No tourists!

The next stop on the line is the town of Pingxi. Pingxi also has an old street downhill from the train station. There are your usual snack food and tourist souvenirs. Walk up to the Guanyin Rock Temple and see the bomb shelter and Eight Spirits cave. Pretty thrilling to have bats flying around you in the cave!

Bomb shelter caves

Bomb shelter

Entrance to 'Eight Spirits Cave'

What is flying around me? Bats!

You can loft a lantern at Pingxi or Shifen

The next two stations Linjiao and Wangu people tend to bypass because they want to get off at Shifen. There is, however, a newer bike/walking path along the Keelung River between Pingxi and Linjiao.

Shifen is the tourist mecca because everyone wants to send up good luck sky lanterns. So after the train leaves, people purchase the lanterns, write messages on them, have their picture taken, let the lantern go, and then get back on the next train. 

Where the action is

What is your wish?

Different colors for different wishes

There are many snacks that can be had along the tracks. If you walk up the Shifen Old Street as it curves to the right you will come to a local minced pork lunch place. Cheap, good and a great local experience.

Keep walking up Shifen Old Street and you come to a local eatery

Local minced pork dish

Another stop on the Pingxi Line is the Houtong Cat Village. Probably one of the cleverest marketing gimmicks in Taiwan.  Who doesn’t wasn’t to see a cute cat? The town is also home to the Coal Mine Ecological Park where you can learn about this former Taiwan industry.

There are also many hikes from these towns (most vertical), but some to waterfalls.  Pickup Richard Saunders’ book Taiwan 101 when you are in Taipei to learn more about the trails. I know Eslite in Taipei carries it.

 

If you came by train from Taipei, you transfer to Pingxi Line here

  

According to the schedule, trains leave about every hour

When my Pengxi line train stopped at the Ruifang station, I transferred to a train back to the Songshan station in Taipei. This was an easy day trip from Taipei. Go early if you want to avoid the large crowds. All Aboard Taiwan!

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