You don’t have to be in northern Taiwan long before life becomes a noisy whirlwind of tiled facades, scooters and pollution.
When you begin to fantasize about knocking over scooter-riders as they barrel down the sidewalk in search of parking, or stomping on the cellphone of the high school student on the MRT who feels it is a perfectly reasonable to scream into his receiver (“Nothing. What are you doing? I said, what are you doing? Nothing?! Me too!”), then it is time to get away from the city.
You could, of course, head to the mountains of central Taiwan or the eastern coast. But for those who live in and around Taipei, another option offers a much easier way to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Many people know that Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園) is easily accessible from Taipei, but few are aware of the quality of the hiking and the beautiful landscapes that can be found in the park.
It goes without saying that if you go there on a weekend, you will be joining a throng of people who are equally as intent on getting outdoors as you are. But there is enough space that, as you venture further along, your hike will become more solitary.
So it was for me on a recent weekend, as I set out from my base in Taoyuan City with one goal in mind: hiking Qixingshan (七星山, or Seven Stars Mountain).
After a nearly two-hour bus, train and MRT journey, I arrived at Beitou MRT Station at the foot of Yangmingshan. From there I caught another bus that took me about 10km up Yangmingshan, the sprawling mountain north of Taipei. From the bus station on Yangmingshan, a 15-minute walk brought me to the Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters (陽明山國家公園管理處), with its visitor center, and several trailheads.
The visitor center is a modern facility with an English-speaking staff. Here, you can pick up decent guide maps for the park in several languages, use the restrooms, and get refreshments at a cafe.
With its many trails, a visitor could easily spend several trips exploring new sections of Yangmingshan.
My choice was a trail that led from the visitor center up to the main peak of Qixingshan and back down again in a wide loop.
At 1,120m, Qixingshan (which, using Tongyong Pinyin, the park spells “Cisingshan” in all of its publications) is the highest peak in Yangmingshan National Park.
As a veteran mountaineer who grew up hiking, skiing and camping among the peaks of Colorado, which often exceed 4,200m, I figured this mere 1,120m peak would be no big deal. I am in decent physical condition and am well acclimated to Taiwan’s climate.
Plus, the visitor center is at about 550m above sea level (Taipei and its environs average 10m above sea level, on the alluvial plain between the Danshui and Keelung rivers). Qixingshan’s main peak is about 2.3km from the trailhead, so it is an elevation gain of 247m per kilometer — seemingly not too much of a challenge for a good hiker.
I started out fine, striding effortlessly past a gaggle of high-school students on a field trip. But it wasn’t long before sweat was streaming from every pore and I was laboring to keep my feet moving up the trail.
It was when an elderly, dumpling-shaped woman flew by me on her way down that I realized what a toll the humidity was taking.
“Foreigners sweat so much!” she said cheerfully, as she effortlessly bounded down the stone stairs.
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