Alishan a perfect place to spend time in the mountains

Then there are the people themselves: Every well-signposted feature and path is crammed with them, it is nearly impossible to shake the crowds and get any time to yourself, and the Chinese phrase “people mountain, people sea” (人山人海) has never been more apt. But what do I know? Alishan is popular, it’s beautiful, people love it, and what’s more, when my parents visited Taiwan recently, it was the first place I thought about taking them.

Alishan is the perfect place for those who want to spend time in the mountains, but who are not serious about hiking. Its nature trails and scenic hotspots are carefully packaged pieces of countryside, none of them particularly strenuous or intimidating.

You get the great outdoors, but are in no danger of getting either your hands or shoes, or for that matter your LV bag, dirty. The simple truths are that most people do not want to spend their weekends scrambling over dirt paths, and that the very reasons why I don’t love Alishan are precisely the reasons why you should probably join the crowds and head up there sometime soon.

Revisiting the resort after a two-year absence, I finally overcame my enochlophobia (look it up), accepted the crowds, and was surprised to find it really quite pleasant. There are so many things to see and do that you shouldn’t really ever be left with a dull moment.

Alishan’s main draw is probably its sunrise, and I can’t help feeling that this is a little strange. How many other destinations have as their chief attraction an exercise that involves waking up at some unearthly hour and standing outside in the cold, waiting for an event that quite often never happens?

Sunrise viewing, though, is an activity made by the people. There are few times in life that you can look at a stranger and openly, warmly, smile. This is one of them. Huddled together on the train up to Chushan, you look at your fellow travelers with a smile that says, “Ooh, it’s cold,” “I can’t believe I woke up so early,” and “I’m happy I’m not the only one.”

Even on the days when the sun fails to make an appearance, that mood of friendly intimacy continues, and it doesn’t matter that all your efforts were for nothing. On better days when the sun does come up over the mountains, the crowd claps and cheers, and you can’t help but feel roused, full of enthusiasm for the coming day.

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