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Taiwan Trails and Tales

@taiwantrailsandtales.com
1.8K followers 304 following 1K posts

I’m a British woman living and working in Taiwan, my partner’s homeland, and I’m here to spam your feed with all things mountains, trails, #hiking and #Taiwan. www.taiwantrailsandtales.com ⛰️🥾🏕️ 🇹🇼🇬🇧

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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 11/10/2026
A silver gull with OPINIONS.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 06/10/2026
taiwantrailsandtales.com/2026/10/03/g...
taiwantrailsandtales.com
GOLDEN CAVE (黃金洞)
Two dramatic cave entrances and remnants of the area’s mining past await on this moderate walk in New Taipei’s Ruifang District.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 06/10/2026
Whether in glorious sun or gloom, I will never tire of the scenery found in New Taipei’s Ruifang District. This newest post on the site details a walk we did there in murky conditions earlier in the year, which was beautiful despite the weather’s best efforts to make it not so.
View from inside a dark, rocky cave looking out through a large, irregular opening. A lone hiker with a backpack stands on a rubble-strewn path just outside, facing away into thick fog that hides a forested slope below.View from inside a dark, rocky cave looking out through a large, irregular opening. A lone hiker with a backpack stands on a rubble-strewn path just outside, facing away into thick fog that hides a forested slope below.Close-up of a hand resting on a layered rock face streaked in mustard yellow, rusty orange, and slate grey. The thin, tilted bands of rock are cracked into small, flaky blocks.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 26/09/2026
The littlies were just tall enough for their big eyes to peak out above the rim of the box and this was their contribution to the conversation: 👶🏻👶🏻: 👀👀
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 26/09/2026
The following conversation unfolded between the grandma (👵🏻) and a roadside fruit vendor (🍑). 🍑: Hey, what are you selling today? 👵🏻: Kids. 🍑: They look like good kids. How much? 👵🏻: One hundred dollars each. 🍑: Not bad! 👵🏻: We only sell two at a time. 🍑: Ah, let me think about it then.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 26/09/2026
Walking up the road to get breakfast in Lishan, we passed a grandma and her three young charges walking down. The grandma and an older girl of around 8 were walking to either side of a trolley cart onto which had been loaded a cardboard box containing a pair of toddlers.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 13/09/2026
Another Xiao Bai Yue ticked off! This time, it’s Mount Dadong in Chiayi’s Zhuqi Township. The walk starts close to the old railway town of Fenqihu, climbing to a high of 1,976 metres before heading back down more or less the same way. taiwantrailsandtales.com/2026/09/05/f...
taiwantrailsandtales.com
FENQIHU’S MOUNT DADONG (奮起湖大凍山)
Most visitors to Fenqihu come for the old street and the lunchboxes. This pleasant trail climbing to one of Chiayi’s lesser-visited Taiwan 100 Minor Peaks is a short scooter ride out of town,…
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 31/08/2026
No problem. Trying to explain made me realise I wasn’t totally sure myself about the how.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 29/08/2026
The water here contains sulphur compounds. Why? As the hot water bubbles up from underground, it dissolves and collects some of the minerals found in the rocks along the way, and Beitou is rich in sulphur. (A couple of hundred years ago, sulphur was quarried in the area.)
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 26/08/2026
It’s a bizarre landscape, and what you can’t know through the photos is the sulphuric smell that lingers in the air here.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 25/08/2026
To be fair, our PMs have a history of being upstaged by their vegetable collaborators *cough* Liz/Lettuce *cough*.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 25/08/2026
Though Dashu (大暑) has official passed, we’re still months away from genuinely cool weather. Still, when in Beitou, a girl can dream. Yesterday’s good company and pleasant wander amidst the mists and the murk and the rain was precisely the tonic for my soul that I needed.
Plumes of steam rise from a rocky geothermal valley strewn with pipes and stone-lined vents, with forested hills fading into misty blue sky in the background.A small wayside temple shrine at dusk, with a red-curtained altar visible through iron bars, a brick incense burner, and a bronze censer lit by a single lamp under a corrugated awning, surrounded by dark forest.A rushing mountain stream cascades over moss-covered boulders through a dense, lush forest of bamboo and broad-leafed trees in Taiwan.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 10/08/2026
What a beautiful little corner.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 09/08/2026
Do you ever see these in France? We used to have one that came back most summers in the village I grew up in. Seeing it was so rare that I would sometimes get up extra early before school to sit by the stream and wait for a bit.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 09/08/2026
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 09/08/2026
This little drama just unfolded outside my back balcony. It was the first time I’d ever seen a kingfisher there and I was surprised because there’s not enough water there to sustain a stable fish population. It turns out the kingfisher’s diet is more varied than just fish!
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 07/08/2026
Well that’s my new fact for the day.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 06/08/2026
I didn’t know you have cicadas in France. I guess they didn’t make it over the channel to England because I don’t remember hearing any when I was a child.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 05/08/2026
Thanks! My favourite is the cicada. I wish I could bottle those colours.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 05/08/2026
Of course, you can enjoy the night scenery year round, but summer is a the best time to spot all the creepy crawlies. (It’s also the only comfortable time to be hiking near the city in the summer.)
A newly emerged cicada with pale, still-soft wings showing green and blue iridescence hangs below its muddy empty exoskeleton on a twig, night photo with dark background.A brown, tree clings vertically to a leaf attempting to nap while a long-horned beetle rests on its rear right leg, rain droplets visible on surrounding foliage, night photo.A green tree frog with a bright yellow throat and large dark eyes clings to a thin branch above broad green leaves, night photo.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 05/08/2026
The latest trail guide covers a city-bound night hike with lots in the way of interesting wildlife. taiwantrailsandtales.com/2026/08/01/f...
taiwantrailsandtales.com
FUYANG ECO PARK NIGHT HIKE (富陽自然生態公園)
Previously a military facility, the little patch of forest between Da’an and Wenshan districts is now a biodiverse habitat where Taipei’s herpers and hikers can come to get close and pe…
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 26/07/2026
I don’t know who maintains it, but it’s a cool idea. A nice use of space.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 26/07/2026
This isn’t my usual kind of hangout, but I found it pleasing enough to share. In a multi-storey carpark in city-bound Luzhou District, a small section had been cultivated as an allotment complete with wormery and hydroponic fish pools.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 22/07/2026
It took me nearby a decade, but I’ve finally gotten around to walking and writing up my final Guguan Hero, Mount Baimao. I guess it’s time to go back and revisit some of the earlier ones now… taiwantrailsandtales.com/2026/07/18/m...
taiwantrailsandtales.com
MOUNT BAIMAO (白毛山)
Mount Baimao is a mostly forested walk that saves its best for last with a dramatically exposed rocky ridge near the summit and sweeping views up Dajia River toward the hot spring town of Guguan.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 19/06/2026
We had no bananas to hand, so went with the tried and tested finger-for-scale approach.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 15/06/2026
snakesoftaiwan.com/oligodon-for...
snakesoftaiwan.com
Snakes of Taiwan: Oligodon formosanus - Taiwan Kukri Snake
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 15/06/2026
A Taiwan kukri snake (赤背松柏根, non-venomous) that was right where my foot was about to fall when I spotted it. The last time I encountered one of these, it thrashed around like a crazy thing, but this one was rather mellow.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 15/06/2026
What an odd coincidence. I agree though, there’s a lot of interesting history here, much of it you’ll only hear about if you actually visit a place.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 14/06/2026
If you’re also curious, you can read more about this community here: tinyurl.com/2ek3nprd And if you like the look of the food (which was very good), the restaurant is here: maps.app.goo.gl/i26TqQ2CNBVD...
tinyurl.com
In Memory of the Lost Army Taoyuan’s Zhongzhen Village
Few people know about the Yunnan-Burma border soldiers. At the close of the Chinese Civil War, the Government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan, while these guerrilla forces stayed behind, ...
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 14/06/2026
It’s my MIL’s birthday today, so we’re having dinner with her at a vegetarian Yunnan shop in Taoyuan’s Pingzhen District. Curiosity about why such a shop would exist in such a place led to me learning about the Yunnan-Burma ROC soldiers who were relocated here in large numbers in the 1950s.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 02/06/2026
Patience and luck were required to get this photo. About 2 months ago, this was one of several holes I saw barbets making on the trail where I hike most often. All bar this one were swiftly abandoned. A month later, I heard chicks inside, and now finally I’ve caught sight of one resident.
A Taiwan barbet (五色鳥) peers out from its nest cavity in a tree trunk, its vivid patchwork head — turquoise, green, yellow, and red — filling the round opening. Dappled forest light filters through foliage in the background.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 01/06/2026
I left these where I found them, but I picked up a couple of pieces of glass.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 01/06/2026
Lots of beach glass too.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 01/06/2026
Very clearly. There was concrete or similar on the reverse of the green one.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 01/06/2026
Artificially ones! (At least in part.)
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 01/06/2026
Beach finds
Five pieces of sea-smoothed rock-like substance are held on the outstretched palm and fingers of a hand. All five rocks are different in colour, but all five are made of an amalgam of parts. One is a green-and-white terrazzo-patterned fragment. There’s a dark conglomerate stone. There’s a small one with larger tan and grey pebble held by a sandy mix. One is a pink granite stone, and the last is a has large white piece with gold veining, likely a floor tile.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 27/05/2026
You’re a braver soul than me. I approach with extreme caution.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 27/05/2026
Isn’t it?! And the expression… I don’t think I’ve ever felt so judged before.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 19/05/2026
Oooh! Now this looks like somewhere I wouldvery much like to patronise.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 18/05/2026
This looks good. Taiwan is gradually getting onboard with sourdough, but it’s taken a while. Sweet bread seems to be popular here too. (Current fav is a company called Celebread.) I reckon you’d have similar struggles here with your dietary restrictions.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 18/05/2026
The Chinese is 獵鷹尖, I think that’s Falcon Peak in English.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 18/05/2026
It and its buddies were very photogenic. I think it’s a moltrecht’s tree frog.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 18/05/2026
An unexpected trip to the south has meant I’ve been able to visit a Tainan trail that’s been on my want-to-visit list for a number of years.
A hiker sits on a broad, rope-anchored rock outcrop at a mountain summit, facing away from the camera toward a sweeping panorama of densely forested ridgelines receding into hazy distance under a partly cloudy sky. They wear a blue t-shirt, grey pants, and orange trail shoes, with a small orange hip pack at their side.View from inside a narrow rock crevice looking upward toward a sliver of sky between two towering cliff walls. A metal rung ladder descends into the dark foreground, while a silhouetted figure stands at the top of the cleft with arms raised in a victory pose, backlit by the bright opening above.A small bright-green tree frog floats on the surface of dark reddish water inside a water butt, viewed from directly above. Its orange-and-black spotted hind legs are splayed wide, and its golden eye is clearly visible. Small debris flecks dot the water surface around it.A hiker crosses a narrow, rust-patched metal suspension bridge over a densely vegetated ravine, gripping the cable handrail. They are photographed from above and behind, surrounded by subtropical forest — tangled trees, cascading grass, and layered undergrowth filling the gorge below
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 18/05/2026
Have you ever given any of them a try? I am not too conservative a diner, but I just cannot bring myself too. If I want dessert, there are so many better choices.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 16/05/2026
It’s people like you who perpetuate this madness!
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 16/05/2026
Weirdly, that makes it sound somewhat better, but I think you’re right. I’d better stick to my crunchy snacks.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 16/05/2026
I don’t think we could be sandwich friends! The thought of so much softness in soft bread makes me feel not OK.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 16/05/2026
Beginning to feel Taiwanese convenience stores are waging a vendetta against the concept of sandwiches.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 12/05/2026
Ant art 😕
A small mound of fine reddish-brown soil on a forest floor scattered with dead leaves and tiny fallen yellow blossoms. Two circular openings near the top of the mound — possibly ant or termite nest entrances — give it an unintentional resemblance to a sad face.
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Taiwan Trails and Tales @taiwantrailsandtales.com · 06/05/2026
Thanks! It required a little patience.
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