Hotels in Alishan

Alishan: Mountain Tea Country and Cloud-Sea Sunrises

Alishan sits at roughly 2,200 metres in Chiayi County, central Taiwan, inside the Alishan National Scenic Area. The township is best known for two things: the sea of clouds that fills the valleys at dawn, and the high-mountain oolong and jin xuan teas grown on terraced slopes between 1,000 and 1,600 metres. Ancient red cypress trees — some more than 2,000 years old — line the forest trails near Zhaoping and Shenmu stations.

Getting Around

The Alishan Forest Railway, operating since 1912, climbs from Chiayi City (30 m) to Zhaoping (2,216 m) in roughly 3.5 hours, passing 50 tunnels and 77 bridges. A separate shuttle train runs pre-dawn from Zhaoping to Chushan sunrise platform, where visitors gather to watch the sun rise over the cloud layer. Roads are open to private vehicles but the railway remains the preferred approach.

Practical Tips

• Layers: Temperature drops 6–8 °C versus lowland Taiwan; pack a fleece even in July.
• Sunrise train: Book the Zhaoping–Chushan shuttle the evening before at the station; seats sell out by 3 a.m.
• Tea buying: Farms around Shizhuo and Ruili sell direct; factory-sealed packaging shows harvest date.
• Season: Cherry blossoms peak late February to mid-March; autumn fog is densest October–November.