There is a tree in Taiwan that never fails to invite tourists to come with a bicycle. I was dying to see that place and when I had the chance to be at the Visitor Information Center in Taitung Bus Station I quickly asked this question. “Do you know where I can find this vast rice field with a tree in the middle?”, I said to the staff of the tourist center.
Chishang was their answer. If Luye Township is known for its hot air balloons then the town of Chishang is the home of the famous rice fields in Taiwan. With its never-ending roads that seem to lead into the heart of the mountains, its rural landscape has a unique charm. A fertile valley sandwiched between two mountain ranges. It is a nice place to explore during summer. Rent a bike from one of the stores near the train station and your cycling adventure will immediately start.
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| The facade of Chishang Station |
How to get here? Visitors can board any express train going to Chishang Station. Regardless of your point of origin, you will be amazed at the wooden structure of Chishang Station upon your arrival. The arches and its clock make its design something to look forward for.
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| The rent of this bike costs NTD 500 for five hours. |
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| The throttle of our electric bike |
Several bike rental stores lined up Zhongzheng Road. Alone or with friends, you will always find a bike that suits your needs. I was looking an ordinary one but my girlfriend and I were offered a four-wheeled two seater bike for a price of NTD 500. I did not know at first that it will be powered solely by a battery until I was told in Chinese how to maneuver the vehicle. A little practice and I became an instant expert.
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| finding our way using a paper map and Google Maps |
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| The rice fields of Chishang |
My girlfriend was skeptical if I will be able to use the bike properly. It was my first time to handle an electric bike and I was afraid at first. Using the Chinese map that was handed to us by the bicycle store owner and Google Maps through our smart phones, we tracked our way along the busy road of Taitung. Big trucks and large vehicles passed by as I drove at the roadside. It was a scary ride until we find ourselves in the rice fields of Chishang. Yehey!
Unfortunately, it was already the harvest season and most of the grown rice was already gone leaving an empty plot ready for the next planting season. We even saw a farmer on his tractor mechanically and efficiently clearing his land. As the machine goes back and forth across the field, some white birds follow. The fowls were probably looking for earthworms as the tractor plows the soil and exposes anything underneath.
Even though we did not see the rice paddies of Chishang in its green splendor, the beautiful landscape in the town made us feel that going here was a right decision. It is only in the East Rift Valley Scenic Area that you can find this kind of postcard scenery. Of course, the rural towns of Yilan province has its own fair share of picture perfect rice fields but Chishang is a different animal. It is bordered by the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range of Taiwan creating a flat paradise in the middle. You can never escape its natural beauty unless you go either to the north of the island towards Taipei or to the south going to Kenting.
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| Chisang town road map. Highway 197 is Chifu Road. The famous tree of Taitung can be found in Brown Avenue |
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| An intersection in Chifu Road |
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| Cycling along Chifu Road. My girlfriend took this picture since I was the one on the driver's seat. |
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| Upon turning right at 9-2 Township Road |
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| We met this group of tourist after turning right at Brown Avenue. They were going crazy with the large picture frames on the right side of this photo. |
Chifu Road. The highway leading to the famous tree of Taitung. At our bike's maximum speed, I drove as fast as I could while my girlfriend records the best moments of our adventure. To get to our destination, I turned right upon reaching 9-2 Township Road and then turned right again at Brown Avenue. There were many tourists on this highway and it was like a night market. Lovers, friends, and families gather at two giant wooden picture frames standing vertically at its corner. With a layer of clouds hiding a mountain range behind the picture frame, it was a great place to open my tripod and have pictures with my sweetheart. However, the large number of people at this place prompted us to leave the place and return later to have our photos.
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| Continuing our cycling journey in Brown Avenue |
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| What a view! |
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| On the left side of this photo is the famous Kaneshiro tree |
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| I parked the bike on the roadside trusting that no other tourist would steal our bike. |
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| There were many people taking photos with the Kaneshiro tree. Waiting for them was useless since another batch of people would replace them to take also their own selfies and groupies. |
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Like Takeshi Kaneshiro, I took a rest under this tree. Notice the support on its branches, this tree had fallen down during a typhoon but due to the love of the Taiwanese people it stood once again to give joy for every tourist who visits the town of Chishang.
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| I see you is the title of the Eva Air commercial. |
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| bronze kettle |
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| The bench which the people sat on to take pictures |
We found the tree after driving 1.5 kilometers from the picture frame area. An example of successful marketing, this ordinary living thing in the middle of the rice field became an instant tourist attraction in Taiwan. EVA Air tapped the star power of Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro to create a commercial that no one will never forget. In the advertisement, Kaneshiro cycled along the green rice paddies of Chishang and then stopped at this tree. He took his time here to think while sitting under the shade of its branches. Ever since that commercial went to air, the Taiwanese audience had fallen in love with the place attracting large numbers of local tourists to come to Taitung and experience the joy of biking here.
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| travelling solo |
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| Travelling with my girlfriend. The difference is big! It's a different kind of journey when you explore new places with your sweetheart. |
After getting our photos at the Takeshi tree, we went back to the picture frame area. There were a few tourists left around so getting a few clicks was easy. It was a great set of pictures and it was like a prenuptial pictorial.
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| At the platform in Chishang Station |
We were able to return our bike at the store near Chishang Station minutes before an express train arrived at the platform. Our hungry stomachs were already torturing us as soon as the train left at Chishang Station. Biscuits and water were not enough to solve our problem and a food trip in Taitung Night Market was our only solution. (To be continued …)
PLACES TO VISIT IN TAITUNG (台東) - EAST RIFT VALLEY (花東縱谷)
Sakura Series - Taiwan
2024 Forecast
Taipei 101 first flowers
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Taipei Flower Test Center
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Broadwood Park
Sunshine Sports Park kawazu sakura
Wuling Farm (武陵農場)
SYS kawazu sakura
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
CKS Memorial Hall
Shibafen Yoshino Sakura
Hope River
Dongfang Temple
Tianyuan Palace
Neicou Stream Trail
Orange Garden Cafe
Yangming Park Visitor Information Center
Yangming Park Service Center Bus Stop
Huashan Road
Qianshan Park
Zhongshan Hall Entrance
Tenglong Sakura Farm
Flower Test Center Shōwa Sakura
Neihu Creek Trail
Shulin Land Office
Xióng Kōng Cherry Blossom Forest
Lung Yen Sakura Forest
Yangming Park cherry stream
Yangming Park fountain
CKS Memorial Hall Tairyō sakura
Wugu District Tianyi Road
CKS Memorial Hall yaesakura
Loving Farm
Yong Long Farm
Zhongbaling Sakura Road
Sun Link Sea
Tai'an Police Station
Cherry Hill Slope
Hsinchu Park
Taipei 101
Kāng Gào Kēng Creek
New Garden City
Broadwood Park
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Alishan Ranger Station
Alishan House
Alishan Police Station
Alishan Forest Railway
Alishan Station
Alishan Entrance
Alishan Gou Hotel
Alishan Magnolia Garden
Wulai tour
Wun Chang Elementary School
Bishanyan
Sanzhi Sansei Trail
Sakura Series - Taiwan
Nei Cuo Stream
Orange Garden Cafe
Sansei Trail
Tenglong Sakura Farm
Yangming Park Cherry Stream
Yangming Park Fountain
Flower Test Center
Broadwood Park
New Garden City
Yinghua Park
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Yangmingshan Visitor Center
Taipei 101
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Sakura Series - Japan
Kamonyama Park
Near the Nippon Maru Memorial Park
Shinko Park
Minato-mirai 21 area
Tokyo Tech Suzukakedai Campus
Onda River
Tenryuji
Byodoin
Kiyomizudera
Himuro shrine and Yakushi-ji Temple
Hōryū-ji Temple
Nara Park attractions
Tokyo Tech Ookayama Campus
Sumida River
Tsuruma Park
Gion
Maple Series
Taipei Aowanda
Shimen Dam
Alishan
Aowanda
Shanlinxi
Taoyuan Valley Garden
Fushoushan Farm
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| Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis |
The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)
Always in my heart
MRT birdman
Valentine's Day
Tulips Festival
2018 Taipei Lantern Festival
City of Azaleas
Linji Huguo Temple
Nanjichang Night Market
Gudetama Chef restaurant
Dalongdong Bao'an Temple
Shilin hollyhocks
Ningxia Night Market
Ximending graffiti
Discovery Center of Taipei
Chunghwa Postal Museum
Double-Decker Bus
Shilin Cold Balls
Jingimoo
GomanMango
mud volcanic ice
Fire and Ice Dumpling
Opium Fen-Yuan
Ichiran Ramen
Liu Shandong Beef Noodles
hydrangea flowers
National Palace Museum
Other attractions in Taipei
Taipei on a budget
Japanese buildings
Dāoxiāomiàn beef noodles
Presidential Office Building
Yongkang St. and Elephant Mountain
CKS and SYS Hall
City tour
Beitou ramen
MRT Monopoly Game
Winter city tour
Zhicheng Park
Shilin Plum Blossom
Art museums
Shopping in Taipei
Summer desserts
Qingtiangang
Qixingshan hiking
2015 Calla lily
2016 Calla lily
Beitou tour
Beitou-Zhuzihu tour
NTU
Confucius Temple
2015 Dadaocheng Festival
Puppet Museum
Fantasy Ice World
2016 Bread Show
Strawberry picking
2015 Rose Garden
Modern Toilet
Shilin Night Market
NASA Exhibit
Raohe Night Market
Longshan Temple
2013 Taipei Zoo
Maokong Gondola
Lupin flowers
Taipei 101 day visit
Taipei 101 night visit
Tiger Mountain
Din Tai Fung
Taipei Story House
2014 Flower Show
Chrysanthemum Show
Miramar Ferris wheel
Miniatures Museum
Archery
1600 Pandas
Wulaoguo hot pot
Upside Down House
2016 101 Fireworks
New Taipei
Tamsui Pumpkin Tunnel
Shifen Waterfall
2017 Sand Sculpture
Dragon Caves
New Taipei tour
2016 Kite Festival
Pingxi Crags
Bitou Cape
2016 Sand Sculpture
2015 Christmasland
Juming - Jinshan
Houtong - Pingxi
Sandiaoling Waterfall
Jiufen foodtrip
Guanyinshan hike
Yehliu Ocean World
2014 Kite Festival
Pingxi Rail tour
Jinguashi tour
Vigor Kobo Pineapple
British Consulate
Yehliu Geopark
2014 Sand Sculpture
Paragliding
2014 Christmasland
2014 Pingxi Lantern
firefly watching
Yingge Ceramics Street
Jiufen tour
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