Journey into Taiwan: Tai Chung-Cing Jing-Sun Moon Lake

Reach Taipei TaoYuan Airport by 1.45pm

Out of gate by 2.15pm latest

1) Travel from Airport to TaiChung

Locate UBus no. 705 Stand. UBus Ticketing counter is there.

http://www.taoyuan-airport.com/english/hight-speed-rail

- Shuttle bus to THSR Taoyuan Station

THSR Taoyuan Station - Taoyuan Airport

- Shuttle information
Ticket price: full fare NT$30, half fare NT$15.

Tickets must be purchased ahead of time for each journey.

Tickets are sold at the following locations:
(1) Taoyuan Airport: UBUS service counters at Arrivals Lobby of Terminals 1 and 2.
(2) THSR Taoyuan Station: platform 1 at bus depot.
Intervals: 5 - 10 minutes intervals during peak times.

‧Service number and business hours
Toll-free hotline: 0800-241560 (Business hours: 24HR)
Terminal 1 counter: +886-3-3834779 (Business hours: 06:00 - 24:00)
Terminal 2 counter: +886-3-3833552 (Business hours: 06:00 - 24:00)
THSR Taoyuan Station: 0913085530. (Business hours: 07:00 - 23:45)

2) Arrive at TaoYuan HSR

At TaoYuan HSR Station, buy ticket (from machine or from counter is up to you).

Journey is about 40mins. NT$540

http://www.thsrc.com.tw/en/index.asp

Call 王先生(0927815299)

once HSR railway tickets are bought and inform him of time of arrival.

Enter gate with ticket and follow sign-age to South Platform (not North Platform). Go down this escalator.

There are 12 cars per train. If your seat happen to be at Car 2,

Go to Car 2 area and wait for train.

Journey takes about 40 mins.

3) Arrive at TaiChung HSR Staion around 3.30 to 4pm

Meet王先生at 2樓麥當勞

Travel to Cing Jing via pre booked cab

Est arrival at Vienna Pleasance Cottage  around 5-6pm.

Day 1: Arrive at Cing Jing Part 1

4) Explore around hotel area for 1st day.

Ask about recommended evening walks.

Where to eat?

Lushan Hotspring Bus

6pm depart & 9pm back

迎曦兩人房

For 2 nights:  2/4 & 3/4

http://www.vienna.com.tw/index.php

5) Explore CingJing

http://www.cingjing.com.tw/map/map_h03.asp

Day 2: Cing Jing Part 2

6) He Huan Shan 合歡山

王先生 pick us up at 8.30am

Hehuanshan (Chinese: 合歡山; pinyin: Héhuān Shān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ha̍p-hoan-soaⁿ; also called Joy Mountain) is a 3,416 metres (11,207 ft) high mountain in Central Taiwan. The peak lies on the boundaries of Nantou and Hualien counties and is within the Taroko Gorge National Park. Hehuanshan is a popular destination for the local people of central Taiwan. The 3,421-metre East Peak and 3,422-metre North Peak of Hehuanshan are actually both higher than the main peak.

7) Green Green Grassland  (check with owner of minsu)

This wide grassy plain is the most popular site of the Qingjing Veterans Farm; the herds of sheep grazing on the land, the azure skies above, and the verdant mountains in the horizon have a distinct European air. The sheep here are very friendly; visitors usually have their pictures taken with them. Then there is the sheep shearing show, with sheep shearers all the way from New Zeland hairdressing these furry farm animals for the audience’s enjoyment.

Buy your tickets to Green Green Grassland from the owner of Vienna Pleasance Cottage.

On weekday, the owner will drive you up the Grassland and you can walked back yourself. On weekends, you have to catch the local bus from the Cingjing Tourist Recreation Centre at NT15.

Day 3: Arrive at Sun Moon Lake

 Check in to

Sun Moon Lake Guesthouse．

Shuishehai Resort Hotel

日月潭水社海渡假民宿

Resort is very near to the sun moon lake pier,

less than 1 min walk away and the tourist information centre

is also less than 5 mins away.

8) Explore Sun Moon Lake

http://sunmoonlake.tranews.com/

http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/English/

§Explore surrounding area within Minsu

§Take Boat Ride (approx NT$300)

Boats launch from four points: Shuishe Village, Ita Thao Village, Xuanguang Temple, and Chaowu (the last for group excursions). Ticket booths are right at the piers.

Shuishe Pier / Meihe Garden 水社村碼頭/梅荷園 – The pier and adjacent boardwalk are a popular night-time attraction, enhanced with pretty lighting and featuring regular dancing-fountain shows with music. Boardwalk shops offer alfresco seating. Above one end of the pier is Meihe Garden, a calm European-style landscaped oasis with dark-wood latticework and low stone walls. It too is lit up at night, adding to the waterfront’s air of romance. Located at the foot of long-off-limits Hanbi Peninsula, this was once site of a military-police outpost protecting Chiang Kai-shek’s villa.

Ita Thao Village 伊達紹村/碼頭 – This is the main Thao-tribe settlement. Today it is bursting with tourist-oriented gift outlets, eateries, and places to stay. Regular Thao-theme entertainment is offered into the evening at the attractive pier area, with its sparkling yacht-shaped visitor center.

Xuanguang Temple 玄光寺 – This small temple enshrines a statue of Master Xuanzang. Almost as famous as the temple is the rustic “Grandma’s Tea Eggs” stand just off the pier, in place over 50 years, grandma still working. I, a stifled tea-egg aficionado with high cholesterol counts, cheat with a vengeance here each visit. The line-ups don’t lie.

Cable-Car Soaring (NT$300)
The immensely popular Sun Moon Lake Ropeway (www.ropeway.com.tw), a short boardwalk stroll from Ita Thao Village (the surround-lake bus also stops nearby), provides a picturesque aerial ride between Sun Moon Lake and Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, going over two mountain passes. A combined cable-car and cultural-village ticket brings a significant discount.

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village九族文化村  (www.nine.com.tw) – This large theme park is spread over a gently sloping mountain valley. The informative Aboriginal Villages section celebrates Taiwan’s indigenous peoples with scores of architectural replicas, song-and-dance shows, and demos of traditional cooking methods, weaving, pestle music, and more. There’s also a games/rides area and landscaped European Garden area.

Nantou bus that goes around the piers (NT$80)

Get on a bus at the center, get off at any stop,

stay however long you like, and hop on the next

arriving bus.

Service is 9 to 6;

a one-day unlimited ticket is just NT$80;

bicycles are allowed on board

Day 4: Leave for Taichung

Check out from日月潭水社海渡假民宿 around 12pm (depends on point 2)

à Lunch

2) Continue with exploring Sun Moon Lake if unable to complete itinerary from yesterday

3) Travel to Taichung

Reach

By 2-3pm (or later)

Check in

Explore area/rest