Sanxiantai, Taiwan's dragon bridge

The Terrace of the immortals

Sanxiantai 三仙台 (also spelled Sansiantai) is a small island few meters off the coast in the vicinity of Chenggong town in Taitung County. The name means "Platform of the three immortals" and refers to the 3 big rocks, that give this island its unique shape. After over 60km on the back of a scooter, I was released, that we have reached our final destination of our Taitung tour. It was after 3pm, when we decided to take a stroll around this famous landmark of Eastern Taiwan.

Sanxiantai from the distance. The three rocks are clearly visible.

You will need to pay 15NTD, if you enter with a scooter. There's a big parking space available, one part is reserved for scooters. Sanxiantai is about 15min away from Chenggong, if you drive 60km/h. It's definitely a place you need to see, if you're in this part of Taiwan. It's better, if my photos speak on my behalf:

My wife checking herself in the mirror, before we moved on.

The parking space for scooters and disabled.

Approaching Sanxiantai.

Almost there.

View on the left - direction of northern Taitung County.

View on the right - magical Sanxiantai and the 8 arched bridge.

The bridge is supposed to resemble a dragon. It was built in 1987 (source).

Another view on the bridge.

A closer look.

And then we decided to cross it.

I have to say, if you're not fit like me, it's quite exhausting to cross. Also due to humidity.

A view on the Pacific - beautiful.

I love this photo!

The view on the island. The rocks are really huge.

Walking on a wooden walkway is pleasant. My wife was enjoying it.

However, we decided to return.

We didn't go too far inside the island, because it was nearly 4 pm and we had a long scooter drive back to Taitung City (around 60km) and we didn't want to come back too late. There is so much to walk around on this island, you can follow the designated routes and have fun. Our Taitung tour however ends here, but this was only the first day of our trip to Eastern Taiwan. In my upcoming posts you will be able to read a post about Taitung Night Market, a thorough introduction of Taitung City, the train ride to Hualien, an introduction of Hualien City with the night markets and at last our adventure in the Taroko gorge! Not sure, how long I will need to write about these topics, but I have share my photos and observations with you, because those places were really awesome. Please stay tuned and enjoy touring Eastern Taiwan with me.

This video was made by someone, who was lucky to see Sanxiantai in the early morning.

View Larger Map - This is a map of our Taitung tour 2011. The tour ends here.

Our tour along Taitung's northern coast is over, click on the link below or see the big map of the whole tour or continue to read about food in Taitung Night Market (coming up).

Chenggong :Before [Taitung Tour 2011] Next: Back to the start>>

[My TAITUNG TOUR MAP][My TAIWAN TRAVEL page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

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Xiaoyeliu, the little Yeliu

Eastern Taiwan's curious rock formations

Xiaoyeliu 小野柳 (sometimes spelled as Shiauyeliou, Siaoyeliou or Little Yehliou) is named after Yeliu, one of Taiwan's natural wonders located on the northern coast. Xiaoyeliu is similar, but smaller and also less occupied by tourists. It didn't impress me as much as its big brother, but nevertheless, it's definitely one of the highlights of Taitung county. If you happen to be near Taitung City, you should pay Xiaoyeliu a visit. It's found very close to the Fugang village.

Here are some of my photos of Little Yehliou:

You don't pay an entrance fee, but when you leave, they will charge you 15 NTD for parking the scooter. The park nearby is clean with shops, where you can buy food and drinks.

Click to enlarge the map to see Xiaoyeliou's famous spots.

A path lead us down to the coast, where the curious rock formations are found.

And this is the most famous part of Xiaoyeliu.

The rocks are like missiles directed to the sky. Amazing!

Interesting formations are seen everywhere.

Another view.

The Green Island is seen on the left.

Huge rocks scattered all over.

The other side.

We didn't stay too long here, because we had so many things to see that day. But the area is small, maybe half an hour is enough to spend here by taking few photos and walking around the rocks. You have to be careful, though, it's a little dangerous to walk around some parts, as there are many sharp edges and deep gorges. I wouldn't drag my kids too far inside, however many tourists do. Be smart and you can still have fun. Read more about Xiaoyeliu here.

My cute driver walking back to the scooter.

I've spotted this formation on the way out: It looks like Taiwan :-)

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To continue our tour along Taitung's northern coast, click on the link below or see the map.

Fugang harbor :Before [Taitung Tour 2011] Next: Jialulan>>

[My TAITUNG TOUR MAP][My TAIWAN TRAVEL page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

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Taitung City in the morning

Let our Taitung trip begin

After we've flown in Taitung and brought our things to the homestay, we were ready to start our sightseeing! We rented a scooter next to the Taitung Railway Station (400 NTD or 9 Eur) and soon rushed off to Taitung's City center. This part of our trip wasn't the most spectacular, as the weather was very cloudy and we didn't really see much of the city.

My wifey was my driver that day. She looked like a gangster, though.

We were riding on one of Taitung's main roads.

And then I spotted a hill inside the city with a beautiful pagoda and asked my wife to bring us there. It turned out to be one of Taitung City's most prominent spots.

This is a paifang, that leads to the Taitung's Martyrs' Shrine.

The famous Long Feng Tower on the left.

Next to the towers are stairs that lead on top of the hill. The view was beautiful.

Taitung City was below us and everything looked very small.

After that we continued south, closer to the coast. We stopped for breakfast.

Mother and daughter were watching cartoons in this small breakfast shop.

We had sandwiches, veggies and coffee and the food was really tasty.

After that the real tour begun: We were heading north: Destination Sanxiantai!

The beautiful Green Island in the distance was captivating.

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When we saw the Pacific ocean, we knew that it will be an extraordinary day. And indeed, we enjoyed some of the most beautiful views in Taiwan: It was truly magical. Click on the links below to follow our Taitung tour 2011 and see what we saw on our journey!

From Taipei to Taitung :Before [Taitung Tour 2011] Next: Fugang>>

[My TAITUNG TOUR MAP][My TAIWAN TRAVEL page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

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Flying from Taipei to Taitung

Let me tell you how to fly inside Taiwan

Flying from Taipei to Taitung is the most convenient way to discover this part of Taiwan.

Our 3 day trip to Eastern Taiwan started very early: The buzzer woke us up at 5 am on a Friday! We had to catch the flight at 7:30 from Songshan Airport and since my lady needs a lot of time to get dolled up before a trip, 5 was the latest I allowed her to snooze. After we left our apartment, we took the first MRT at 6 something and reached Songshan Airport MRT station at around 7. There was a possibility to take a plane at 12.30, but because I didn't want to waste time, I thought it's better to reach Taitung City as early as possible. We booked the flights on the airline's website Uniair.com (part of EVA Air) and we paid 1925 NTD per person (around 45 Eur). The tickets are valid for a year, which is awesome, because it means that you control the date of your departure. However, we decided to fly now, because later this year we will be very busy and also because I was eager to escape my stressful job for a little while.

Let me show you in pictures how the flight from Taipei to Taitung looks like:

This is Songshan Airport in the early morning.

Inside was full of people, mostly young ones. Pupils and students have holidays in August.

We had to find Uniair's counter and give our IDs (in my case the ARC). After that we got our tickets and continued to the security check. You need to carry your own luggage.

The line waiting for the security check wasn't too long.

In around 5 minutes we reached the scanner and things went smoothly.

This is the line waiting for the shuttle bus, that brings you to the plane. Here we had to wait longer and when we boarded the bus, it took a lot of time before it moved to the plane.

Photo taken from the bus: Passing by some big birds.

Boarding the plane. It was already 7.45 when we entered the plane.

The plane was very small, 2 rows on the left, 3 on the right.

My legs were touching the seat in front of me. The stewardesses were friendly and served drinks, but no food, because the flight was too short: Only around 40 minutes! It was a pity, that none of us had a window seat. The person next to us could enjoy the beautiful views, we could just a little something from afar. But that's because it's the high season and most of the flights are heavily booked. I hope next time I can sit at the window and take photos.

Landing in Taitung was a bit rough, but still ok. The airport looked very cute.

This telephone caught my attention. Interesting, isn't it?

Taitung County is home to aboriginal Taiwanese and it's felt on every corner.

The small airport is very neat and embellished with local subtropical plants.

Our bed in the homestay was big and cozy.

We decided to stay in a homestay in the northern outskirts of Taitung City, close to the railway station. We paid 1380 NTD for a night (around 33 Eur). The owner Camellia was very friendly, she even picked us up with her own car from the airport and brought us to her house. She also gave us maps and told us where are all the best spots in Taitung County and also spoke excellent English with me. The house is new and big and has many rooms (3 floors I think), which were mostly occupied by young people. The whole neighborhood is peaceful. It's very close to a baseball stadium, though. I'm not sure how noisy it is, when there's a game. The place is called Camellia Homestay, here is their blog and Facebook Page. If you want to stay in Camellia's house, it's best you call her (info on website) and reserve a room. You will need to pay half before and half later, very simple. I highly recommend this places - the prices and the service were top.

After we left the luggage in our room, we decided to rent a scooter near Taitung train station (these shops are only found there). We paid 400 NTD (around 9 Eur) for 24 hours. And then we started to cruise around Taitung City, have our breakfast and at last decided to ride along Taitung County's northern coast all the way up to Chenggong 成功鎮 and Sanxientai 三仙台 (our last destination), which is around 57km away from each other.

I took several photos from the scooter - but kids, don't try this, it's dangerous.

It was a tough ride, we drove several hours and made many stops and the most famous places. In my upcoming posts I will introduce these beautiful spots to you.

Start to read about our Taitung coastal tour 2011 here>>

[My TAIWAN TRAVEL page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

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