🚣🏻 Sun Moon Lake
Edited by Ming-Hung Fan
Sun Moon Lake is a famous lake in Nantou County, Taiwan. Every year, It attracts around 6 million visitors to view its outstanding scenery. Lalu Island is located in the middle of the lake, forming the lake into two parts: a crescent moon shape and a round sun. [Website 1] This is the reason why it is called “Sun Moon Lake”.
Visitors can enjoy the fresh air, tranquility, and tasty Taiwanese cuisine, and explore indigenous culture. Sun Moon Lake is surrounded by mountains which are fabulous for hiking and you can immerse yourself in nature filled with green trees and fresh air.
🖧 History
Sun Moon Lake area was one of the three biggest basins in Taiwan. In the long run, the landscape changes with the earth’s crust, forming several lakes and fertile basin plains. Sun Moon Lake served as hydropower from 1919, and a 15-kilometer water tunnel from Wujie connected to Sun Moon Lake, leveraging the 320-meter difference in height to generate electricity.[Website 1] We can find multiple historic temples, including Wenwu Temple, Ci’en Pagoda, The Wuchang Temple, and Longfeng Temple, and their history conveys the iteration of this place.
🚌 How to get there
It’s recommended that you travel from Taichung because you might spend 2 hours to Sun Moon Lake compared to 3 or 4 hours from Taipei. If you can rent a car to get there, it is the best choice because the public bus takes longer time. There are Tainwain tourist shuttles that can take you from Taichung International Airport to Sun Moon Lake directly, but if you miss one, you have to wait 2 hours for the next shuttle. At Sun Moon Lake, you can make use of the bus there to visit different attractions nearby. [Website 1]
⛺ Must-visit spots
Wenwu temple houses the civil and martial gods. Its interior decoration displays the details of art, and the building style reveals the ancient palace in Chia. The present one was rebuilt and renovated in 1969 due to the dam projects. You can visit this temple, and draw lots for your future directions. [Website 3]
Visitors can take a cable car to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, the village integrates 9 aboriginal cultures, and you can understand the stories, lifestyle, dance, and traditional clothes of various indigenous groups in Taiwan. There is an amusement park in the village where you can experience the facilities and purchase featured souvenirs with geometric patterns from those cultures.
You can ride a bike alongside the Sun Moon Lake bikeway. The bikeway is a little away from stores and crowds, and you can view the beauty of the lakeside. To keep visitors safe while riding bikes, two bridges are built with solid foundations and wooded trails, tourists can utilize the bridge to connect to other spots nearby.
Jiji Green Tunnel is another must-visit spot for tourists. To take care of the camphor trees on the side of this tunnel, previous generation people had to fetch water for those camphor trees. Thanks to their efforts to water those camphor trees, they become big trees and can provide shadows for bikers and pedestrians. When you go through this tunnel on a sunny day, green lights shine, making it so unique and beautiful.
🍕 Food and accommodation
Besides the scenic views, the street food near the lake is good to try. You can find stalls in the Ita Thao shopping district, and various types of food you can choose. The day market operates from 8 AM to 6 PM, and the best time to visit is during the afternoon. Some street foods are recommended to you.
The first one is the fried cabbage bun. It a slavery treat with a mixture of cabbage, mushrooms, and glass noodles. It’s so popular that you must wait and line up to get them. Chinese egg burger is a specialized burger that includes pork, eggs, and bread but is not unlike Western burger's taste.
President fish roll has a decent price only 60 NT dollars. The outside of the roll is crispy and the meat is tender with chili sauce. Of course, you have to try wild boar sausage in Taiwan. The sausage is in the middle of rice sausage like “sausage in a sausage”. It’s always eaten with a sweet source, veggie garnish, or even coriander, which brings rich flavor to your mouth.
