Yunlin Tea Region
One township, coffee at 400 m and high-mountain tea at 1,200. Gukeng lets the two get on with their own business: Huashan and Zhanghu turned to garden cafés and hill trails, while Caoling and Shibi kept making high-mountain tea. Linnei sits lower still, 200 to 400 m.
Itineraries3
- A day of Huashan coffee and trailsDay tripGukeng town → the garden cafés of Huashan → the numbered hill trails, chosen by how far you want to walk → tea gardens on the slope → Zhanghu → the night viewThe trails here are numbered — one, two, and so on — so the sign tells you which path you are on. It is an unusual system in Taiwan and a kind one for visitors who do not read Chinese.
- A day on the Caoling and Shibi heightsDay tripGukeng → Caoling, above 1,000 m → the Shibi tea district → high gardens and the view → moso bamboo → back downCaoling and Shibi sit at 1,000–1,200 m, eight hundred metres above the coffee belt — an hour’s drive apart.
- Half a day at LinneiDay tripThe Linnei tea district at 200–400 m → the leisure farms around Pingding → the gardens → backLow and flat, and easy to bolt onto a Gukeng day at either end.
Sights and trails
A whole network laid out when the lower slopes changed direction, numbered and linking tea gardens, coffee groves and the ridge. Pick a number to suit how long you want to be out.
Inside the amusement park, collecting tea ware and tea customs from around the world. A completely different angle from the gardens up the hill, and a useful stop with children.
The Zhushan side of Caoling brings you to the Taiji gorge and the Sky Ladder. You can run this together with Zhushan in Nantou — it is the same block of mountain.
Things you can do yourself
Gukeng is one of the few places in Taiwan growing both. Drinking the two on the same hill on the same day is something you cannot do elsewhere; most Huashan cafés serve tea as well.