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25-575: The Alishan National Scenic Area is a mountain resort and nature reserve located in Alishan township, Chiayi County , Taiwan . Alishan is 415 square kilometres (41,500 ha) in area. Notable characteristics include mountain wilderness, four villages, waterfalls, high altitude tea plantations, the Alishan Forest Railway , and a number of hiking trails. The area is popular with tourists and mountain climbers. Alishan, itself has become one of

50-458: A " destination resort " that provides accommodations and activities or a "resort town" that offers amenities near outdoor areas. They include winter sports like skiing , snowboarding , and ice skating and summer activities such as hiking , golf , and tennis . Sightseeing and related activities, such as leaf peeping to appreciate fall colors, are also common where foliage turns. In hot climates, hill and mountain resorts are visited for

75-676: A ban on the free flow of Chinese visitors and subsequently increased the number of tour groups, which has impacted the entire tourism industry in Taiwan. The number of visitors decreased by 49.8%, and the number of Chinese visitors also decreased from 1.76 million in 2014 to 420,000, a big drop of 76%. From 2017 to 2019, there will be 1,093,896, 952,418, and 900,1441 national visitors, 594,158, 428,884, and 419,712 Chinese tourists, and 60,292, 63,744, and 65,481 foreign visitors, respectively. The number of foreign visitors has increased by 8.6%. The Chiayi Forestry Administration Office stated that tourists numbers

100-549: A broad range in altitude. Lower elevations, such as in Leye Township , share the same subtropical and tropical climate as the rest of southern Taiwan, while the climate changes to temperate and alpine as the elevation increases. Snow sometimes falls at higher elevations in the winter. Alishan is located at an altitude of 1400 to 2600 meters. The average annual temperature is about 10 degrees Celsius, coupled with abundant rainfall. Average temperatures are moderate: Alishan

125-627: A more comfortable recreation experience for visitors, the Chiayi Forestry Administration has completed reconstructions such as the separation of pedestrian and vehicular roads, the improvement of facilities at the Visitor Service Center, and the constructions of the landscape around the Alishan sacred tree, etc. The successful project has a positive force for the peaking tourists numbers in 2014. Since August 2019, China has imposed

150-540: A trail is built for visitors to enter, where they can see more than 38 giant trees, most of which are hundreds of years old. The Alishan area was originally settled by the Tsou tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines ; the name derives from the aboriginal word Jarissang . Ethnic Han Chinese settlers first settled on the plains near modern-day Chiayi as early as the late Ming Dynasty (around the mid-17th century), but did not move into

175-416: Is a tea that holds all of its original nutrients that are within the unfermented green tea. It does not hold the usual grass-like taste, hints of chestnut flavor paired with nutty aromas are often described. The fermentation process that removes the harsh ingredients allows the tea to taste flavorful. Gaoshan tea leaves are usually hand harvested, and grow slowly due to the thin air in high altitudes. Hence,

200-590: Is mountainous: Important trees in the area include: In 1906, the Japanese discovered a red cypress tree that was over 3000 years old, located next to the Alishan Forest Railway's Sacred Tree Station . The Japanese honored it as the "Sacred Tree". The tree is 52 meters (171 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of nearly 5 meters (16 ft), making it one of the largest giant trees in Alishan. The Alishan sacred tree withered due to lightning and heavy rain. It

225-409: The Alishan Forest Railway . It is famous for natural rock formations, mountain streams, forests, and the ruins of a Shinto temple in the vicinity, as well as for its production of high altitude food products such as bamboo shoots and aiyu jelly ( 愛玉 ). The local box lunches ( 奮起湖便當 , Fenqihu bento ) are known across Taiwan and are sold from stalls at the train station and from Fenqihu Hotel on

250-681: The Himalayas and in mountainous areas of South India known as "hill stations", where they could escape the summer heat of the plains. In the 18th century, in China , the emperors of the Qing dynasty built the Chengde Mountain Resort as a retreat from the summer heat of Beijing . In Pakistan , the Galyat areas are a popular summer destination. They are also a favorite spot for a cold snowy experience in

275-419: The Tsou people of Dabang ( 達邦 ), Shanmei ( 山美 ), and Chashan ( 茶山 ), and the administrative area spans four townships, including Meishan Township, Zhuqi Township, Fanlu Township, and Alishan Township. On 1 December 2014, fire broke out at Alishan spreading over more than 5 hectares of land. The area affected was located near Tapang No. 3 Bridge. The fire was believed to happen due to dry ground which

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300-696: The Fenqihu Old Street. Fenqihu is currently the terminal end of the Alishan Forest Railway line from Chiayi to Alishan, since the railway was heavily damaged by Typhoon Morakot in 2009 and only the Chiayi to Fenqihu portion was reopened in 2014. Mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or scenic attractions like birdwatching . These can be part of

325-583: The completion of the Alishan highway in the 1980s, displacing the railroad as the primary mode of transportation up the mountain. To combat the problems associated with the growing crowds of tourists and the expanding high mountain tea and wasabi plantations, the area was declared a national scenic area in 2001. The area covers the Alishan Forest Recreation Area and the Han Chinese villages of Ruili, Fengshan ( 豐山 ), and Taihe ( 太和 ), as well as

350-477: The cooler temperatures at higher elevations. In the United States and Canada the term "mountain resort" usually denotes a resort visited all year round, both for winter sports and summer activities, such as hiking , golf , tennis , and mountain biking . Some North American mountain resorts - both resort towns and individual venues - include: In British India , the colonial rulers developed resorts in

375-406: The development of the logging industry in the area and the export of local cypress and Taiwania wood. A series of narrow-gauge railways were built in the area during this time to facilitate the transportation of lumber from the mountains to the plains below, part of which continues to operate as the Alishan Forest Railway . Several new villages also began to sprout up along the railway lines. It

400-406: The major landmarks associated with Taiwan. The area is famous for its production of high mountain tea and wasabi . Alishan is well known for its sunrises, sunset, sea of clouds in the area between Alishan and Yüshan , railway station, and sacred trees. Alishan, along with Taroko Gorge and Sun Moon Lake , is one of Taiwan's most popular scenic attractions. Alishan National Scenic Area spans

425-448: The mountains of central Taiwan . It is grown at altitudes higher than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level, and includes varieties such as Alishan , Dayuling , Yu Shan , Wushe, and Lishan. The high humidity and natural precipitation in the high mountain ranges of Nantou and Chiayi Counties make the region a suitable environment for growing tea plants . High Mountain Oolong

450-585: The mountains until the late 18th century, establishing the towns of Ruili ( 瑞里 ), Ruifeng ( 瑞峰 ), Xiding ( 隙頂 ), and Fenqihu ( 奮起湖 ). The resulting armed clashes between the settlers and the aborigines pushed the aborigines even further into the mountains. Following the cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War , Japanese expeditions to the area found large quantities of cypress ( 檜木 , or hinoki in Japanese). This led to

475-474: The summer heat. In Cyprus , the most popular mountain resort is Platres . In Thailand , the third highest mountain is a popular resort at Doi Ang Kang in Chiang Mai 's Fang District . High-mountain tea High-mountain tea or gaoshan tea ( Chinese : 高山茶 ; pinyin : gāoshān chá ; pronounced [káʊ.ʂán ʈʂʰǎ] ) refers to several varieties of Oolong tea grown in

500-634: The winter. Murree, Ayubia, Nathiagali, and Kalabagh are some of the popular places. Other places like the Northern Areas which include Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir are also a choice. In the Philippines , the American colonial government built its first summer capital in Baguio to escape Manila 's heat. In Turkey , city dwellers traditionally spent summer vacations at mountain resorts known as yaylas to escape

525-439: The yield of gaoshan tea is relatively low every year. There are two kinds of gaoshan tea based on the season: winter gaoshan is harvested during late October, and spring gaoshan is harvested during the middle of June. It takes about 36 to 40 hours to process a batch of gaoshan tea. If weather allows, the handplucked leaves are spread on top of a tarp , where they develop aromas such as jasmine, rose and geranium. The tea

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550-537: Was affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020. There were only 99,7052 tourists, the lowest in 10 years, compared with the highest number of tourists which is 2.76 million in 2014. Through the outbreak of Covid-19 in May 2021, Alishan National Scenic Area has announced its closure under the tier three Covid restriction. Fenqihu ( 奮起湖 ) is a small town of low wooden buildings built into the mountainside at 1,400 meters, midpoint of

575-401: Was also during this time that the first tourists began to visit the area. Plans were even drawn up to incorporate the area into the new Niitaka (New Highest) Arisan National Park ( 新高阿里山国立公園 ). With the exhaustion of forest resources by the 1970s, domestic and international tourism overtook logging to become the primary economic activity in the area. The tourism industry continued to expand with

600-613: Was put down in 1998 for tourists to visit. In 2006, the Chiayi County Government and the Alishan Scenic Area Administration started a voting activity to select other sacred trees as the new landmark in the scenic area. The 45-meter (148 ft) tall, 2,300-year-old Xianglin Giant Tree received the highest number of votes and became the second generation of sacred tree. The Giant trees are later organized and

625-479: Was vulnerable to fire because of the absence of rain in the area for months. In October 2014, The Chiayi Forestry Administration pointed out that the park's facilities have been improved to create an aesthetic forest atmosphere, and the Alishan Highway is relatively undamaged, which in turn has improved the quality of recreation, attracting more than 2.08 million visitors to Alishan this year. In order to provide

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