Wulai central mountain range brought to Taipei

The most popular destination in this ecstatic rupture of mountains in northern Taiwan is Wulai, home to thousands of Aboriginals, handicrafts, rice wine, waterfalls, clear streams and mellow vibes. It’s a great daytrip and an introduction to what exploring this country’s interior can be like.

One of the first things you’ll notice upon stepping off the bus in Wulai is the healthy appearance of the river, especially when compared to Taipei City’s dead Keelung River. Here fishermen are pulling out sizable catch flapping energetically on hooks, and the more lucky fish are splashing around on the surface of the water like dolphins. And this is just a start.

Meander into town over a small bridge and you’ll find hot spring hotels, sugary deserts, snacks, restaurants and all the rice wine you could ever drink in your life. What sets this shopping strip apart from tourist traps of other parts of Taiwan is the variety of aboriginal art and handicrafts. Canoes, hats, calendars, music and weapons -you name it, Wulai’s Aboriginals have it up for sale.

Indeed, one could furnish and decorate his entire apartment with tribal furniture and artwork. And perhaps that is what residents of this crowded little island need most of all -a healthy dash of aboriginal art. Every apartment from Taipei to Kenting ought to have some native Atayal or Saisiat paintings and sculptures in it.

On top of it, each and every home ought to have a collection of traditional aboriginal folk music. With earthly paintings, beaded wind chimes, and wonderful native music blasting out from stereo speakers, Taiwan would quite literally radiate with life. I see this time coming on the horizon.

At the end of the main shopping drag is another bridge, which takes you over into the balmy, rugged mountains. From here you have two choices. You can either take the ‘tourist train’ (NT$50 for an eight-minute, one way ride) for a ride along the side of the mountain to the Wulai Falls, or you can hoof it for 1.6 km on a very pleasant road through the river valley. I chose the second option.

On this path you get to see Taiwan’s jungle-draped mountains up close. To stop and fixate on a massive wall of tropical trees is fascinating, if you do it right. It’s easy to walk by and think “yeah, a bunch of trees. Its’ beautiful, but boring.” But it’s not boring. Take a good look -layers upon layers and shade upon shade of writhing, teeming green foliage. It’s a scene straight out of Predator. Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger did some filming secretly here in Wulai back in the 80’s.

Wulai Falls, the main attraction, drop more than six stories from the lip of the canyon. This graceful sight seems to set everyone in a nice mood, and maybe that’s just what the jade dealers over here were counting on.

There are stone carvings so large in some of the shops near the waterfall, that one can only assume that the mountains of Haulien -where the ‘water rock’ (as they like to call it) came from- have been completely hallowed out.

Maybe the next time an alpha male monkey jumps too hard off a branch in Haulien the entire mountain will cave in. If it happens, we can thank the jade dealers of Wulai for it.

There are several restaurants near the waterfall, most of which have seating with splendid views. If you feel too full to walk all the way back, you can ride the tourist train instead. Also, if you’re in a daring mood, cable cars ride high above the gorge to the top of the mountain on the other side of the gorge (NT$250).

Any way you cut it, Wulai is an excellent day trip.

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