Sometimes I browse Hotels.com to see whether there are any family-friendly B&Bs in Yilan, and that was how I came across Wunuan Zoo. What appealed to me most was the covered sandpit and the splash pool, perfect for my daughter, who loves digging in the sand. She could dig all day while we sat nearby to keep cool, and even rain would not be a problem. I had been keeping an eye on it for quite a while, and finally got the chance to book a one-night stay.

One of the biggest worries about traveling to Yilan is traffic. Since I dread traffic jams, I left at 6:00 AM. Traffic was only heavier around the junction from National Freeway No. 1 to No. 3, and there was a brief slowdown from No. 3 to No. 5, so we reached Yilan shortly after 7:00. But the highlight of this trip, Wunuan Zoo, did not allow check-in until 3:00 PM, so to fill the gap we scheduled two stops: King Car Biotechnology Aquaculture Science Center and the Yilan Park of the National Center for Traditional Arts.

The King Car Biotechnology Aquaculture Science Center opens at 8:00 AM. Since we arrived too early, we grabbed breakfast at a nearby 7-Eleven first. When we drove into the parking lot just before 8:00, one group had already arrived.

The visitor area is basically like an aquarium. The YouTube duo Hsu Po & Chien Chih have filmed here several times, including 【從零開始養】海水魟魚!魔性有毒?摸魟魚什麼體驗?【許伯簡芝】, which my daughter has watched many times.

The most interesting part is that you can feed jellyfish, garden eels, and sharks. I assumed jellyfish would not react much, so I was not that interested. Feeding garden eels turned out to be a surprise. Shark feeding happens at fixed times, and while we were waiting, a staff member asked whether we wanted to try feeding the garden eels too. Their reaction far exceeded my expectations. As soon as the food entered the tank, almost all of them poked their heads out to hunt.

The shark pool is split into two tanks, one with larger sharks and one with younger ones. A staff member told us the bigger sharks were less active and might not respond to the food, so if that happened we could switch to the smaller ones. That was exactly what happened. The bigger fish lost interest, while the smaller ones were much more enthusiastic. Apparently, if you want to feed fish, it is better to do it early, before they are full.

My daughter said, “It was my first time seeing a shark fin above the water.” Come to think of it, I probably had not really seen that either. I highly recommend this place for families with kids. By the way, they also sell fossils.

There are other King Car facilities nearby, and they even offer combo tickets, but my daughter was not interested.

Our next stop was the Yilan Park of the NCFTA. My daughter kept asking why we were going there, and once we got in she was not especially interested either. Still, she really enjoyed making aiyu jelly by hand and was very eager to see it set, repeatedly asking me, “Have the 30 minutes passed yet?” since it had to chill for 30 minutes after we made it. She also loved the “Dry Ice Wonderland.” The exhibits I wanted to see, like Taiwanese opera and classical instruments, were the ones she had no interest in.

At noon we had lunch at a relative’s place in Yilan. After the meal, we asked the B&B whether we could head over early and let our daughter play in the sand first. The owner happened to text us the check-in instructions right around then, and after getting his permission we headed over to rest. He also shared some nearby attractions, but the whole point of this trip was to dig in the sand.

The B&B has two buildings. The one marked on Google Maps is Building 2, while we booked Building 1. It is older, but closer to the sandpit.

My daughter was extremely happy with the sandpit, and for some reason there were no other guests around during that stretch, so she had the whole sandpit to herself for the entire afternoon. Right beside it were swings, so she kept switching between digging and swinging. There were rice paddies next to the property, and egrets often flew past. To get between Building 1 and Building 2, you can take either the farm road or the footpath through the fields.

Right in front of the sandpit is the splash pool. It seemed that day was the first day the pool was open for the season. The water was icy cold, and neither my daughter nor I dared to lie down in it. We only walked around inside. Later a group of boys staying in Building 2 came over and flopped right into the pool. I was impressed. According to the housekeeper, even in the summer the pool does not get direct sun, because it sits on the north side of the property and the three-story main building blocks the sunlight most of the time.

Eventually we got too cold, so we went back to the room for a hot bath. The tub was so large that to my daughter it was basically a swimming pool, and we had a great time in it. Later that evening she soaked again with her mom. The housekeeper said Building 2 is smaller, though other guests told us the tubs there are still very large.

Both the housekeeper and the owner recommended restaurants for dinner, but we were too lazy to go out, so we ordered Uber Eats.

That night my daughter kept saying she wanted rice milk, so I told her, “I’ll only buy it if you walk there with me.” I had only meant to make her back down, but she immediately agreed. So we let her mom rest in the room, and the two of us set off with headlamps for the 7-Eleven 1.6 km away. She usually does not like walking, but if I started running, she would happily run after me. That is how we made it there, alternating between walking and running. On the way back she got tired, so I had to carry her part of the way. She said this was her adventure with Dad, so she did not want Mom to come along (when she had played with slime before, it was the opposite — she had not wanted Dad to join, saying that was her adventure with Mom). The fields in Yilan look cleaner and prettier than the ones in Changhua, though I still saw some litter scattered around. I hope everyone helps keep the environment clean.

The next morning, from 9:30 on, guests could use the three-story slide in Building 1, the stainless-steel slide shown in the official photos. My daughter was afraid of it, so we skipped it and played in the sandpit one more time before check-out. After we checked out, we drove straight back to Taipei to avoid traffic. Only after we got home did we see a message from the housekeeper telling us we had forgotten our swim ring. Later the owner set up a Shopee listing and mailed it back to us.

The owner said it is cheaper to book through the official website. I had wanted to book for the Labor Day long weekend starting on May 1, but the rooms were already gone. It really is that popular.

A few small drawbacks:

• The wooden playhouse in the sandpit has been eaten by termites, and it is cracked in several places. It felt a little unsafe.
• Building 1 clearly shows its age. I am not sure whether the sea wind has something to do with it.
• The room decor is not my style. That is subjective, of course, but the room really is huge.

Note: This article is translated from Traditional Chinese.