The hot spring sources bubbling up nearby, wafting thick clouds of steam into the air, must have frightened early dwellers who were unaware of what caused these extraordinary but quite natural phenomenon, although they're a marvelous perk (in winter at least!) for today's local inhabitants!

Aside from its hot springs, Beitou lies at the start of an “alternative” route up to Yangmingshan National Park (Quanyuan Road泉源路), an especially useful option when the more popular Yangde Boulevard is clogged with holiday traffic. Apart from whiffy geothermal waters and a back route up to the volcanic summits looming behind the town, however, Beitou has several less obvious attractions. Not surprisingly, considering Beitou's position at the foot of the mountains, the surrounding countryside is very beautiful and easily accessible.

For starters take bus No.218 from outside Beitou MRT station to its terminus, ten minutes' drive away at Fuxinggang (復興崗). The bus drops the last passengers off beside a wide and rather unsightly concrete water channel which doesn't promise very much, but follow it uphill, towards the steep, wooded hillside ahead, and the interest soon picks up.

Standing out conspicuously against the green woodland of the escarpment, and visible from many kilometers away, the exposed cliffs ahead are of gleaming white rock estimated as being between 24 and 30 million years old, which makes it the oldest rock in the Taipei basin.

The cliffs are a clue to an important industry practiced hereabouts until about thirty years ago. This area is rich in deposits of a particularly fine form of china clay. Although known since the Qing Dynasty, the fine quality of the clay only sparked a major industry here during the Japanese occupation, when Beitou became the biggest of Taiwan's four ceramics-producing towns, turning out everything from fine chinaware to electrical insulators and even Taiwan's first ceramic toilet bowl!

Unfortunately uncontrolled quarrying of the valuable china clay from the hills here led to several serious floods and landslides, and a total ban was placed on mining in 1977.

Today little remains to remind people of the area's former importance, with the exception of the small but internationally famous ceramics studio (at the top of a steep hill above town) of Mr. and Mrs. Hsiao Fang Tsai, who find inspiration for their pieces from classical Chinese pottery. The studio is open to visitors on weekdays, by appointment.

Signposts point up the road beside the water channel to the foot of the white cliffs and the park at Gueihzikeng (貴仔坑), which doubles as a popular camping ground and a peaceful and rather charming nature park, popular with frogs and insects, which are a common sight around the park's small lake. Look out also for several more exotic residents: beautiful white parrots (probably escaped pets) that seem to have made the park their new home.

Gueizihkeng Park is a pleasant place to linger awhile if there are no noisy school groups around, but for a more impressive scenic attraction follow the water channel up a little further, towards a large temple perched on the steep escarpment. Instead of following the road up the hillside to the temple, follow the stream ahead as it enters a narrow little box canyon, and reaches a much smaller temple hiding in its depths.

The path that once continued up into the canyon was washed away in a typhoon a decade ago, but in dry weather it's possible (with care) to walk up the bed of the canyon beneath vertical walls of crumbly earth and stones. Round a corner, and a couple of minutes above the temple, the small but impressive Budong Waterfall (不動瀑布) is revealed, plunging into the head of the ravine in a narrow column about twenty meters high. This is a lovely, yet secret, little-known place, but don't attempt coming here after rain, when the sides of the gorge might become unstable.

Just outside the mouth of the canyon below Budong Waterfall, a signposted trailhead leads to a steep flight of steps that climbs to a water irrigation channel contouring the steep hillside, offering dizzying views down into the deep gorge above the waterfall.

Continue following the irrigation channel until a junction, turn right to cross a bridge above the Budong Waterfall, and follow the trail along the other side of the stream. There's a great view of Taipei City a little further on, near a small group of flowering cherry trees that put on a colorful display in early spring. Just after the viewpoint, the trail begins to descend, eventually leading to the main entrance to Gueizihkeng Park.