Taiwan Itinerary CingJing, Taichung, Jiufen, Jeelung & Taipei 8 Days 7 Nights (Part 1 - CingJing)

Growing up watching lots of Taiwanese Drama and entertainment channels made me envy those living there. The countless night market you can visit and shopping is something most of us will do when we visit Taiwan. However, Taiwan has more charm than just being famous for its night market and being a shopping haven.

Taiwan offers all nature lover as well as adventurous souls a place they belong. Besides, being one of the most vibrant democracy country in Asia, there is never a day it is dull in Taiwan. Taiwanese create their own destiny and voices up whenever they feel there is a need to. Protesting on street is a pretty common thing for them too. Not forgetting most of them are very friendly and helpful too! 

This trip with H was my second trip to Taiwan since 6 years ago and my first free & easy trip. We didn't do much planning this time round except selecting a couple of destination we would like to go and made our base there. Transport in Taiwan is pretty accessible! & with google on hand, you won't go wrong! Prior to our trip, one of our main challenge was the budget for transport. Travelling with only 2 person, taxi fare and day tour are expensive for 2. Fortunately, With all the help and information from internet, our trip was pretty chill, fun and easy! 

If you are travelling with more pax, you can book a private car to bring you around! Convenient and save time! 

Summary of the trip
Day 1 - Taoyuan Airport - CingJing
Day 2 - Cing Jing Grassland - Old England - Little Switzerland 
Day 3 - Sunrise at He Huan Shan - Tai Chung - Yi Zhong Night Market
Day 4 - Taichung Second Market - Rainbow Village - Dazzling Cafe - Gao Mei Wetland - FengJia Might Market
Day 5 - Tai Chung - Jiu fen - Jiu Fen streets 
Day 6 - Remains of the 13 level - Yin Yang Sea - Golden Waterfall - Jin Gua Shi - Ji Lung - Shi fen
Day 7 - Jiu Fen - Taipei - Shi Lin Night Market 
Day 8 - Home Sweet Home 


Cingjing Free & Easy Package 600 TWD

We purchase a free and easy package from Taichung high-speed railway station which includes return trip to Cing Jing & entrance fee to cingjing grassland for 600 TWD. The bus will stop at multiple stops in cingjing, so email your accommodation owner to locate the nearest bus stop. 

The only down side of this package is the frequency of the bus to cingjing. The last bus that departs straight to Cing Jing is 2 pm. If not you have to make a transfer at Puli station where the last bus set off to Cing Jing is at 4.30 pm.

Check out all package available at the information counter at Taichung High Speed railway station here. This package offers till 31 December 2015. With these passes, you can save a lot! (especially when there are only 2 person & taxi for day one way trip to Cingjing is around 1500 TWD - 2000 TWD)

Getting around cingjing
Taxi in Cingjing is not cheap.The driver charges 50 TWD per pax from point to point or per car at 300 TWD from point to point. Second option would be taking the public bus. However, the frequency of the bus are very low. Alternatively, you can walk to most of the attractions (what we did) & only took cab when the distance requires more than 20 mins of walk.

Cingjing Grassland 清境农场

First stop was Cing jing Grassland. Fresh air, green grass and a handful of sheep were left roaming out in the field. Although not many, it is still pretty cool to see these sheep roaming around. They usually go in group but i saw one lone ranger roaming to other park. Reminded me of the pretty and cute little sheep in cartoon aka 喜羊羊与灰太狼. My favorite part of Cing jing was the trail walk that led me back to nature. Despite it being noon, i felt at peace

On the downside, this place is over crowded with tourist even on weekday. So i can't imagine what will happen on weekend. Most prefer to visit the grassland on weekend because there are shows. You know the feeling when you visit a farm hoping to see animals but see more humans ? Yep, that's the feeling. 

Old England /老英格蘭莊園

Spend our late afternoon having tea in this beautiful manor in CingJing, Old England.

Impressive structure build in Cingjing, Old England has attracted many tourist (including us) and couples for wedding shoots. The dreamy weather made the visit to Old England seems more magical. Just that the main characters are both asian! haha. 

Anyway, it was said that all the furniture, sculpture and light was brought in from England. The entire hotel took years and million of TWD to build. It seems more like a personal dream/goal to build this place rather than as investment. & for one to build such Manor in Cingjing, it's not easy. That being said, there is a price to stay in Old England. One night stay in Old England cost around $700 SGD,   

Tourist are not allowed to visit and roam freely in the hotel except guest who are staying in or restaurant's patron. One pax at 450 TWD (exl gst), entitles you a three tier high tea set and "entrance" to Old England. 

Our favorite from the three tier high tea set were the scones. Other than that, the atas high tea set is pretty mediocre. Staff are friendly and provide good service. However when the crowd set in, it is pretty hard to get their attention. I wouldn't say it is worth 450 TWD but considering the "entrance" fee, i guess it is pretty much reasonable.   

Little Swiss / 小瑞士花園

This Mist-erious (Misty) place resemble Northern European atmosphere. Small Switzerland, they called. Some say the best time to visit this place is in the morning, where you can see all the beautiful flowers blooming. While others say that the best time to visit was at night, where you can witness the stunning light and light show in the park. 

Sadly, to me it was just a park with lots of flowers. We visited at night as we arrive around 16:30. The staff was kind enough to let us know that that if we enter the park after 17:00, we can extend visit the park the next day too. The night light show are quite disappointing. 

Hehuanshan 合歡山

" Let light shine on darkness "

It was freezing at 4am. Gear up with our cold wear, we grab bottle of hot milk tea from the 7 eleven and sushi set before setting out. With our food in one hand, we hop on into the mini van to join others. I was very excited to see shooting stars. 

The last time i saw was three years ago, up in the mountainous area in Chiang Rai. We laid on the road on top of one another's leg , feeling thankful and all busy making wishes. I guess they all came true cause i can't remember what i wish. Everything seems to be going quite well for me.  

On our way to the first destination, we saw the sky filled with glittery stars. H download an app for star gazing. The app that tell you what star it is. Pretty cool. Then, our tour guide drove us to second spot to wait for sunrise. Slowly, the skies brighten up, so are we. Mother nature at its best. 

Hehuanshan is definitely my favorite place in Cingjing. So glad we made the choice to join the sun rise tour.Offered by most hotel in Cingjing, the rate for Hehuanshan tour is 400 TWD. If you do not have any contact, feel free to PM me for contacts.

We end our trip in Cingjing & head to Taichung!

xoxo