Ever since our first trip to Sun Link Sea, our daughter hadn’t stopped talking about the waterfall — she kept saying she wanted to go back and see the exact same one. Songlong Waterfall must have some kind of cosmic pull. Since she was so taken with the place, my dad decided to treat us to another trip. This time we stayed at the Theme Hall. Sun Link Sea has several accommodation options, but when I went to book, Theme Hall was the only one that could handle our party of six adults and three kids. Book early — availability goes fast.

This time we spent the night before at my parents’ house, so we were up at five and on the road before six. We arrived at Sun Link Sea before eight. On the way in, we came across a troop of Formosan macaques — four of them — but our daughter was fast asleep and wouldn’t wake up.

It was about 20°C at the resort — the sign said 16°C, though it didn’t quite feel that cold. Since it was early, we decided to walk to Songlong Waterfall this time rather than take the shuttle. My parents, my sister-in-law, and the two kids took the bus; only my brother walked with us. We started out on the paved road, passed the Flower Center, then switched to the Yuehsan Trail from there.

The mountain air was cool, but our daughter refused to walk a single step — I carried her the entire way, and arrived at the waterfall already drenched in sweat.

Last time, only the two kids and I made it up to Tian-Ti-Yen (the Giant Nostrils). This time everyone came along.

Lunch was again at the Songlong canteen. I thought the food was quite good — the braised pork belly was well-seasoned and flavourful, and I ordered the same set as last time.

We walked back too. With the afternoon still ahead, we stopped by the Flower Center and then headed to Longlin Waterfall, which we’d skipped the first time. The trail is short — only about 220 metres — but honestly the waterfall itself is rather modest, nothing compared to Songlong.

Along the way I told our daughter: walk twenty steps and I’ll carry you. Then I quietly walked ahead a few steps to make her cover a bit more ground before I had to hold up my end of the deal.

After the waterfall, we followed the trail back to the Red House. It was a bit of a letdown — I’d expected a cluster of shops, but it turned out to be a single shop dressed up in a grand building.

Back at the car park, we had to wait a while before we could check in. My clothes had been soaked through and dried twice over, so I changed before the smell set in. Pack extra sets.

My parents had one double room on the fifth floor, and we had another right next door. My brother’s family had a four-person room on the second floor. Honestly, there wasn’t much difference in size between the two — just the bed dimensions. The floors, I have to say, were not particularly clean. I travel with antibacterial wet floor wipes out of habit, and I went through nearly a whole pack — and it was still a bit grimy. I’d seen some online posts raving about how clean Theme Hall was. Maybe they got a room that had been specially cleaned.

Dinner was instant noodles in the room, with a pot of bamboo shoot and spare rib soup my mum had brought along. Incredibly satisfying.

The rooms had no air conditioning, but it didn’t feel stuffy once night fell. Our daughter lay in bed pointing out the stars outside, but when I offered to take her out for a proper look, she got nervous and changed her mind.

The next morning, breakfast was at Manyitang Restaurant on the second floor. Group diners go first, so the hotel asked us to come at half past seven. The spread was ordinary — don’t go in with high hopes.

After breakfast, we packed up and checked out. Except for my wife, who was feeling unwell, the rest of us set off for Chinglong Waterfall, which we hadn’t visited before.

Chinglong Waterfall sits lower down the valley, downstream from the main resort. Along the way you pass the 88 Suspension Bridge and Shyrjing Ji. The resort describes it this way:

Shyrjing Ji is a series of potholes formed by powerful swirling currents carrying sand and gravel,
carving circular depressions into rock beds of varying hardness.
There are more than ten such wells here, scattered below the 88 Suspension Bridge,
the deepest reaching 5.5 metres.
Water-carved wells like these stand as proof of nature's quiet persistence — softness, given time, prevails over stone.

At Chinglong Waterfall, there’s a viewing platform cut into the valley below. We watched the waterfall from the trail first, then made our way down.

On the way down, she held her grandma’s hand the whole way, and again on the way back up. Not once did she ask to be carried. A rare occasion indeed.

On the way back, our daughter and her niece both wanted to be first, with a little help from their respective dads. We stopped to rest near the 88 Suspension Bridge, and our daughter announced she wanted to cross it. We headed back over, but she heard an insect and got spooked, so she called it off — and by the time we turned around again, the others had already moved on along the Chinglong Fern Trail. I carried her and followed, only to find the others had descended to the riverside, but it was warm down there, so we kept to the upper path instead. I told her we were sneaking past them, and she played along beautifully — despite being nowhere near anyone, she insisted on whispering the whole way. We made it to the car park a full ten minutes before the others.

We had to get back to Taipei, so we skipped joining my parents and brother’s family for lunch. Before heading up to the freeway, we stopped in Zhushan at Yoshan Tea Culture Museum to pick up gifts for friends in Japan during our end-of-year trip.

Our daughter didn’t even put her shoes on before getting out of the car. She wanted to be carried the whole time.

Hidden behind the door to the toilets, we found a signature from former President Tsai Ing-wen. Quite the inconspicuous spot for it.

At Yoshan Tea Culture Museum, you can learn about the history of Taiwanese tea and sample a range of their products. If you have time to spare, I’d recommend taking it slowly — the staff are happy to help you find teas that suit your taste. On top of the gifts for Japan, my wife and I ended up buying some Red Oolong for ourselves.

Note: This article is translated from Traditional Chinese.