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Updated Thursday, September 6, 2007 0:00 am TWN, By Richard Saunders, Special to The China Post

Find weekend serenity at Xiang Tian Lake in Miaoli

Miaoli is one of Taiwan’s forgotten counties, more a place to pass through while en route between Taipei and Taichung than a destination in its own right. However, with a rich aboriginal and Hakka heritage, and plenty of outstanding natural beauty, there’s plenty to warrant a serious exploration of this least known area of northwestern Taiwan.

Miaoli County is less developed than parts of neighboring Hsinchu and other counties further north, and it doesn’t take long to find a slice of pleasantly soporific or (further east) impressively mountainous countryside worth a day of your time.

Nanchuang is a good place to start an exploration of the area, and has become quite popular with tourists in recent years. It boasts many comfortable home stays, shops, restaurants selling local produce and traditional Taiwanese snacks, and enough minor tourist attractions to fill a pleasant couple of hours. Most tourists with a day or more to spend here, however, get out of the town to explore the foothills of Taiwan’s central mountain range, which commence just to the east of the village.

Particularly fascinating is Xiang Tian Hu (向天湖, Towards Heaven Lake), cradled in steep hills over a thousand meters high and only about thirty minutes’ drive from town. This is aboriginal country, home to members of the Saisiat tribe, whose approximately 4,000 remaining members inhabit this small area on the border of Hsinchu and Miaoli Counties. Xiang Tian Hu is picturesque and quiet, made for short, idyllic walks around the lake, or longer, harder hikes to the top of 1,225 meter-high Mt. Xiang Tian Hu looming above.

To get to Xiang Tian Lake, leave Nanchuang by county route 21, which lies along the foot of the valley of the Dadong Stream (大東溪; ‘Great Eastern Stream’). Leaving Nanchuang the scenery is gentle, but after just a couple of kilometers, the sides of the valley become more rugged and impressive. In about five kilometers a signpost points down a side road across the stream to Xiang Tian Lake.

Before taking this road, however, take a short diversion and follow route 21 ahead up the valley just a few hundred meters further, crossing a tributary stream. Leave the car in a parking space immediately after the stream and follow a concrete surfaced trail beside the tributary upstream to a viewing platform atop a large area of flat rock to the left of the path. Below, the stream tumbles down a long sloping rock face into San Jiao Tan (三角湖), the “triangle pool.”

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	Miaoli is one of Taiwan’s forgotten counties, more a place to pass through while en route between Taipei and Taichung than a destination in its own right. However, with a rich aboriginal and Hakka heritage, and plenty of outstanding natural beauty, there’s plenty to warrant a serious exploration ... Enlarge Photo


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