Hello Pals,

While Yilan County technically only has one city – Yilan, it has a range of smaller townships which are perfect to explore such as Luodong, Jiaoxi  and Toucheng!  

The territory of Yilan is unique. It’s situated in a fault zone with underground sources of heat, making it the perfect hot springs getaway. Across the way sits Turtle Island, an active volcano.

If you would like to know “How to fall in love with Yilan County“, click ‘read more’

In this article, you’ll find: (click to be taken there)
– Jiaoxi Township
– Toucheng
– Luodong
Where to Stay: Where I stayed or where friends stayed.
What I did: My diary entry.
Other Recommendations: Things we missed.

All my posts have a key:
⏰ Opening Hours. 📍Location 🕒Distance
💰Cost 🎫Ticket 📝 To note. 🎒What to bring.
♿ Accessibility 🌱Vegan / Veg Options. 🎧 Sensory.

Jiaoxi Township

Wufengqi Waterfall + Dezikou River Check Dam

📍Jiaoxi Township
💰€ EURO| $ AUD| $ USD | ‎£ GBP
♿ not accessible, stairs, rocks & uneven pathway.
———-

Wufengqi is located along the Zkho River. There are 3 waterfalls here, and we only went to the first one. It would take around 4 hours round trip to get to the top, and we just didn’t have the hiking equipment (nor the want/time). Walking back past Dezikou River Check Dam we saw a dead fish, and apparently, you can swim in it, but you know, dead fish.

立林早餐店 / Lilin Breakfast Shop

⏰ 06:00 – 10:00
📍Jiaoxi Township
📝 English Menu
—–
The owners are so lovely, we came here two days in a row. With an English menu and really decent prices, we ordered: Ham & Egg sandwich, flakey scallion pancake, pan-fried radish cake, fried dumpling, chicken nuggets and coffee.

解憂客棧Bar

⏰ 20:00 – 4:00. Closed Tuesdays.
📍No. 45號, Ren’ai Rd
—–
Tea-centric cocktails, a nice place to wind down, easy music, the option of board games and a range of pizzas.

有機大地健康蔬食餐廳 / Earth Healthy Vegetarian Restaurant

⏰ 20:00 – 4:00. Closed Tuesdays .
📍No. 45號, Ren’ai Rd,
—–
There is no English menu and google translate only does so much. The menu is divided into categories, hot pot, rice, handmade rye noodles and side dishes. I ordered what was called “soy corn soup” and was like”this cannot be the actual translation” no, it really did taste like corn and soy milk.
Google Translate :1 Me:0
Such an odd taste, but it offers huge portions and a great option to get your vege fix in after lots of fried breakfast foods.

Chuan Izakaya Restaurant

⏰ 17:00 – 1:00 | Closed Thursday
📍No. 69號, Deyang Rd, Jiaoxi Township
📝 English Menu
—–
It’s an izakaya – “a casual Japanese pub that serves drinks alongside a wide variety of small, shareable dishes.” The staff are super friendly, drinks come fast and the food is tasty & decently priced. It’s a small restaurant, so be prepared to wait in high season.

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Toucheng

蘭陽博物館山之層 / Lanyang Museum

⏰ 09:00 – 17:00. Closed Wednesdays unless on a public holiday.
📍No. 750, Section 3, Qingyun Rd, Toucheng Township
💰 100NTD
🎧 Bright Lights.
♿ Accessibility

Introducing the history of Yilan, showcasing the diversity of local ecology and culture, serves as a window into Yilan’s culture. Designed by Da Yuan United Architects, it is based on a single-sided mountain with one steep wing and the other gently sloping

The museum’s exhibitions are divided into three main parts: permanent exhibitions, special exhibitions, and a children’s exploration area. The permanent exhibitions are shown in a top-down order based on architectural features; Moutain/Plain/Ocean/Time.

Toucheng Old Street

📍Heping St, Toucheng Township (頭城老街南門路出入口)

The name ‘toucheng’ means ‘first town’ in Chinese. Starting at the Nanmen Rd x Heping Street (頭城老街南門路出入口 on google maps.) You’ll be greeted by a turtle, which is to bring good wealth fortune and an ode to Turtle Island nearby.

Kaicheng Temple Chenghuang Temple

⏰ 06:00 – 20:00
📍261, Taiwan, Yilan County, Toucheng

The good old iPhone capturing the bright lights of the temple, but inside, really was pretty incredible. It is the largest temple in the area and holds major religious events. The second floor is for praying to the City God. Third and fourth floors are for praying to Guanyin (known for the ability to hear the cries of the suffering and her acts of kindness and miracles) .

Zhang Mei Ama’s Farm

⏰ 09:00 – 17:00.
📍266, Taiwan, Yilan County, Sanxing Township
You can take a bus #1792 / #1794 or uber from the station.
💰NT200
📝 includes snack (for you) and snack (for animals)
♿ no
🎧 Animals, noise from children.

The main star was the Capybara!! Gosh they’re weird animals. There are some sheep, goats, tortoises, but I was super focused on the Capybara (obviously). There are three areas in the park and your ticket entry also includes a snack! There’s a little stall that sells Taiwanese ice-cream wraps (recommend!)

Luodong Night MarkeT

⏰ 15:00 – 24:00
📍265, Taiwan, Yilan County
📝 Cash. If. you see a bin – use it!
♿ – busy but accessible
———-
These markets are the largest in northeastern Taiwan. They also have the reputation of being the best. Being situated near a park means you can grab your food and then get some respite from the crowds.
There is nothing you can’t find here – scallion pancakes, sweet potato balls, fries, spring rolls, pork sausages on a stick and ice cream wraps!

Mountain :B: Coffee Roasters 山中小屋 （酒吧、咖啡廳、精神時光屋）

⏰ 12:00 – 20:00 | Closed: Mon – Weds .
📍No. 119號, Heping Rd, Luodong Township, Yilan County, Taiwan 265
———-
A nice coffee stop to get out of the weather. Small, but a nice atmosphere and the staff are lovely.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:

We had a low-energy day in Luodong so you can also see:

• Luodong Forestry Culture Park – blog post
• Luodong Cultural Working House – blog post
• Luodong Sports Park Wet Plant Area
• National Center Traditional Arts

WHERE TO STAY

Shankou Hotspring Hotel

⏰ Check in:  15:00 | Check Out: 11:00 
📍No.2, Wufeng Rd., Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County 262, Taiwan
———-

We picked this because the idea of it being slightly off the main street and private hot spring bath. We found nothing wrong with our rooms personally, however reviews have said cigarette smell.

We ended up extending our stay here instead of moving to another hotel and using it as a base to explore the area.

🍽Breakfast	not included
🛁Bathrooms	private + includes hot spring baths
🛏Rooms	private, comfy beds.
🎲Facilities	bar, hot spirngs

WHAT I DID

We headed for Jiaoxi, checking into ShanKou Hotspring Hotel where the receptionist’s translator told us that we’d be walking 100 kms (it was 100 meters…) the actual shock on my face before we figured it was lost in translation.

Walking to Wufengchi Waterfall, saw a dead fish in the dam. After a lot of fried foods in Tapai we felt like a huge veggie dinner and questioned our ordering at the Earth Healthy Vegetarian Restaurant. I feel I can still taste the corn soymilk base. Ordered each other drinks at 解憂客棧Bar in which the bartender kept asking questions in Mandarin and my pal kept explaining he only spoke Cantonese.

My friend got a migraine the day we were going to Toucheng, so leaving them with pain killers, a dark room and plenty of fluids I got the train. No point us both not seeing anything. Arriving into Toucheng, I put some funds into a cartoon statue man and received a ball from said cartoon statue with the gift of notebook, fan and sticker.

I walked to the Lanyang Museum which I don’t recommend as there were points with no footpath. I don’t know why I didn’t get a bus.

Came back with water and more pain killers for my friend and then we napped until 7:30 before a small dinner at Chuan Izakaya Restaurant. We got back to our hotel, realised we’d left our jackets at the bar and had to walk of shame back as those jackets had our room key.

We were both pretty low energy while exploring Ludong, so for a break between the animal farm and night markets, we went and saw Renfield (2023) staring Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage who play Renfield and Count Dracula.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

Jiaoxi

• Paoma Historic Trail
• Linmei Shipan Trail 

Ludong

• Qilan Giant Trees

Toucheng

• Waiao Beach

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Have you been?
What did you see / eat / do?
Let me know below.
As always, stay cool.
– Sarah.

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