Nantou County
This visitor centre offers splendid views of Sun Moon Lake from atop a sleek modern structure that fits neatly in with the surroundings. Wood and concrete come together in a pattern of smooth lines meant to resemble outstretched arms. There's a cafe and a small museum about the surrounding ecology.
Shuttle buses (NT$25) go from Shueishe visitor information centre to Xiangshan about once an hour from 8am to 6.30pm – the journey takes five minutes.
Alishan Forest Recreation Area
28.71 MILES
Visiting Alishan may almost feel like a cliche, but do not lose heart. There may be equally beautiful and less-visited places in Taiwan, but Alishan, with…
National Museum of Natural Science
25.73 MILES
A fantastic place for kids and botany fans, this massive museum has over 50 exhibit areas covering space, the environment, rainforests, gems and minerals,…
11.73 MILES
Dedicated to the Earth God, the carnivalesque Zinan Temple celebrates entrepreneurship and is perpetually busy, as is the marketplace that has grown…
27.23 MILES
In the southern foothills of Baguashan is this bizarre temple and haunted house where parents used to take their children to scare them into obedience. It…
3.02 MILES
An operating tea farm that's also a showcase for the reinstatement of tea shrubs to Sun Moon Lake. The speciality here is Assam black tea, introduced by…
27.45 MILES
Located 2km south of Changhua Train Station, this remarkable temple is one of the stops on the Mazu Pilgrimage. The distinctive character of the complex…
11.52 MILES
Don’t miss this superb museum adjacent to the main Chung Tai Chan Temple; it is a fabulous showcase of Buddhist artefacts dated as early as AD 386.
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
25.08 MILES
Taiwan's top fine-art museum features the works of both established and upcoming Taiwanese artists, as well as famous foreign creators such as Japanese …
0.87 MILES
The area by Shueishe Pier is a great place to kick back or go for a leisurely stroll. Lakeside walking paths extend from Shueishe village (often referred…
0.97 MILES
A former military police station at the entrance of the Hanbi Trail has been turned into an attractive viewing spot after the 921 earthquake. 'Mei' and …
1.01 MILES
Serene and charming, Xuanzang Temple keeps a tiny piece of the skull of Monk Xuanzang or Tripitaka (AD 600–664), who is fictionalised in the novel Journey…
1.4 MILES
The stately Pagoda of Kindness and Grace (1969) was built by Chiang Kai-shek in honour of his mother. The ascent from the parking lot to the tower, 960m…
1.94 MILES
The imposing temple by Sun Moon Lake has superb natural lookouts and faux northern Chinese–style temple architecture. It's extremely popular with tour…
1.94 MILES
The seven-minute, 1.9km ride offers an unparalleled bird's-eye view of the lake as you rise into the nearby hills. The gondola terminates at the Formosan…
2.57 MILES
This reservoir feeds a power station billed as the largest pumped-storage generating plant in Asia. The system uses surplus electricity at night from the…
2.72 MILES
Exhibition boards and retired logging and railway gear inside a wood A-frame illustrate the history of the logging industry here. It's a popular picnic…