My younger brother wanted to stay at the Chunghwa Telecom Alishan guesthouse, which is only available to Chunghwa Telecom employees and retirees, and that became the reason for this trip. We had originally hoped to stay there for two nights, but it was so hard to book that we only managed to get one. For the second night, we booked a guesthouse in Shizhuo instead.

Just the week before, my daughter had said, “I don’t want to go anywhere that far again.” One week later, we were taking her somewhere even farther.

Day 1: Fenqihu and Alishan National Forest Recreation Area

I was worried my daughter might get carsick on the mountain roads, so we got up a little after 4 a.m. and left Taipei at 5:30, heading straight for Fenqihu without stopping. Along the way, we passed a few places that looked like they might be fun, but there was no room in the schedule to stop. We arrived in Fenqihu at 9:30, before my parents and my brother had arrived.

This was my first time visiting Fenqihu, and I had not realized how fierce the parking competition could be. Luckily, we found a free shaded spot near the second parking lot. The paid parking lot was farther away and had no shade, which felt like a bad deal.

After parking, my daughter kept insisting she wanted to sit in the car and did not want to get out. We dragged her along for a short walk anyway, so she was in a terrible mood. We first followed a forest trail uphill, hoping to see the Luding Old Tree and the Fenqihu Shinto Shrine Ruins, but the trail was closed for maintenance. We had no choice but to follow the boardwalk downhill toward Fenqihu Old Street. The boardwalk was extremely slippery and felt quite dangerous.

After we reached the Fenqihu garage, my daughter kept asking to go back to the car, so I did not really get to explore. I only bought one wasabi soft serve. I hesitated for a long time between honey black tea and wasabi, but my wife was more curious about the wasabi flavor, so that was what we chose. The color was honestly not very appealing. If it had looked closer to matcha green, it might have been better. Instead, it was closer to fluorescent green and gave off a faint chemical-disaster atmosphere. Small bites were not too spicy, but a large bite left a sharp wasabi finish in the nose. Since my daughter kept pushing us to leave, I had to eat it in big bites.

After we entered the old street beside Fenqihu Station, we happened to run into my parents. They had been there many times and recommended the Yahu Grandma Railway Bento below Yahu Villa.

After lunch, we went looking for the local favorite, “Hundred-Year Cypress Donuts.” The shop sits on a slope, and there were already quite a few people in line. Many customers bought them by the box, but I only bought four. A group of young people behind me were discussing how many to get, and I heard “I’ll have four” and “I’ll have six.” It sounded like they were planning to eat them right away. Youthful stomachs are impressive. When I looked back after buying mine, the line had grown even longer. No wonder some people online say they waited more than an hour.

While I was in line, my daughter asked my wife to take her back to the car. By the time I bought the donuts and caught up with them, fog had started rolling in near the station. Since my daughter kept wanting to leave, we ended up missing most of Fenqihu. We did not see Fenqihu Hotel, and we did not make it to the older part of the old street either.

The drive from Fenqihu to Alishan National Forest Recreation Area takes about an hour, and we arrived around 1:30 p.m. The Chunghwa Telecom guesthouse is in one corner of the main parking lot, but after circling the lot several times and finding no space, I ended up parking in the hotel-area parking lot. From there, we had to climb three flights of stairs to get back to the main parking lot.

After parking, we went to Alishan Station and took the Alishan Forest Railway’s Zhaoping Line to Zhaoping Station. The last time I had been there was the summer after graduating from high school, before starting university. Back then, Zhaoping Station had only a tiny waiting room. Now it is completely different. Since it was raining, we did not leave the station to walk around. We just bought return tickets and rode back down. After returning to Alishan Station, my daughter used the commemorative coin machine in the lobby. There were three designs, NT$50 each. I was pretty sure she would lose them soon.

While waiting on the platform for the return train, it suddenly started hailing. Another achievement unlocked for my daughter.

After we got back to the Alishan parking lot, my parents and my brother’s family had also arrived. We checked in first and moved our luggage into the rooms. My brother and I each had a four-person room, 208 and 209, while my parents stayed in a double room, 210.

The room was not small, but my daughter had just stayed at COZZI Blu in Taoyuan with her mom the week before, so she actually told me this room was tiny. Maybe because the humidity is heavy in Alishan, our room had a dehumidifier, though my parents’ double room did not. That dehumidifier worked hard all night and still could not bring the humidity below 70%. I genuinely think every hotel room in Taiwan should come with a dehumidifier. It would help prevent both mold and dust mites.

The air conditioner was covered in dust. I put on a mask, wiped the dust off the unit as best I could, and washed the filter, but I still did not have the courage to turn it on. Fortunately, the temperature dropped after nightfall, so we did not need air conditioning.

My dad wanted to take a walk before dark, so after a quick tidy-up, we met outside and walked along the Forest Trail toward Shouzhen Temple. My daughter insisted on holding the commemorative coins she had made at Alishan Station. After just a few steps, she said she had dropped one. Luckily, I walked back and found it quickly, though she dropped it again during dinner.

At Shouzhen Temple, we did not go inside to pray. Instead, we walked around Xianglin Service Area. I bought a sausage, while my wife picked a shop and ordered the “Alishan coffee” we had been seeing everywhere along the way. I had expected the owner to brew it fresh, but it was simply poured from a pot.

On the way back, my daughter had a great time playing with her cousins. My wife and I split off from the group and took the Giant Tree Plank Trail toward Xianglin Elementary School to see the Xianglin Sacred Tree. The last time I had been there was probably a junior-high school field trip.

We had dinner at Alishan Food Court around the main parking lot. When eating out with children, toys and drawing paper are essential. If you forget the drawing paper, Mom’s glasses case becomes the drawing paper.

After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to shower. Once the three kids were done, they all went to Grandma’s room to play until bedtime, which let me reclaim the TV remote for a while.

Day 2: Alishan National Forest Recreation Area and a Guesthouse in Shizhuo

My dad planned to take the electric shuttle bus to Zhushan Station in the morning, then walk to the Ogasawara Mountain Viewing Platform. He told us to meet for the 8 a.m. bus, so I got up a little after six, packed up, and moved the luggage to the car first. Later we found out the bus to Zhushan Station left at nine, so we had an extra hour to wander around the parking lot area.

The day before, my brother’s son had bought a magnet pangolin plush from Forest Made at the Alishan Visitor Center. Both girls loved it, so today each of them bought one too. I also bought a cap embroidered with a Mikado pheasant and a sika deer, with “Forestry and Cou” written between them. “Cou” refers to the Tsou people. When I later wanted to buy another one on the way down the mountain, it was already sold out. Pain.

Once everyone was on board, the shuttle left. It did not necessarily wait until the scheduled departure time. Children under five did not need a ticket, but they also did not get a seat. For comfort and safety, if the child is willing to sit on their own, I would still recommend buying a half-price child ticket. After about fifteen minutes, we arrived at Zhushan Station. Not long after we got there, a sightseeing train arrived. It looked like the Formosensis, and I really wanted to ride it someday.

The view from the Ogasawara Mountain Viewing Platform is excellent. If we could join a stargazing tour on a clear night, I imagine the Milky Way would be spectacular.

The bus back down was at 11, leaving us more than an hour, so we decided to sit down at Mountain Ali Tea No. 35 - Alpine Branch and ordered two curries. Food had to be paid for in cash, but gifts could be paid by card.

We chose seats behind the sliding doors by the window, which felt almost like a small private room. The two children sat down and immediately started drawing. The shop had three buckets of colored pencils available to borrow, which was very convenient.

When the curry arrived, we asked my niece several times whether she wanted any. She shook her head each time and focused on drawing. I heard that the next morning, the first thing she said after waking up was that she wanted yesterday’s curry, but it had to be “the one Mommy bought.” I am really not a scary uncle.

Before walking back to Zhushan Station, we visited the Alishan Alpine Botanical Garden beside the path. Unfortunately, my daughter was not interested, so I had about one very short minute to take a few photos.

On the way back, we rode as far as the entrance to the Shuishan Forest Therapy Trail, then continued downhill on foot.

The Shuishan Giant Tree is made up of ten Taiwan red cypress trees, and visually it is a massive presence. The oldest of them has already decomposed, so from the back you can see a hollow inside.

The lower half of the Shuishan Forest Therapy Trail follows the disused old Shuishan branch railway. Seeing the three kids walking along the tracks surrounded by giant trees made it feel like a little adventure.

After leaving the trail, we connected to the Poetry Trail, the Woods Trail, and the Forest Trail. After about two kilometers, we were back at the main parking lot. After a short rest, we drove to Shizhuo and checked in to our guesthouse for the night, Shan Ming Show B&B.

The guesthouse sits on a slope in the Shizhuo area. It felt like a long-running old guesthouse. The building was not new, but it overlooked the tea-covered hills of the area. Next door was Taishan Bento, which had decent Google reviews, but since it was still early, we decided to walk down to Fengba Restaurant on the Alishan Highway for dinner.

On the way, we passed a viewing platform with a very open view.

Dinner was just okay. After dinner, my wife and I wanted to walk down to the Hi-Life Zhuchi Jiazhuo store and have my daughter ride back to the guesthouse in my brother’s car. She insisted on walking with us, so I warned her that I would not carry her later. The walk back really was a little tiring. We took the road beside Zhongxing Elementary School back up, and the slope was very steep. Still, my daughter managed to walk most of it on her own.

That night, just like the night before, after showering she went to Grandma’s room to play with the other two kids. Apparently Grandma played Red Dot, a Taiwanese fishing card game, with them. I used to play the same game when traveling as a child.

Day 3: An Early Drive Back to Taipei

On the final morning, I got up at five to pack. My plan was to finish the mountain-road section while my daughter was still asleep. After saying goodbye to my mom, who had woken early to exercise, we set off.

The drive down the mountain went very smoothly. My daughter did not wake up until we stopped at Xihu Service Area for the restroom.

Thanks to traveling with two other children, the stroller was used only for carrying luggage on this trip.

Note: This article is translated from Traditional Chinese.