Chihpen (Zhiben)

Introducing Chihpen (Zhiben)

The town of Chihpen is famous for the Chihpen Hot Springs (Zhīběn Wēnquán), one of Taiwan’s oldest hot spring resorts. The sodium bicarbonate water is colourless and tasteless and has a temperature of 32°C.

As with Wulai in the north, today’s Chihpen is an overcrowded weekend playground with far too many hotels of all shapes, sizes and prices. There’s no doubting the beauty of the natural surroundings, set in a canyon at the foot of a mountain range, but it’s a tourist town and an unpleasantly aggressive one at that. Touts wait at every corner to rush out and stuff brochures in your face when you stop at red lights. Some will even drive beside you on a scooter waving their hotel’s business card!

With so many hotels, we (and many knowledgeable locals) question the purity of the hot spring water and so would never pay top dollar to stay here, though we know many who have, and gladly, because of the beautiful surroundings at some of the better hotels. We’ve used the public facilities at a few places and enjoyed the experience though, especially after exploring the beautiful forest recreation area at the end of the road.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009