There are a lot of perks of living in Taiwan. And the one I appreciate the most is the fact that you can easily reach the stunning Nature within an hour or so from the capital Taipei. Since we are an island, scenic view along the coasts is a must. In fact, there are actually quite a lot of hikes around Taipei that offer you both majestic mountains and oceans. This one is dedicated specifically to Nanzilhin Hiking Trial.
Nanzihlin hiking trial is located in Ruifang, New Taipei City. The total distance is about 1K, and it’s probably one of the easiest one that can be finished within half an hour. If you prefer a more relaxing but still healthy weekend, this is it.
We took the train from Taipei Main Station and got off at Ruifang Station. From Ruifang Station, you can take Bus 856 Golden Fulong Shuttle Bus and get off at Nanya Nanxin Temple. The ride is around 40 minutes, and you’ll be passing the famous Golden Water and Yinyang Sea along the way. Once we got off the bus, we saw a sign pointing towards the entrance of the trial. And off we went!
The trial is made up of two parts. The first part is built with wooden stairs. You can already get a pretty good view of the harbor when you reach 400m. After the wooden stairs, prepare to embrace the bumpy, sandy roads. To be honest, I actually prefer these sandy roads because the slope ascends gradually and it’s less tiring. Before reaching the top, there’s a small pavilion where you can take a short break. However, there were quite a lot of people when we got there so we just kept going.
Once you reach the top, which is 196m in height, you will have the grand ocean view right in front of you, and the mountains at the back. If you look around, you’ll see Keelong Mt on your left located near by Jiufeng.
The tiny island you see in the middle right is Keeling Islet. You can actually take the ferry and get onto the island to explore its volcanic landscapes.
Since it was still early when we finished the hike, we took the same bus back to Ruifang Station and headed to Houtong, the cat village. The name Houtong came from the saying that when it used to be a mining village, there were many monkeys living in caves. When mining business faded, lots of stray cats began to gather in this area, hence the name of “Cat Village”. It was even nominated by CNN to be one of the top 6 places in the world to see these adorable furballs! There’re many cat-themed shops and cafes as you can already imagine.
Apart from observing these little cuties, there’s also a small museum dedicated to introduce the history of Houtong. Make sure to stop by and have a look. The village takes about 1 hr to explore, so you can also put that in your half day trip itinerary if you are visiting Ruifang. For those who enjoy hiking as much as do, you can also check out 5 easy hikes to do around Taipei.
Happy Hiking! 🙂
Viajeradelibre 