Places of interest - Huadong Valley
Huadong Valley is the green corridor that sits between the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range. It runs along the Provincial Highway 9, 158km of road linking Hualien and Taitung. With the collision of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, various natural landscapes have been formed, also giving birth to rich cultural landscapes. Any time of year is a good time to visit this area, as each season has its own beauty.
Ruisui
20km from the homestayRuisui, formerly known as Shui-hwei, meaning ‘water-end’, is located at the tail of the Xiuguluan River. It is abundant with natural resources. Each summer, many travellers will head down to Ruisui to go whitewater rafting down the Xiuguluan River in rubber rafts. Take up your paddles with your fellow boat companions and enjoy the rapids, ripples and splashes whilst gazing at the white clouds above you. In mid-autumn, there are plump and fragrant pomelos to eat, in winter there is warm winter tea and hot springs to look forward to. After winter leaves and spring arrives, with the Coastal Mountain Range to the left and the Central Mountain Range to the right, one is even more able to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and rivers.
Chike Mountain
20km from the homestayChike Mountain was given its name during the Japanese colonial period, with ‘chike’ being an uncommon Asian species of oak tree found only in Taiwan. Back then these trees filled the whole mountain and were in demand for a while due to the hard and solid properties of their trunks. At that time the timber was exported back to Japan to be used as gunstock. After the August 7 floods of 1959, farmers migrating from places like Chiayi and Yunlin in the west of Taiwan started to grow golden daylilies here in Yuli. The weather and soil conditions on Chike Mountain are extremely suited for this type of flower, and now Mount Chike has become one of Taiwan’s top three producers of golden daylilies, which are popular for their culinary uses in soups and other dishes. Every year in August and September, one can see the mountain full of this wild yellow ocean of flowers, so beautiful that it attracts many visitors to glimpse its beauty.
Antong Hot Spring
12km from the homestayIn the township of Yuli, Antong Hot Spring has a century old history. In the past, it was called ‘Antong Warm Wash’ and was named one of the eight great sights of Hualien. In 1904, a Japanese camphor collector discovered these hot springs on the banks of Antong River. By 1930, a police guest house made of hinoki cypress had been built there. Later it was called ‘Yuli’s Hot Spring Public Baths’. And now its name has changed again to Antong Hot Spring Hotel. Over the years the baths have undergone expansion as well as internal and external renovations. Combined with the surrounding tourism industry, it has developed into a well-known hot spring area in the east of Taiwan, and now you and I are blessed to be able to enjoy the therapeutic and rejuvenating hot spring waters from the Antong River in the southeast.
Sixty Stone Mountain
24km from the homestayNicknamed ‘Little Switzerland’, Sixty Stone Mountain is well-known for attracting huge numbers of tourists during golden daylily season every year in August and September. It also has a varied topography, and overlooks the Huadong Valley Plain in the distance. The sea of clouds together with the sunrise in the morning or the glow of the sunset in the evening enrich the diversity of the landscape of the Coastal Mountain Range and the Central Mountain Range within the Huadong Valley. Of course it is certainly worth a visit during flowering season, but the scenery of Sixty Stone Mountain during non-flowering season has an equally pleasing appearance, and here you can enjoy untarnished views of the rustic and peaceful countryside.