3 scenic railway journeys in Taiwan

For comfort, ease and affordability, Taiwan’s trains are hard to beat. The rail network forms a neat ring around the island with hundreds of stops, facilitating everything from day trips out of Taipei to weeks-long, city-hopping holidays. On the west coast, the bullet train zips from Taipei to Kaohsiung in just two hours.

As with everywhere in Taiwan, service on these trains is polite and efficient. The food, in particular, has acquired a sort of cult status. No British Rail sandwiches here: instead you have bento boxes, which became a feature of Taiwanese cuisine during the Japanese colonial era. These bentos, however, are filled with pineapple pork ribs, Yilan duck, seasonal vegetables and red rice grown by Taiwan’s indigenous Amis people.

Branching off the main line are heritage railways, built by the Japanese to ferry goods. They’re now used to ferry tourists, who stare open-mouthed at the cloud-cloaked mountains, cherry blossoms and period architecture rolling past the window. Here are three of the best.

There’s a lot of competition, but the Alishan Forest Railway, in Chiayi County, is arguably the most extraordinary of all Taiwan’s rail journeys. The Japanese built this narrow-gauge railway in 1912 to transport timber from the forest to the coast. Today, it’s better known for steam-train journeys in the other direction: out of the city of Chiayi, across Jianan Plain and up into the densely forested mountains of the Alishan National Scenic Area. The forests change from bamboo to cypress and cedar as the train climbs through four climatic zones: tropical, subtropical, temperate and frigid. Watching from your traditional, hinoki-wood carriage, it seems as if a timeless landscape painting is scrolling past your window.

Alishan Station, the terminus, is at an altitude of 2,216m. Here, there are several hotels at which you can stay the night, rising early to catch the Zhushan Sunrise Watching Train. This takes you to the observation deck next to Zhushan Station, where you’ll watch the sun start to peek over Jade Mountain as a sea of cloud pools in the valley below. In spring, the mountains are awash in cherry blossoms, including several species that are unique to Taiwan.

The Pingxi Railway, in New Taipei City, passes an astounding number of attractions over eight miles. It was completed in 1921 by the Japanese, and originally transported coal between the towns of Sandiaoling and Jingtong; now, it’s better known as the setting of the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival. On the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, visitors gather in the towns of Pingxi and Shifen, releasing lanterns into the air and filling the night sky with thousands of hopes and wishes.

You can, however, release a lantern at any time of year. Alight at Shifen station and walk to Shifen Old Street, where you’ll find sky lanterns rising from vendors’ stalls at any time of day or night. You’ll also find street-food stalls, selling deep-fried squid and ice-cream wraps stuffed with peanut brittle and coriander.

About a 30-minute walk away is the 40-metre-wide Shifen Waterfall. The waterfall’s unique branching shape is due to rock ledges on the cliff face, which break up the water’s flow. It thunders into a turquoise pool, churning up a mist that, on sunny days, scatters rainbow colours in the air.

Like the Alishan railway before it, the Neiwan Line in Hsinchu County was built by the Japanese in 1941 to transport timber. These days, its main cargo is tourists, who come to get a taste of Hakka cuisine and culture. The Hakka people have lived here for many generations and have developed their own unique way of life and culinary traditions. Today, they comprise about 15-20% of Taiwan’s population.

Highlights of the route include Beipu and Neiwan, two traditional Hakka villages with street-food stalls, craft shops and museums. If travelling between late April and early June, you’ll see fireflies sparkling in the forests at dusk.

Across the Neiwan Line, you have the chance to try Hakka delicacies. As relative latecomers to Taiwan, the Hakka had to settle for less fertile land but their ingenuity prevailed, as they transformed barren hillsides into rice terraces. Consequently, Hakka cuisine is based mostly around rice; try dishes such as water ban (rice pudding with daikon radish), ban tiao (stir-fried rice noodles) and ziba, glutinous rice balls similar to mochi.