Sun Link Sea & Xitou
An alternative to Alishan
Posted by: Josh, 16 January 2026
By all accounts, Alishan is one of the most picturesque places to go hiking in Taipei. It’s also a potential challenge for travellers and backpackers on a budget: tricky to get to by public transport, tickets for the forest railway hard to get hold of, and hotel prices in accessible areas much steeper than you’ll come to expect elsewhere in Taiwan.
If you want to explore the hills of central Taiwan but can’t make Alishan work for you, a trip to the Sun Link Sea is a seriously worthwhile alternative.
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What to do in Sun Link Sea and Xitou
Three main things: hike the trails at Sun Link Sea and Xitou Nature Education area, and visit Xitou Monster Village. Doesn’t sound like much, I know, but stay with us.
Sun Link Sea
Rarely visited by Western tourists – we got more stares and “hellos” here than anywhere else in our trip – but very popular with tourists from other parts of Taiwan and East Asia, the Qinglong Falls are breath-taking. We thought it would be hard to beat the thunderous Wulai Falls outside of Taipei, but Qinglong is astonishingly beautiful. The waters fall from high above into a serene pool surrounded by lush greenery and interesting rock formations, and the sunlight diffusing through the mist created by the falls creates a picture unlike any other we'd seen before.
Despite the large number of visitors around the falls, I found it easy to block out the murmur of the crowd and enjoy gazing down at the crystal-clear waters, the vegetation carpeting every surface, and the many fish and tadpoles that call the pool below the waterfall home. It's a special place to visit.
If you find the idea of big crowds offputting, a consistent trend of our trip to Taiwan was that if you walk three or four minutes away from the known, Instagram-famous views, you’ll find scenery that’s 99% as spectacular but with magnitudes fewer people around you. It was particularly impressive when we visited in Autumn, with the trees a mix of deep green and golden orange colours.
We took the regular shuttle bus from outside Sun Link Sea hotel to the top of the trail. That gives you ample time to walk back down the hill, to do some of the side trails that appeal most to you, and to enjoy the Flower Garden for as long as you’d wish.
Often on our walk from Qinglong to the Flower Garden, we were alone on well-maintained paths and free to admire the river running down from the falls, the luscious forest, and the many birds and butterflies fluttering past us.
We arrived at the flower garden at 1pm, where a decent sized crowd was gathered to snap pictures of a pair of plumbeous water redstarts sitting by a statue of a dragon in the pond area. But our attention was fixed on the maple trees, which in November take on a vivid scarlet red tone.
After an hour in the garden, thick fog started to descend onto the mountain – which helped Liz snap one of my favourite shots of our several weeks in Taiwan.
The fog gave the last part of our trek a totally new character, with all we could see to our sides the spectral tree trunks rising out of the thick and ghostly clouds. Experienced travellers may have seen sights like this, but for me this was a first – and one of the moments I still think of most often since coming home.
If you have a car, consider stopping off at one of the local teahouses to recover from your walk.
The flower garden in Sun Link Sea is spectacular in autumn, particularly when the mountain mists descend
Xitou Nature Education Area
While certain parts of this park are quite busy – an area called University Pond was particularly popular – Xitou is not as big a draw as Sun Link Sea. You don’t have to do both and, I would pick Sun Link Sea over Xitou if I could only do one hike.
But we had time to visit both places, and we were so glad we did.
Very long stretches of our hike here were taken with no other visitors in sight. Views from the higher parts of the trail were as good as just about any other we saw in Taiwan, and we were delighted to find a rest area with no other people around – only a number of small, brightly coloured birds, and an exceptionally curious black squirrel which came down to the path to observe us.
Xitou Monster Village
It’s a Japanese-style village, full of monster statues, monster-themed entertainment for kids, and a monster-themed bakery too.
Why? Not much information is available (in English) online, but the short story is the village was built as a tribute to two men, one from Japan and one from Taiwan, who became friends during the Japanese colonial era.
It’s now a busy tourist resort built largely around various buildings owned by the monster-themed M Village hotel, which you’d rightly assume no 30-something Western tourists in their right minds would think to book. More on that in the Where to Stay section, below.
If you believe every blog you read on the internet, 200,000 tourists a month visit this village. Based on our experience, that’s a high estimate – but the village can feel crowded with tourists stopping by for an hour or two.
There’s really not too much to do here, but it’s undeniably fun to look round if you’re in the area. It's especially atmospheric at night time or when the mists fall since it's lit throughout by Japanese-style lanterns.
Where to stay
If you have a car, you have a lot of options. If not, and you want to hike in Xitou and in Sun Link Sea, you have two choices.
Staying in Sun Link Sea likely means staying at Sun Link Sea hotel. You’ll have an even more limited range of places to eat, but you won’t have to get off the hiking trails as early as we had to by staying in Xitou.
Or, stay in one of the small number of hotels around Xitou. Buses go straight from Xitou to Sun Moon Lake (more on that here), and that ultimately swung the decision for us – choosing to make our next long journey easier, at the expense of a bit of time in Sun Link Sea.
Our childishness overtaking us, we took the plunge and booked the M Village hotel. It is adorable in its decoration and, all things considered, we probably wouldn’t pick a different spot even in hindsight. But it’s not without its flaws. It’s not spotlessly clean some fittings could do with replacing, and there’s also a very severe lack of soundproofing – which could be an issue if a particularly noisy family group takes the room next door.
It's cute though.
Where to eat and drink
Read our tips on food and drink in Taiwan on our What to Know Before you Go post
It’s not easy to find great food, but it’s not impossible.
As we can’t drive, we can’t comment on the quality of the restaurants in Lugu Township, but this would be your best bet for dinner if you have a car. There’s a good number of places to choose from.
For those stuck in Xitou and Sun Link Sea, your options are limited.
Let’s start with the Kubota Bakery in Xitou and its famous cat-bite bread, baked with nettles in the dough. This is not suitable for vegetarians… or for Lizzes, as it turned out. The filling wasn't to her tastes, but maybe they’ll suit you better.
We can’t recommend the food stalls in Xitou Monster Village. The food is largely the sort of thing you’ll find at night markets, along with a handful of options for a fuller meal. If you’re braver than us, you could try the pizza place which offers some – let’s be nice in how I put this – creative toppings. Instead, I tried a vegetarian rice ‘gratin’ from one of the next stands up. This tray of fried rice with chunks of pineapple mixed in and melted cheese on top had me dashing to the bathroom almost as soon as I'd finished eating. Subsequent taunting that I had become the "diarrhoea monster" was, in my view, cruel and unnecessary.
Better food can be found a short walk from the Monster Village, at a place which Google translates as Xitou Valley Hotel but which is very much a small restaurant – search 溪頭 溪谷飯店 to find it. While vegetarian options were limited, the simple three-cup shitake mushrooms were delicious with some plain rice, and Liz tells me her meat dish was pretty good too.
There’s a couple of other spots on the same short street that we didn’t check out but which can't fail to be a better option than eating at the Monster Village. The hot pot restaurant attached to the Ginkgo Hotel just outside Xitou was unexpectedly closed due to a shortage of staff when we tried to visit on our second night, but it looks cozy from the outside and the food is well reviewed.
A well-stocked Family Mart in Xitou is maybe your best bet for getting snacks and drinks for your hike, though there is also a place to eat opposite the Flower Gardens in Sun Link Sea, and you can get a decent local tea at Sun Link Sea Hotel.
Once again, it’s much easier if you can drive, but buses stop outside one of the many local teahouses between Xitou and Sun Link Sea.
Does it Ding Go?
No. Presumably cowed by fear of terrible monsters, the beloved bubble tea chain known as Ding Go has yet to establish a store in Sun Link Sea or Xitou. Please, write to your favoured Ding Go executive to explain that these monsters are friendly.
But is there other bubble tea?
It’s odd that you’d consider it. But yes, there’s one bubble tea store in Xitou - the poor reviews for which are bizarre. You can ignore them and have a perfectly fine drink, provided you don’t need your server to beam broadly at you while they prepare your tea.
Getting there
Read more about public transport in Taiwan on our What to Know Before you Go post
How to get to Xitou
Having a car will make your visit to Sun Link Sea and Xitou a lot easier, but we still had a great time while using public transport to get around.
Without a car, you'll need to take any of the buses starting in 6883 from Taichung HSR Station or Taichung Train Station to get to Xitou. Only the 6883B goes all the way to Shanlinxi, the name of the stop for Sun Link Sea.
How to get between Xitou and Sun Link Sea
There are only a limited number of buses from Xitou to Sun Link Sea each day. The 6277 leaves at 7.30am and the 6883B leaves at 9.07am.
There were only three return buses from Sun Link Sea to Xitou when we visited: at 14:50; 15:35 and 16:30. Look for the 6883 or 6883B. The bus we took at 15:35 was full on the weekend we visited, so being at the stop 10 minutes early to get to the front of the queue is not the worst idea.
Useful tips
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Bring bug spray. I was in a T-shirt when I got off the bus at Xitou, which turned out to be a big mistake. Fortunately, being at higher altitude made temperatures cooler so it’s comfortable enough in long sleeves.
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If you're planning to walk around Xitou Nature Education Area, aim to arrive early before coaches of tourists arrive late in the morning. The area around University Pond can get quite busy.
Final thoughts
Liz's final thoughts
The mountainous heart of Taiwan is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Seeing the mists descending over forests full of exotic birds and giant butterflies felt like a fairy-tale come to life. Sun Link Sea is not only a great alternative if you can’t get tickets for the Alishan railway, but also a destination worth visiting in its own right. Just don’t eat the cat-bite bread at Xitou monster village (or the rice gratin) and you’ll have a great time.
Josh's final thoughts
I would go back in an instant. What challenges there are in finding good spots to stay and to eat here pale into total insignificance compared to the scenery.
The disappointment I felt at not being able to fit Alishan into our stay faded away as soon as we started climbing into the hills on the bus from Taichung to Xitou. It’s a spectacular place.
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