CINGJING / SUN MOON LAKE

In one of our boring days we surf the net searching on our next destination. After our Hualien trip , we are sure that we are infected with the travel bug!!!!

We opted to visit the Cingjing and Sun Moon Lake area, we want to see the “Switzerland of Taiwan”. Located in Nantou County…it is a scenic forested mountainous area drawing tourists for its famous Green Green Grassland and Small Swiss Garden.

GETTING THERE

As there is no High Speed Railway service to Nantou, so most tourist took train going to Taichung and then transfer to a bus to get to Cingjing. Nantou Bus Co. seems to be the most cost efficient bus service provider from Taichung City to Cingjing farm.

Where to Board the Bus in Taichung:

If you are staying near the Taichung Railway Station(TRA)臺中火車站 or Taichung Park, you should proceed to Taichung Gancheng Bus Station臺中干城站. It is about 10 minute walk from the railway station(see map above) if you are staying within or nearer to Taichung Wuri district, you should board the bus at Taichung High Speed Rail Station (HSR)臺中高鐵站 . Do note that unlike in Taipei where the HSR and TRA stations are located next to one another, Taichung HSR station is not anywhere near to Taichung Railway Station. Instead it is located closer to Xinwuri and Wuri Railway stations.

We made a decision to take a shared taxi with some other tourist since the fare is somewhat the same with the buses and the comfort of being drop directly at our hotel’s doorstep is very hard to resist. But please don’t judge us we just got out from work and went directly to the train station… so we are really very tired and sleepy.

WHERE TO STAY

After some intensive research we stayed at Julie’s Garden(www.taomt.com.tw) , it was situated near the Old England Manor Hotel. We decided on this hotel because of the good review and also we’ve read that it has a free shuttle service to Cingjing and back which is a big thing to us.

Shuttle Schedule: Depart-8:30;9:30;12:30;14:00/Return-17:30; 18:30; 19:30

After we dropped our luggage on our room we roamed around the place and it was very BEAUTIFUL!!!. It is very serene and peaceful… I really love it. It was so quite that the only thing you can hear are the chirpings of the birds… I would really advice this place to people that like to have some time alone. After some rest we took the free shuttle to explore the area around Nantou.

I could stay here forever!!!!

DAY 1

CINGJING FARM

Cingjing Farm is a group of farms located at Ren’ai Town in Nantou County between Hohuanshan and Wushih. It rises to a height of 1,748 meters covering an expanse of around 760 hectares. The average temperature is around 16 degree Celsius. Daily temperature difference is around 2 to 5 degrees. The high altitude occasionally forms humid fogs. Thus it was nicknamed “paradise in the fog”.

Map to the farm

It was so unfortunate that during our visit it was raining so hard but we still enjoyed it. I heard that they have a sheep shearing show and you could also ride horses, but due to the weather it was cancelled.

Since it was raining, we opted to watch a horse exhibition show and from what we learned their riders are from Mongolia. It was an entertaining show and we get to pet the horses after the show.

We took a path down to explore some part of the Cingjing Farm. There’s a lot of walking so be sure to wear comfortable shoes.

SWISS GARDEN

The beautiful Northern European atmosphere at the Small Swiss Garden has given it the name of “Taiwan’s Little Switzerland” and “Paradise in the Mist”. Surrounded by such conveniences such as Carton King, 7-11, Mos Burger and Starbucks, many traveler like to stop here to spend some time in the area before they continue on their destination. But for us we really are just very hungry.

Dining at the Cartoon King Restaurant is an experience on its own, almost everything is made out of cartons from chairs to tables and even its plates!!!. The food there was good but I don’t know if it was because we were really hungry but overall it is a unique experience.

After dinner we explore the Small Swiss Garden since it came as free with our dinner, we didn’t stay for very long since it was already very late.

DAY 2

OLD ENGLAND MANOR

It is not possible to miss Old England (老英格蘭) on your way up to Cingjing unless your eyes are really not on the road. Standing tall on the highlands of Nantou, this traditional English Mansion with its white marble facade, gigantic clockk on the main tower coupled with detailed wall sculptures is a majestic sight to behold. It was a good thing that Julie’s Garden minsu was just across the old manor.

We spent a very limited time on checking the outside place since we are not allowed to see the inside of the hotel. After our exploration we packed our bags and got ready to check out, we asked our hotel to book us a ride going to Sun Moon Lake. Upon arriving in the Ita Thao Village we looked for a hotel to stay and it isn’t that hard to find since there are a lot around the village.

ITA THAO VILLAGE

Sun Moon Lake is also known as “Honeymoon Lake, “Lover’s Lake” or “Heart of Taiwan”. Taiwanese always say “one has not been to Taiwan, if one has not been to Sun Moon Lake”. This lake got its name from the unique terrains that look like a sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other. Crowned as one of the Eight Wonders of Taiwan, Sun Moon Lake is also the most famous source of hydroelectric power; offering key tourist themes- “high mountain and lake”, “indigenous culture”, and “nature ecology”. The Sun Moon Lake Scenic Area attracts more than six million visits each year –www.sunmoonlake.com.

We stayed at the Ita Thao Villae, “Ita Thao” is called Barawbaw in thao language. The Han people call it North Cave. It was named Te Hua village after the restoration of Taiwan, and is under the administration of Yuchi. Ita Thao becomes most populous area around the Sun Moon Lake. There are stores, restaurants, and hotels in the village. There are several ways to tour around Sun Moon Lake (bus tour, cable cars, bicycling, taxi, and boat). We decided to take the cable car and boat tour. If you take the boat tour, there are 3 piers where you cann take the boat ride from (Shueishe Wharf, Itashao Wharf, and Xuanguang Wharf).

We went to Xuanguang Wharf (玄光碼頭)while exploring the place we bought some tea leaf egg from a very popular store in Xuanguang Temple known as Ah Ma Tea Leaf Egg. It is very popular, so don’t be surprised if there is a long line.

the famous tea leaf egg…..

We explore the surrounding I was not that impressed with the temple… it is very crowded and sooo hot!!!. After spending half of the day walking around we decided to go back to the hotel and take some needed nap. We woke up around dinner and went out looking for food but it seems that we can’t find any restaurant that isn’t pack with people.

the only place that isn’t pack….not exactly a healthy dinner.

DAY 3

On the last day of our trip we decided to ride the cable car ‘coz you can’t say that you ‘ve been to Sun Moon Lake without seeing it from above. The cable car connects the Ita Thao Village and Formosan Aboriginal Theme Park. It is a different way of seeing Sun Moon Lake and it is a very enjoyable ride.