DAY 1: Short flight from Shanghai
Hotel is only ~15min away from the airport. After settling down we walked to a small night market 10 minutes walking distance away and started our 舌尖之旅
DAY 2: Busy day in the heat of Tainan
Took morning train to Tainan. Hotel is 5 minutes walk away from the train station in the heart of the university district. Tainan was unseasonably warm (close to 'hot') 30C, I instantly regretted of all the heavy clothing we packed for Taiwan. There are many small historical sites in Tainan, we only time for few "big" ones:
- 赤莰楼
- 德记洋行
- 安平树屋
- 安平古堡
And lastly dinner at the larges night market in Taiwan, Garden Night-market.
DAY 3: Journey into the mountain
Picked up rental car and started our journey toward Alishan, after a quick bio-break at Xi Ding, we arrived at Fenqi Lake (奋起湖 which is not a lake at all) for lunch at the famous train bento place.
"奋起湖位于嘉义县竹崎乡中和村，海拔约 1,400公尺，因东、西、北面环山，中间低平，形如畚箕，故旧称畚箕湖，由于此区位于阿里山森林铁路之中点，行车至此约略两小时，游客多半于此打尖、买便当，故有便当王国之称."
After eating lunch and buying snacks, we continued on the mountain roads and arrived at Alishan House in the afternoon. Strolled around the tourist center and tried some Alishan coffee at a tea shop, then hot Pot dinner at one of the few restaurants there.
DAY 4: A day of Ancient Giant Trees
LG got up early to see sunrise while boys and I slept in.
The day was just filled endless huge giant ancient trees that locals call “神木" which matches the mystical atmosphere of the whole area.
→姊妹潭→木兰园→受镇宫→三代木【象鼻木】→慈云寺→香林神木→树灵塔→千岁桧→巨木群栈道(第一期) →神木车站(搭乘小火车) → 阿里山火车站→饭店
Had early dinner at the hotel, hot pot again.
DAY 5: Toward Sun Moon Lake
Took a nice morning walk along an abandoned stretch of the railway to see more ancient trees. After checking out of the hotel, we started toward Sun Moon Lake. Lunch was at Jiji town's famous train station area: 建於昭和8年（民國22年），以純檜木建造，具古樸風格，係全台古老火車站之一，為鐵路集集支線中之一站，已為觀光旅遊攝影景點。
We arrived at Sun Moon Lake near dusk, unfortunately it started drizzling, so we ended the day early with short stroll and dinner around the guesthouse.
DAY 6: Continue toward north Qing Jing
Took ferry around Sun Moon Lake. Although weather was far better than yesterday, but many walking paths around the lake were closed for construction due to recent heavy rain around the area. We only had time to go around 3/4 of the lake before driving toward Qing Jing.
Stopped by Puli town for some sightseeing:
- Paper Dome- 一棟不可思議的紙管建築於2008年9月21號在桃米社區中開放啟用，其實這並不是一棟新建的建築，它的來由與桃米人有著深切的關連－地震。在1995年的日本阪神大地震後，一位建築師阪茂先生為倒塌的鷹取教會建造了一座紙管教堂，現在這間象徵著地震重建意義的紙教堂帶著不滅的精神遠渡重洋來到了桃米社區，沿續它震災後重生使命。
- Hand-made paper factory: 廣興紙寮創立於民國五十四年，早期名稱為廣興製紙加工所，民國六十二年加入手工宣紙的製作，並且更名為廣興造紙廠。
- Puli Chinese Winery
- After checked-in guesthouse in Qing Jing, we took a stroll to see the beautiful sunset, then dinner at a local Yunnan-cuisine restaurant.