The beautiful waterfalls, rocks and jungle of Chiedong Old Trail

The trail is easy and wide at first, but less sure-footed walkers may want to turn back after passing the topmost waterfall, as the trail (up until this point wide and surfaced in stone) now narrows and becomes a lot rougher and overgrown. Keep the hands free for a few short climbs up steep banks, and look carefully for the occasional plastic trail ribbon, as the path is a bit unclear in a few places.

After about half-an-hour, the trail climbs round a large bluff of rock and there's a junction. The Chiedong Old Trail keeps to the near side of the stream, to finally join a much wider path. Alternatively keep right to cross the stream and this trail heads off into the thick jungle covered hills behind Big Sharp Mountain.

This trail also eventually joins up with the wide, well-kept, but rather dull path that links Big Sharp and Sifenziwei Mountains, but until that point (a kilometer or two further up) it's a grand hike with (for this area) some exhilaratingly secluded and steep terrain to enjoy.

Exploring the waterfalls and rock-strewn jungle above Chiedong Waterfalls is a great diversion for a couple of hours, but fit hikers out for a real adventure should follow the road back towards Xichi for a couple of hundred meters and take the narrow, overgrown trail beside the first stream (at a sharp bend in the road) up to the Big Sharp Mountain Waterfalls (大尖山瀑布).

A wide stone path once led up the stream past this series of four falls, but that was largely wrecked by a catastrophic typhoon a good few years ago and few people go up there these days. A trail besides the stream up to the pretty bottom-most fall of the series is easy enough to follow.

For the rest, strike right up the steep wooded bank shortly after leaving the road, and with great care (the going is often difficult), follow the fragments of stone path (which bares a passing resemblance to the remains of some mysterious ancient lost city) up past the next two waterfalls to the fourth and highest waterfall; the nearly vertical rock face beside it is scaled by a rope which will put off all but the best climbers, but it's quite an adventure to get even this far!

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