Day 1 in Cingjing
If you are coming from Kaohsiung or Taipei area, here's the link for your directions to Cingjing.
Below is the timetable of the coach which you have to take note of the timing you would want to take the ride as the journey from Taichung - Cingjing takes approximately 2hr. You have to go to the counter and tell them which bus timing you want to take as the ticket for the bus ride will be full way (no standing) before the actual departure. I reached at 10plus in the afternoon and the 1125hr bus was full so I took the 1225hr bus ride. My number was 7 and you have to start queuing 10 mins before the departure time so that you can have a better seat. While waiting, I had a Mango Curry Chicken Burger @ MOS burger, ranked 2nd in terms of sales. The burger was not bad as it was a good blend of mango and curry taste with the burger and I ate the croquette as my snack on board the bus.
As it is my first time going to Cingjing, I was excited and anxious even though I know exactly which stop I should alight (Ping Guo Yuan) but there wasn't a list of bus stops for me to take reference from at the counter, You should go to the toilet before boarding the coach as it would take an hour plus before reaching the transfer coach terminal; Puli (to either Cingjing / Sun Moon Lake). As there is a short break of 5-10mins before the next departure time, you can proceed to the toilet at the transfer terminal but do make it quick as the bus driver will drive off on the dot.
It was a spectacular sight as one travel amongst the mountains and it is better to travel in the day as night can be dangerous on a narrow road. After approximately 2 hours and so, I alighted at 苹果园 after the 青青草园. Below is my minsu; Dingdai Glass Vacation Villa (頂代格拉斯莊園). The Japan imported dog is called QQ. It is very friendly and is owned by the dingdai's owners. The owners are a loving and friendly couples with a single young kid who is very adorable.
I met Mr. Yuan, one of the local guide at my villa and he is the good brother of my villa's owner. He is a Kee Lung Taiwanese and he often bring international tourists around Taiwan. He is a friendly and kind person who is very straightforward and will do his best to ensure his customers enjoy the trip planned personally by him. He offered me a ride to Small Swiss Garden as it was 7 in the evening and walking down on my own would be very dangerous and would take approximately 40mins of walking. I went to Carton King(纸箱王) for my dinner and I ordered fish fillet. It costs approximately 400NT for a meal.
Carton King Creativity Park 紙箱王創意園區 - 清境小瑞士店
南投縣546仁愛鄉定遠新村28號 (小瑞士花園)
Tel: 049-2803828
Opening hours: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Restaurant hours: 11:00am - 8:30pm
Tel: 049-2803828
Opening hours: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Restaurant hours: 11:00am - 8:30pm
The above photos are the interiors of the Carton King Restaurant. I went there twice in total throughout my 4D3N in Cingjing. The second time when I went there, I ordered the Steamboat Set. I will recommend you to order a Steamboat Set which costs around NT450 as the portion is much bigger than the a la carte and is better in taste. They had a promotion where you can get a free entrance ticket to Swiss Garden if you spend NT300 and above and the visit is only valid on the same day. As I did not had enough time to go into Swiss Garden, I did not use the free ticket. Instead, I went on the following day after my 2nd dinning at King Carton where I had plenty of time to walk around the area.
If you like collecting inked stamps, you should bring along or buy a book where you can collect different inked stamps in Taiwan! It is well-known for their adorable inked stamps and are available at many tourist spots such as Jiufen, Swiss Garden and many more. If you want to send a postcard back to your loved ones, do know their address beforehand. Otherwise the surprise will be gone! If you are going back late, you can either call your resort to send a representative to fetch you back to resort (NT200, depending on your resort charges) or you can flag down a taxi at a rate of NT300 outside the Swiss Garden Car park.
This is the public bus schedule fro and back to your resort. (do take note that you can use EasyCard to pay the bus fare and you should ensure that there is sufficient amount; top up services is available at 7-eleven stores). You do not need to worry about having too much amount stored in the EasyCard as you can use those to pay your purchases at any 7-eleven stores and you can also purchase Starbucks drinks with the money stored in the card. =)After a nice breakfast at my resort, I went to Cingjing Grasslands 清境農場 to see those adorable sheep.... meeeehhhh....
There are two timings for the sheep performances on weekdays and weekends except Wednesday if i didn't remember it wrongly. They are 0900 and 1430 so if you happen to miss the morning show, you can either explore the other parts of the grasslands or picnic on the grasslands drinking tea/ eating sheep milk ice cream while admiring the awesome scenery before coming back for the 1430 show. It is a should-watch performance if you haven't seen any sheep performances and the hosts have a quaint sense of humor.
Basically I spent my entire morning and afternoon walking and admiring the cooling scenery. I was fortunate as it did not rain on that day which made my journey around the grasslands pretty smooth and easy.
One of the epic expressions while feeding the sheep. *frankly speaking, feeding the sheep while trying to take photos with myself inside the photo is really a challenge!!*
After a relaxing afternoon at Cingjing Grasslands, I walked downhill to Little Swiss Garden and watched the twilight lighting shows... where the sun meets the moon & stars...
PS: REMEMBER TO GET STAMPS AT BOTH CINGJING GRASSLANDS & LITTLE SWISS GARDEN so that you can be readmitted if you want to go out and re-enter the place later. By the time i ended my day, it was already 8 in the evening and the female owner called my taiwan mobile number to check if I am all right which warmed my heart. After I returned to the resort, I was so tired as I walked too much and I had to wake up 3am the next morning to HeHuangShan to see the magnificent sunrise.
Day 8 in Taiwan, Day 3 in Cingjing
At 4am the next morning, I woke up feeling tired but still excited to see the sunrise. FYI, there is available tours that does sunrise watching and star gazing at HeHuanShan. Per pax costs around NT400 (include transfer for sunrise watching and stargazing along the way to HeHuanShan). If you are traveling alone or in pairs, it is wiser to book this tour as calling a two-way cab would cost at least NT2000 or more. On the way to HeHuanShan. we alighted midway and the driver cum tour guide explained the stars by using astrology perspectives. There were many stars in the sky but it reminded me of my internship days in Sanya, China where I saw meteors.
The Sunrise is beautiful isn't it? What's more important is that I managed to see both thunder and sunrise at the same time but different location. On my left was the thunder while my right was the sunrise that took my breath away. Frankly speaking, as we went up to 3,158 feet above sea level to see the sunrise, it was super cold especially when the cold wind blows... as such... some of the couples / families rushed into the van as it was warmer. LOL.
Artistic photos taken by my tour guide. XD Awesome yea.
The tour that I booked provided each and every one of us with a jacket that keeps us slightly warmer (PS. do not wear skirts / shorts / short sleeves to watch sunrise if you want to be caught in video cam. jumping up and down to keep yourself warm. No kidding, I actually saw ladies and men jumping around as they were in shorts and skirts). I returned to my resort at around 7am and I was quite awake. Nevertheless, I went back to my room to rest awhile and went to have my breakfast around 9am. I had the same breakfast for the past three days and hence I was getting abit sick of it although the breakfast was nice. Among the dishes, I love the porridge, hams, pork floss and scrambled eggs.
After breakfast, I made my way to Lu Shan for hotspring... And you might be wondering... "Are you crazy! It is summer and you still want to go for hotspring?" Well. it is something different and I have never been to Lu Shan before. Since I have the luxury of a day to spend, why not just go and explore and experience!? =) It is quite tricky to get to LuShan as you have to transfer to another bus to LuShan Hot Spring at WuShe. There is only a few timings so be sure to know how to get there and get back before the day ends as it is quite remote. It is not wise to stay overnight if you are alone, especially if you are going to Lu Shan as there live some aboriginal villages and there are many drunkards walking around. If you are alone, you might encounter some danger and the local police won't be able to reach you in time as it takes around an hour or so to reach from the town to LuShan.
As it is the low season for hot spring, many of the hot spring parlours were closed. I ended up at this Cheng Yang Hotel. I think I paid around 800NT for both fish therapy and hot spring usage.
Hot, Beauty and Cold springs including shower rooms and saunas are available at Zheng Yang Hotel. It was actually quite refreshing after the hot spring and I made my way back to catch the last bus to WuShe and back to my mingsu.
As I am a fan of mochi, I bought a box of mixed flavours (sesame, chocolate, peanuts, red bean) from an old couple (shop shown above) and brought it back to my mingsu.
Day 9 in Taiwan, Day 4 in Cingjing
After having breakfast and few cups of the self-brewed oolong cha with the owner, I bided good bye to the friendly couple owners and left Cingjing for Taipei. I will definitely come and visit them when I come back to Cingjing. Below is the schedule of Cingjing - Taichung that will help you plan your journey efficiently.
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