A Day in Town: Nantou, Zhongliao, Jiji, Mingjian, Caotun (Nantou County)

I just completed my twenty-seventh trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in Taiwan. My destination this time was Nantou County, the second largest administrative region by area in Taiwan, after Hualien County. The only non-coastal county, Nantou is home to the highest mountain (Yushan), the largest lake (Sun Moon Lake), and the longest river (Zhuoshui River) in Taiwan. During my last trip a year ago, I had visited four of the 13 townships administered by Nantou County, so this time I visited another five: Nantou, Zhongliao, Jiji, Mingjian, and Caotun, which collectively form the northwestern part of this landlocked county. 

I spent my first day in Nantou City, a county-administered city in northwestern Nantou County. It lies between the Bagua Mountains and the Maoluo River and is the seat of Nantou County.  I began by taking the HSR to Taichung, and then transferred to a bus for Nantou City center. Getting off the bus, I walked through several busy neighborhoods to reach Renshou Park, previously the site of a Han Chinese settlement in Nantou City dating back to the 18th century. The park now features a century-old fig tree with tens of squirrels jumping around all day long, earning it the nickname Squirrels Park.  Leaving the downtown area, I hiked towards the iconic Bagua Mountains and came across countless orchards of pineapple and lychee, two of Nantou's most famous fruits. 

About two and a half hours into my exploration, I reached Nangang Industrial Park, the largest industrial site of Nantou County, located in the rolling hills adjacent to the Bagua Mountains. Looking at the park's fully-listed directory board, I had a strong sense of nostalgia: I visited many factories here over 30 years ago, but none of them remained on the directory board now. I continued downhill and arrived at the place that was previously known as Yinpankou, which literally means "a fortified settlement's gate". Featuring a circular structure with a house at its center, a giant artwork stood at the intersection of two main roads, symbolizing the place's history: an important settlement heavily fortified with troops stationed around against the backdrop of the Lin Shuangwen Incident (1787-1788), one of the three major rebellions under the rule of the Qing dynasty in Taiwan. About an hour later, I checked into my hostel in Nantou City. On this day, I visited 20 of Nantou City's 34 villages.

On the second day, I visited Zhongliao, a rural township nestled amidst hills and surrounded by Nantou City and the townships of Caotun, Guoxing, Shuili, Jiji, and Mingjian. I began by taking a bus to Xianchinliao, a traditional name which literally means "countrymen's cottage" and refers to one of the three major Han Chinese settlements in Zhongliao over two centuries ago. Having walked around the neighborhood, I crossed the bridge over Maoluo River and reached Bachixian, which literally means "the god of eight herbs" and was the traditional name of another early Han Chinese settlement.

About three hours into my journey, I arrived at Shuangwen Village, which was named after Lin Shuangwen, the rebel leader who, along with his followers, once stayed here to fight against the Qing Dynasty during the 1787 rebellion. Having climbed the last peak, I started descending and was taken aback by a group of goats that were roaming across my path. Fortunately, these goats were not aggressive, so I got around them and continued my way home. Throughout the day, I visited seven of the 18 villages administered by Zhongliao Township.

On the third day, I visited Jiji, the smallest township in Nantou both by area and by population. With its ideal location as the gateway to the abundant forest resources in central Taiwan, however, Jiji became a hub of camphor production, logging, and regional commerce. Jiji prospered so well that it was once nicknamed Little Taipei. I first took a bus to Zhuoshui, a village of Mingjian Township bordering Jiji and the starting point of the nationally renowned Jiji Greenery Tunnel. A 4.5-kilometer-long road, it was called "tunnel" because countless camphor trees, planted as early as 1931, were lined up on both sides and formed a roof over nearly the entire length of the road. I hiked over the "tunnel" and arrived at Jiji Weir, a crucial infrastructure project for water supply to Changhua and Yunlin Counties.

After lunch, I continued my journey eastward. An hour later, I arrived at Mingxin Academy, a former tutorial academy built in 1885 as the first private school within the area. Just a kilometer away stood a giant rock inscribed with archaic Chinese words that literally mean "civilizing the barbarians", serving as a testament to Qing Dynasty's effort - beginning in the 1870s by building several west-east cross trails - to effectively govern the lands that were the traditional territories of the indigenous people. On this day, I passed through nine of Jiji's 11 villages.

I spent my fourth day in Mingjian, a rural township and the second smallest township by area in Nantou County, after Jiji Township. The name Mingjian originates from a Japanese transliteration of the original Taiwanese Hokkien name, Làm-á, which literally means "a very wet place". During Japanese rule, the name was changed to Nama (名間) which closely matched the Taiwanese pronunciation but with different kanji for the name. This written form has been retained to this day, with the characters pronounced "míngjiān" in Mandarin Chinese, hence the name. I set off by taking a bus to Chiaho, a village of Nantou City. Getting off the bus, I hiked southward and entered Mingjian Township in a matter of minutes. An hour later, a heart-shape, giant artwork with the slogan "Happy Nantou" caught my eye. I turned west and soon came across endless tea plantations, a representative scene of Mingjian that is known for its high-quality tea.

About three hours into my exploration, I arrived at Zhuoshui Station, one of the seven railway stations on the Jiji Line. Originally built to facilitate delivery of construction materials to a power plant at Sun Moon Lake in the 1920s, Jiji Line is the only railway service in Nantou County, now operated as a heritage railway catering to tourists. About a 20-minute walk from Zhuoshui Station was the Leaning Transmission Tower of Mingjian, a remnant of the catastrophic 921 Earthquake that hit central Taiwan in 1999. Mimicking the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the site is a new tourist spot and a powerful testament to the natural disaster that killed nearly 3,000 people 26 years ago. Along the way, I visited eight of the 23 villages administered by Mingjian Township.

On the fifth day, I visited Caotun, an urban township in the northwestern corner of the county, bordering Taichung City to the north and Changhua County to the west. With a population close to 100,000, Caotun is the most populous township not only in Nantou County but also in Taiwan. After checking out, I set out on foot from my hostel. About an hour later, I reached a building that belonged to National Chung Hsing University - Nantou Campus. Interestingly, the road in front of the building served as a boundary: on the right side it was still Nantou City, yet on the left side it was already Caotun Township. Another hour had passed, and I reached a historical site called Caoxietun, the old name of Caotun which literally means "straw shoes mound", with an interesting story behind it: after long travels, travelers' straw shoes were worn out. They bought new pairs from the straw shoes shops nearby, and discarded the old ones. Over time, myriads of discarded straw shoes were piled up like a mound, hence the name.

Entering the city center, I strolled around several busy neighborhoods and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, particularly the iconic Caotun Circle where five major roads met and radiated out. Leaving the city center, I headed west towards Changhua County, imagining Han Chinese immigrants arriving in the opposite direction, looking for their new life over two centuries ago. An hour later, I reached National Caotun Commercial & Industrial Vocational Senior High School, where I boarded a bus home. On this day, I walked over 12 of Caotun's 27 villages.

During my five-day trip, I stayed at a hostel located in Zhongxing New Village, an urban village built to function as the seat of the government of Taiwan Province. Ground was broken in November, 1955, and with all buildings owned by the government, Zhongxing New Village was a massive, multi-year, strictly planned and controlled development project. Two years later, the provincial government held its first meeting at Zhongxing New Village, marking the beginning of rapid growth in the area. The complex continued to grow in the decades that followed, with a population reaching 40,000 at its peak. In 1998, the government began a reform aimed to streamline its four-tier organization to a three-tier entity. As such, the functioning of the provincial government was suspended; in 2018, the government of Taiwan Province was officially abolished. At the same time, Zhongxing New Village likewise declined rapidly; at this time, the population there is just over 2,000, about 5% of that at its peak. The hostel I stayed at was previously a dorm - there were still thousands of vacant dormitories lying vacant at Zhongxing New Village, waiting to be repurposed or revitalized. This is why I love backpacking: during the trip I always learn something fascinating, insightful, and inspiring about the locale that can't be experienced otherwise.