Taiwan Today

An emphasis on health and sustainability yields quality visitor experiences across the island.

Hiking historic trails, running marathons, going on bike tours, taking trains and visiting hot springs are all recreational activities promoted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ (MOTC) Tourism Bureau under the category LOHAS, which stands for lifestyles of health and sustainability. These wellness-boosting pursuits are increasingly popular among both domestic and international tourists.

Ever since he was in high school, Cheng Ang-chih (鄭安志) had heard friends talk about hiking Caoling Historic Trail in northeastern Taiwan, but during his years of intense study and subsequent high-pressure work at a Taipei City bank, he did not have the leisure to hike the 8.5-kilometer route. Finally, last year when he turned 60, he made himself a present of walking the trail. “Exploring our ancient trails is growing ever-more popular in Taiwan, so I wanted to give it a try,” he said. “The panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean at the highest point was amazing, as was the trail itself and the ancient rock carvings along the way that give insight into how wild and dangerous it was to travel the route not so long ago.”

The Caoling Historic Trail is an integral part of the Tamsui-Kavalan Trails, a system of paths in use for at least 200 years to connect what is now New Taipei City’s Tamsui District and the northeastern county of Yilan. The characters and phrases carved painstakingly into rocks along the trail were intended to ward off evil spirits and the strong winds that could menace travelers. They were set up by China’s regional military commander in Taiwan during the Qing dynasty, Liu Ming-deng (劉明燈), on his inspection trip in 1867. “The trail’s appeal lies in seeing history merged with natural scenery,” Cheng said. The Tamsui-Kavalan system has grown in popularity over the past decade as New Taipei City Government (NTCG) extended its infrastructural reach and the Executive Yuan began promoting the network as a national greenway in 2018.

Ascending Business
Tourism companies like Lamigo International Travel Service Co. are building on the popularity of walking old trails. Established in 2009, the agency initially provided few hiking itineraries apart from Tamshui-Kavalan or the Alanyi Ancient Trail that connects the southern and southeastern counties of Pingtung and Taitung. The pandemic caused a rethink as it prompted a shift to the domestic market, and to date the company has launched around 40 heritage trail packages after making a significant investment in researching customer wants and needs.

Lamigo is now an industry leader, and such tours constitute one of its major product lines. According to the company’s Outbound Tour and Marketing Department Senior Manager Joyce Lin (林秋), Taiwan boasts more than 200 trails known to be at least 100 years old, each with its own unique landscape and legends. The company chooses a route based on how accessible and enjoyable it is before developing an accompanying itinerary. It grades the trails according to how physically challenging they are to ensure a safe experience. “Century-old trails often lead to remote and untouched places and have little surprises along the way, such as an old land god shrine sitting in the wild or some other charming sight,” Lin said. “Hikers feel closer to Taiwan’s history after seeing it up close on their walks.” 

Scenic Races
While hikers’ footsteps carry them along as they appreciate the varied terrain of Taiwan’s historic trails, runners can hit their stride along rugged coasts, through old towns and into the heart of pastoral landscapes. According to NTCG’s Sports Office, Taiwan hosts more than 500 marathons and road running events every year, mostly from October to April. Of these events, Wan Jin Shi Marathon, which started in 2003, is possibly the most famous. The international marathon takes place in northern Taiwan’s coastal Wanli, Jinshan and Shimen Districts on the third Sunday of March. Organized by the Sports Office, it has been upgraded three times in the past eight years by World Athletics. With the most recent upgrade made on the back of participation by high-ranked international runners, this year Wan Jin Shi became a gold-label event in the four-tier classification system overseen by the international athletics governing body, attracting even more attention from dedicated runners worldwide.
  Given that Wan Jin Shi’s full marathon and 10-kilometer road race attract a total of 11,000 domestic and overseas participants every year, the event has introduced a huge number of visitors to Taiwan’s scenic northern region and thus spurred local tourism. To encourage runners to stay before and after the race day, the Sports Office arranged for 100 shops, restaurants and hotels along the marathon route to give discounts to participants throughout March. “After seeing the lovely scenery during the race, runners often come back to spend more time in the area,” said Sports Office competitive sports section chief, Hsieh Hsiu-yu (謝秀瑜). Wan Jin Shi, set against a bucolic landscape, is now broadcast live in 10 countries in Asia, Europe and North America, multiplying Taiwan’s international exposure and the impact on the country’s tourism sector, Hsieh added.

  Like running and hiking, cycling is an activity with low environmental impact. Infrastructure is critical to encouraging recreational cycling, and the first bike trail in Taiwan was built in 1997 in Taitung’s rustic Guangshan Township. More followed, notably the cycle path circling Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan that opened to the public in 2011. To facilitate bike riding in otherwise hard-to-reach places, the MOTC’s Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) started offering dedicated bicycle spaces on selected trains in 2009. Cycle trail construction picked up pace in the mid-2010s, with a 961-kilometer island loop, Cycling Route No.1, completed at the end of 2015. Twenty-five branch routes were created over the next three years and an additional 16 routes in national scenic areas around the country were built in 2021 during the Tourism Bureau’s designated Year of Bicycle Tourism.

Smooth Operator
Having lower carbon emissions than air or car travel, rail journeys are a form of green transport that is very accessible in Taiwan. The TRA began to add stations on busy sections of its 132-year-old rail network in the early 2000s, and today TRA trains carry passengers to 241 stations on routes totaling 1,065 kilometers at speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour. Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) joined the transport network in 2007, and now its trains whiz at 300 kilometers per hour through cities and counties on the west coast. Both rail networks are seamlessly connected with mass rapid transit (MRT) lines in five municipalities. In New Taipei and the southern metropolis of Kaohsiung, the urban rail systems also incorporate light rail lines for easy access to all parts of the city.

In 2021 THSR Corporation established a Travel and Business Development Division. The unit realizes tourism potential by offering package trips designed by the division or travel partners based on THSR routes. There are significant discounts on rail tickets as well as organized tours and high-quality services. “We’re fast, careful about choosing partners and offer lower-priced tickets. All this adds to the appeal of our packages,” said the division Vice President Todd Hsiao (蕭冠群). “We’re doing our best to discourage holidaymakers from driving cars to their destinations.”

New Wave
Rail also offers access to 19 major hot spring areas around Taiwan, including Jiaoxi in Yilan and Jhihben in Taitung, on the TRA’s north and south link lines, respectively, as well as Beitou on Taipei’s MRT system. “Taiwan is rich in hot springs and spa facilities, and new ones are still being discovered and developed,” said Jason Lee (李吉田), president of Hot Spring Tourism Association Taiwan based in central Taiwan’s Nantou County. The Tourism Bureau currently certifies 439 spa business operators countrywide. In Nantou’s Puli Township a systematically developed cluster of spas is taking shape, with the first slated to open by the end of next year. The association started to organize an annual forum in 2017 on promoting spas as local tourist attractions through strategies like using locally sourced agricultural products at restaurants in hot spring areas.

  All spa businesses are regulated by the Hot Spring Act promulgated in 2003, which sets criteria such as the mineral content and water temperatures. The act, which treats hot springs as a national natural resource, is serious about conservation of the immediate surroundings and bans development within the area of an outcrop. Although a dip in a natural spring rich with minerals is widely reputed to improve circulation and the immune system, by law, spa businesses in Taiwan are not allowed to mention their efficacy for any specific disease, something that Lee is trying to reverse. In 2019 a team of four Japanese hot spring scientists spent eight days visiting spas around Taiwan. They concluded that the quality of hot springs was comparable to that of counterparts in Japan and Europe and cited the spas’ energizing qualities.

“If what you seek is a well-being vacation, Taiwan definitely should be on your list,” Lee said. That is also true for LOHAS-oriented visitors looking to enjoy the country’s diverse cultures and landscapes by hiking a centuries-old trail, running a marathon or traveling by train or bike. “Taiwan ticks all the boxes for travelers who want to enjoy beauty in a relaxed, low-carbon, environmentally aware way,” THSR’s Hsiao agreed.
 

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw