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Poetic
fall beauty at Taichung County's Wuling Farm
---By Lishea Zheng Translated by Sho
Huang
Wuling Farm in the fall brings to life
a verse by Song Dynasty poet Ming Dao, "Clear river
flowing through the green mountain, sky reflecting in
the river, bright red leaves going for 30 kilometers,
the universe is full of white clouds and red leaves."
At Wuling Farm, it is the clear waters of Qijiawan River,
Taoshan, Xueshan and Yosheng rivers which mirror the
beautiful leaves.
The farm is located in the high mountains
of Taichung county's Heping xiang (township). After
the 9-21 earthquake in 1999, the only way to get there
has been the Route 14 Puli-Hehuanshan-Dayuling-Lishan-WuLing
route, rather than the Route 8 Central Cross-Island
Highway, which has been been blocked since then. Visitors
from northern Taiwan can also travel via the Route 7
and Route 7 "Chia" spur from I-lan county.
Wuling Farm's gorgeous maple leaves
attract thousands of tourists each year. However, this
fall, besides the maple leaves, Wuling has something
else to offer--the bright orange Golden Needle Flower
(a type of lily), strewn between the maple leaves and
the violet sage plants underneath the maple trees. Taking
a stroll here allows you a view of layers of various
colors from different angles in a poetic scene.
The Wuling Ecological Culture Series of activiites combines
tourism and tree planting to promote tree growth in
the mountains. The resulting High Mountain Botanical
Garden takes up 10 acres and is divided into different
sections containing thousands of examples of 100 different
tree species, plus ponds, water plants, Chinese herbs,
grasses, flower beds, and walkways for butterfly and
bird watching. The garden also offers non-holiday tours,
covering lodging, tickets, parking, meals, a bus ride
in the garden, guided tours, caps and postcards, all
for a fee of NT$1,300 to NT$2,300. Even if there's only
one person signed up, the tour will still go on. If
that's the case, you'll have the whole place to yourself,
a wonderland of maple leaves, violet sage plants and
orange lily flowers.
Accommodations:
Wuling Farm Guoming Hotel (04) 2590-1259
Wuling Hotel (04) 2522-9696
Wuling Fu Ye Resort (04) 2590-1399
Visit these websites for more information:
http://www.wuling-farm.com.tw/?http://recreate.forest.gov.tw/
http://www.hoyaresort.com.tw/wuling/mainpage1.php
 
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