Taipei’s Yangmingshan National Park: A Hiker’s Paradise
Taiwan is a spectacularly beautiful island, with two-thirds of its surface covered with lush, jagged, waterfall-studded mountains. Lovely spots such as the marble canyon of Taroko Gorge and the bucolic Sun Moon Lake are there for the taking on a visit to this hospitable and relatively small island. But one needn't venture far from Taipei's bustling city center for a great outdoor experience.
When it comes to hiking near a major city, few spots on earth can compete with Taipei’s beautiful and well-managed Yangmingshan National Park. A 20-minute bus ride from city center- at a cost of less than one U.S. dollar - will take you to the Visitor’s Center of this large and diverse peri-urban greenbelt which offers something for everyone. Taiwan’s population centers are concentrated in the fairly limited western plains areas. Greater Taipei sprawls across the plain but its outskirts extend into the mountainous area now known as Yangmingshan. The park’s history goes back to the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945) and, as with many of the legacy projects left by the Japanese, it has been beautifully maintained by the Taiwanese. The myriad of black pines, acacias, and maples planted by the Japanese now richly carpet much of the mountainous park. The Japanese also developed the area’s hotsprings, in line with the Japanese love of "onsen". It is a testament to the Japanese obsession with nature that the ruling regime on Formosa (as Taiwan was called during its 50 years of Japanese rule) gave up the gunpowder-yielding sulfur mines of this volcanic region during wartime to develop the area into a haven of natural beauty.
The park encompasses over 100 square miles of pristine woodlands. For comparison purposes, it is 70 times the size of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It contains 10 small mountains, the largest being Mt Chihsing (also spelled Chising or Cising) at 3675 feet. The area has had many names but its most recent name was assigned by Chiang Kai-Shek, who named the park after his favorite philosopher, Wang Yangming. Yangming was a 15th-century neo-Confucian philosopher who emphasized the power of the mind to shape reality and experience. (He was also a highly accomplished general and very strict disciplinarian, which undoubtedly endeared him to the authoritarian leader of the Kuomintang.)
The park offers innumerable hiking options, from quick and easy to lengthy and arduous. The trails are beautifully designed and maintained, and amazingly well-marked. There are unobtrusive but clear signposts of every sort whenever you need them. Excellent maps are available form the Visitor’s Center and even without a map the signs make it easy to reliably get from Point A to Point B. As in Japan, hiking is often a family affair in Taiwan and you will be inspired by the grandmothers and grandfathers who join their extended families for a robust hike in Yangmingshan. You will also see many a fitness buff such as triathletes training on one of the park’s steep slopes, as well as a full complement of youthful tourists from all over the world who come here to enjoy one of Taiwan’s best offerings.
Of all the hikes in Yangmingshan, perhaps the most popular is the short (a good hour) but satisfying slog up the steep slopes of the conical Mt. Chihsing. There are multiple trail options and varying terrains, so ask at the Visitor’s Center and pick your route in accord with your preferences. Expect a good workout and note that, unlike the summit of Mt. Fuji in Japan, there are no services at the mountaintop – just commanding vistas when skies are clear. So bring your own liquid replenishment and an energy snack.
After a day spent at Yangmingshan you can be back in central Taipei quickly and, after a good hot shower, feast on the never-ending culinary delights of Taipei’s restaurant and food court scene. It won’t take you long to replete all the calories expended on the mountain, and you’ll sleep well in the city knowing you’ve just had a wonderful day in the natural world, at the doorstep of one of Asia’s great capitals.
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