4ever Discovering
A Trip to Yangmingshan Mountain
It’s Hard to Believe We Are Living In a City with Mountains Like These!
One of the best parts about living in Taipei is how convenient everything is. The MRT system is amazing, the buses are reliable, and we can rent Ubikes if we ever want to bike around the city. Needless to say, Emily and I can easily make our way around the city without any problems (usually). Even for foreigners, the public transportation system is pretty easy to understand (with help from the English signs of course). Taipei is also conveniently located in the centre of the northeast coast. That means we can spend the day in the city, or easily find our way to a nearby beach or mountain. We really have the pick of the lot here. If we are feeling like a relaxing day at the beach, or even a hike to see some incredible views, it is always available. It’s hard to believe we are living in such a populated city when we can escape so easily. Sometimes I forget I am even living in the capital (and then I run into thousands of people and quickly remember where I am).
One of the closest mountains in Taipei, other than Elephant mountain, is Yangmingshan. For a little side Chinese lesson, ‘shan’ means mountain in English. Yangmingshan is probably one of the most popular mountains in the city; I know a lot of my students talk about coming here. The main attraction is their annual Flower Festival. You can come visit here year round and see different flowers blooming, depending on which season you come of course. Emily and I decided to plan a trip here when the Cherry Blossoms were in season. I’ve always wanted to travel to Japan to see them, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it happen this year. Then, I found out I could see them right in the city and immediately started planning. If I couldn’t go to Japan, I would still make sure to see them in Asia. Baby steps.
Luckily for us, we have a local friend who said he would help plan our trip! And the best part was he actually drove us to Yangmingshan. There are many local buses that go there, but it is always easier when we don’t have to worry about that. It’s always an added stress to figure out if we got off at the right stop, especially with the language barrier. I’m totally fine with having someone else plan the trip, and me just coming along for the ride (literally). We met up one sunny Sunday morning, and headed out for a little day trip.
We all decided we wanted to have a little picnic once we got to Yangmingshan, so we made a quick pitstop at Costco to grab some food. Like always, we bought way too much food and were left with too many leftovers after lunch. We mostly raided the salad section of costco, buying chicken caesar salads, a tray of sushi, chicken caesar wraps, and Doritos (a must have). Once we made it to the touristy part of Yangmingshan, we found some shade and took a little rest while eating. Nothing beats having a Sunday picnic with good company!
Along with the Cherry Blossoms, Yangmingshan is known for its Flower Clock. It is a little garden of flowers that resembles a working clock. Depending on what season you go, you can see different flowers blooming in the clock. The downside about seeing the Cherry Blossoms for us was the weather leading up to our visit. Because we were experiencing so much rain, the flowers looked a little drowned out. They weren’t exactly what I was expecting, but they were still beautiful! They just looked a little more white than pink. Emily and I were talking about coming back to see the calla lilies, but unfortunately time is just not on our side. This would be a great place to come year round to see everything from the cherry blossoms, to camellias, to peonies. If you are a flower lover, you will definitely appreciate Yangmingshan! I know my grandma would love it!
After seeing the Cherry Blossoms and eating a delicious lunch, we ventured around the park for about an hour. We didn’t get to hike any of the trails, but we still saw some pretty incredible views of the city. Being located so close to Taipei, once you reach a high altitude you can see the city from a bird’s eye view. It’s hard to believe we live here! It’s like living in Toronto, but with mountains surrounding the city. I have no complaints. After walking around and finding some waterfalls, we found our mandatory ice cream and made the trek back to the car. It was only about a half hour ride back to the MRT stop, where we parted ways with our friends and went back home.
Yangmingshan is a beautiful area where you could spend an entire day walking around. They have multiple hiking trails to explore if you’re looking for a little more of an intense walk, or you can just roam around the area like we did. It would be great to go back and try some of the trails, but we will have to wait and see what our upcoming weekends are like (already pretty busy!) It is a great day trip if you want to escape the city, and can be easily accessible if you take the public transportation. There are even some restaurants in the mountain you can try if you are willing to cough up a little more money! Or stop at Costco before you come and save a few bucks. Either way, you are bound to have a great trip with awesome views! As long as the weather treats you right, you will have an incredible trip. Just remember, you can always stop to smell the flowers here!
