Ruili was a recommendation from a friend who has lived in Taiwan as long as I have, but who actually used to live in Chiayi County, and travels around in the hills in that area far more than I do, or ever have. I’d never heard of it, and neither had my Taiwanese partner, and neither of us could understand quite why the place has been kept under the radar of the tourism board here, except for the fact that the tourism board truly is unforgivably poor at its job.
Ruili is a place of narrow roads snaking through tea terrace scenery and overlooking breathtaking vistas. It is a small yet fascinating community with quirky stores, a modest temple steeped in local historical ambience and the occasional surprisingly excellent restaurant (one, of which I cannot remember the name, sits opposite the temple, and has French ornamental pretensions but serves Japanese food).
On the way up there is a small but well maintained botanical gardens with a river and waterfall, and the occasional eccentric scene, such as a bright red brick shrine (starkly set against the tea green terrace and the blue sky) and a run-down house with a set of table and chairs and a swing hammock so long-unused that the weeds are itching at their feet.
The accommodation is excellent, too, including places offering wooden cabins.
Leaving Ruili, take the road to Fenqihu (奮起湖), which affords beautiful tea terrace scenery. Fenqihu is a small town with its own railway station with structures dating back to the Japanese colonial period.
Ingrid says
You’ve captured the majesty of the landscape ✨ I love how the clouds envelope it. Amazing bamboo! The pop of red in photo #10 is so effective 💥 and I love the raindrops clinging to the leaf.
carylon says
Now, no. 10; I had the idea of juxtaposing the train car with the boxy buildings on the hill, but that guy in the red top wouldn’t get out of the frame. Then I thought, oh, hold on…