The area is by no means undiscovered, and Manyueyuan (滿月園) National Forest Recreation Area is one of Taipei County's most popular beauty spots, thanks to its stunning setting, group of five beautiful waterfalls and relatively easy access.

The waterfalls of Manyueyuan are by far the best-known in the area, but they're certainly not the only ones. On the southern flank of Mount Beichatian (北插天山), several hours' rough hike from the nearest road a series of waterfalls including the beautiful Bridal Veil Fall lies hidden, while beside the road between Sansia and the Forest Recreation Area lie a pair of tiny but pretty cascades which would make a good destination for a summer picnic.

Finest of all, though are the three wonderful Cloud Forest Waterfalls, set in deep jungle just a few kilometers (as the crow flies) from the waterfalls at Manyueyuan. Despite becoming better known in recent years, they remain a haven of peace and beauty at weekends, when crowds descend on the better-known falls nearby.

Getting to the Cloud Forest Waterfalls is pretty easy: Simply follow the brown road signs from Sansia pointing to Manyueyuan, and you'll soon be in the beautiful valley of the Dabao Stream. About three kilometers from the entrance to Manyueyuan, turn left at a camping site rejoicing by the name of Happy Valley (樂樂谷) towards the tiny settlement of Siungkong (熊空), and then take the first road on the right, about a kilometer down the road, beside a small corner store.

It's possible to drive right up to the main trailhead (about 1.5 kilometers away) but it's a lovely walk, following a picturesque stream rushing through a wooded glen below the road. After about 500 meters the road bends sharply left, away from the stream and starts climbing.The trailhead for the second and third waterfalls lies a further kilometer up this road, but the sure-footed may want to pick up a narrow, overgrown trail continuing upstream at this bend, and scramble up to the lowest of the three Cloud Forest Falls, the Sisters' Waterfall (姐妹瀑布), climbing over rocks in the riverbed and up past a few small cascades to the foot of the lovely twin waterfall. It's a good workout getting there, and these days (the original, easy trail to the fall was wiped out years ago), you'll almost certainly have the place to yourself, even on the busiest weekend.

The trailhead for the remaining two falls is clearly marked by an exuberant flourish of plastic trail ribbons to the right of road, a fifteen minute climb beyond the sharp bend in the road. The trail is wide and clear, following the contour line as it winds along the thickly forested mountainside. It's a beautiful walk, and although other hikers are far more common now than a few years ago, the vast forest through which the path passes is still wonderfully quiet and mysterious, and the forty minutes up to the second, and finest, of the three falls passes swiftly and painlessly.

Cloud Mountain Falls (雲山瀑布) is close by when the trail suddenly and shockingly emerges from the forest to cross a huge and hideous scar of earth and rock – the bed of the stream, devastated by a typhoon a year or two back. It's an unpleasant shock after the unspoilt beauty of the walk through the forest, and an eyesore that will take years to soften, but hurry across and the trail soon disappears back into the jungle, climbing stiffly for a minute or two, and then veering right towards the sound of falling water, and the snow white curtain of water now visible through the trees ahead.

Although very close to the devastation wreaked on the main stream below, countless regular hikers must be mightily grateful that Cloud Mountain Waterfall escaped damage, as it is possibly the most perfectly beautiful waterfall in Taipei County. Surrounded by a dense canopy of thick rainforest, the water falls free of the rock in a wide curtain, only to catch on a well-placed ledge two-thirds of the way down.

Fine as the view is from the path below, climb onto the rocks in the stream below the fall, and work a way carefully up through the boulders to the edge of the pool to see the waterfall at its loveliest, plunging into a deep and large plunge pool invisible from the trail. It's a truly idyllic place.