Shanlinxi — Taiwan | Shared Latitude

A high-elevation forest recreation area of ancient cypress, tea terraces, and a lake trail wrapped permanently in mist.

The road to Shanlinxi climbs so steadily through tea plantations that you stop noticing the elevation gain until your ears pop and the driver rolls down the window to let in air that smells suddenly of wet cypress instead of dust. This is one of Nantou’s lesser-visited forest recreation areas, tucked above 1,600 meters, and I mention that specifically because it meant we shared the trails with maybe a dozen other people across an entire day — a rarity anywhere in Taiwan’s national park system.

Longfeng Waterfall and a Trail Made of Roots

The main loop trail winds down through old-growth forest to Longfeng Waterfall, a two-tiered drop that lands in a pool the color of weak jade. The path itself is half boardwalk, half exposed root system, and I spent most of the descent watching my footing while Lia, several paces ahead as always on downhill sections, kept calling back descriptions of birds I couldn’t identify from sound alone. A local hiker we passed told us the forest here survived logging in the 1960s purely because the terrain was too steep to be worth the effort — an accident of geography we both felt grateful for.

Longfeng Waterfall dropping into a jade-green pool inside Shanlinxi's cypress forest

Songlong Rock and the Lake That Never Clears

At the center of the recreation area sits Songlong Yantan, a small lake pinned between cypress groves that stays wrapped in mist for most of the morning regardless of the season. We sat on a bench at its edge for close to an hour, not talking much, watching the fog thin and reform in slow pulses. It’s the kind of stillness that makes you suspicious of how rare it’s become everywhere else.

Mist settling over the still surface of Songlong Lake surrounded by cypress trees

Tea Terraces on the Way Back Down

The descent back toward Zhushan cuts through some of the highest tea plantations in Nantou, where pickers work rows so steep they use ropes tied to trees for balance. We stopped at a roadside stall run by a farming family who poured us high-mountain oolong grown less than a hundred meters from where we stood, and I understood immediately why this tea commands the prices it does.

When to go: April through June and October through November bring the mildest weather and the most reliable mist without the heaviest rain. Summer afternoons often bring thunderstorms at this elevation, so plan hikes for the morning.