If you’re in Taipei and want a chance to view the Taipei skyline and Taipei 101, where do you go? Most people, both locals, and tourists, will probably answer Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan). Admittedly, the views of Taipei 101 ARE spectacular and the hike up is relatively easy. What’s not spectacular, however, are the crowds of people that have the same idea as you. Waiting in line to take a picture of the view is not fun at all. Some of you more aware tourists or locals might be aware of a second hike that has equal or even superior views of Taipei 101 with fewer crowds; Fuzhoushan Park. I actually wrote a blog post about Fuzhoushan a little while ago, read it here. I personally rank Fuzhoushan above Xiangshan, for the equally beautiful views and smaller crowds. However, could there be a hike that can dethrone Fuzhoushan Park?
When I posted my Fuzhoushan Park post, I got a DM from a native Taiwanese person. They said they would love to recommend Zhongpushan, which in their opinion has even better views than Fuzhoushan! I thought, how could I pass this up and began my research. Zhongpushan is located in the Daan District, specifically on Xinhai Rd Sec. 3. It right before the Xinhai Tunnel, so it can actually be hard to miss. Check below for the exact location. Make sure that you approach from the Left-hand side before you get too close, otherwise, you’ll end up doing what I did and crossing in front of traffic, right before the tunnel.
The actual climb should only take you roughly 10-15 minutes. You’ll start off climbing a steep, roughly paved hill. Take some time to admire the plants and flowers around you. Eventually, you’ll get to the “hardest” section of the hike; a long staircase along the hill. I recommend the staircase over climbing on the hillside since it is pretty steep. Finally, at the top, you’ll come to a fork in the road. The path to the right leads to somebody’s property (I think, I only explored for a minute). The path to the left leads to Fuzhoushan. You want to take the stairs straight up (the signposted is a little confusing). At any fork in the road, you want to head left, until you get to the peak. At the peak, there were some benches and some seating available. You can enjoy the view, maybe capture the sunset if you planned it right too.
Finally, let’s discuss some things. First, the day I went there were a TON of mosquitos. I did not have that problem at Xiangshan or Fuzhoushan, so that was disappointing. I’ve only been once, so it could have just been a bad day that day. Also, when I got to the top, there were only two people there. And those two left pretty quickly, so I had the top to myself. Finally, it really only took around ten minutes to climb to the top. For the view you get, ten minutes is a breeze. I almost don’t want to finish writing this post, on the off chance Zhongpushan becomes another Xiangshan. Because it’s just that beautiful.
