Traveling in Yilan County in Taiwan
General Information
Yilan County is located in northeastern Taiwan. The city of Yilan, situated at its center, lies in a wide triangle-shaped valley whose eastern side borders the sea and the other two sides border the high mountains surrounding the valley. Flowing east through the center of the valley into the sea is a wide river called the Lanyang River.
The fishing port in the city of Suao in the southeastern part of Yilan County:
The city of Yilan is about a fifty-minute drive southeast of the capital Taipei. Until 2006, the journey to Yilan from Taipei took more than two hours because it was necessary to circle the mountains and travel a long road along Taiwan's northeastern coast. In 2006, after about 15 years of work, the longest tunnel in Taiwan, 12.9 km long and the fifth longest in Asia, named Hsuehshan Tunnel, was bored beneath the high mountains, significantly shortening the route to Yilan County.
Yilan County offers a wide variety of recreational options. You can travel in nature, mainly in the mountains surrounding the valley, take bicycle rides through rice fields or other crops, spend time in vibrant markets, harbor cities with numerous fishing boats and seafood restaurants, tour an interactive traditional culture and art museum, visit a farm that grows the area's special onion, and make a special onion pastry.
Green onion fields in Yilan County:
You can also visit a honey-producing bee farm, a liquor manufacturing plant, etc.
It is currently recommended to visit Yilan as a day trip from Taipei or as a stopover on the way from Taroko National Park to Taipei.
♦ To book a day trip from Taipei to Yilan County for the onion fields and hot springs (9 hours):
Yilan Scallion Field Guide and Pie DIY Jiaoxi Hot Spring from TPE
Recommended Hotels in Yilan County
Most people do not stay overnight in Yilan but just pass through. For those who want a relaxed trip and enough time to enjoy the best of the area:
The highest quality hotel in Yilan:
Silks Place Yilan
A 5-star hotel located above the largest shopping center in eastern Taiwan. The hotel features indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a fitness center, and a spa. The hotel offers well-equipped, spacious rooms with special family rooms (featuring a tent and an electric car). The hotel has a high-quality Asian restaurant and an international buffet.
A successful 4-star hotel with spacious rooms suitable for families of up to 5 people. The hotel features a children's playground, complimentary bicycles for guests, free shuttle service, a fitness center, bar, restaurant, café, and free parking.
Main Tourist Sites and Attractions in Yilan County
National Center for Traditional Arts
Located in the town of Wujie, adjacent to the city of Yilan, the National Center for Traditional Arts features a vibrant, traditional Taiwanese street with shops selling a variety of traditional products. Visitors can even try making products themselves, such as beaded necklaces, dolls, embroidery, and painting shoes and bags.
A shop featuring traditional puppet theater dolls:
The site also includes a musical instrument museum, traditional costumes, and more. Several times a day, traditional music, instrument performances, and dance shows are held.
Musical performance at the culture center:
Especially suitable for families with children who enjoy a variety of handicraft opportunities, candy shops, and souvenir stores. This is a great opportunity to discover traditional sweet and savory foods; some shops offer tastings and even demonstrations of product preparation. The center features a variety of restaurants and cafes for visitors.
Children playing on an artificial mist lawn:
Making Onion Pastry at the Farm
One of the signature foods of the Yilan region is spring onion pancakes, thanks to the special green onions grown here.
At the green onion farm, onions are grown in high raised beds using a special method where the resulting stalk is thicker and the white part close to the root is much longer because they plant it deeper in the bed. This green onion is therefore much tastier and more expensive than regular green onions.
Onion planting dibber and onion with a long white stalk:
The farm features a large shed with many tables where visitors prepare onion-filled pastries themselves. First, visitors receive boots and go out to the adjacent field to experience harvesting onions themselves, then wash them in a large trough.
To make the pastry, you receive prepared dough, and only the instructor demonstrates how to prepare it. Add a handful of flour and a little warm water to a bowl, mix, add a little more cold water, mix, knead, and place in a sealed bag for an hour.
You receive a lump of dough which you roll out with a rolling pin into an elongated sheet about 30 cm long and 10 cm wide, fill it with pre-prepared chopped and seasoned onions, roll it up and close the dough like a long sausage. Now you roll the sausage into a spiral. Finally, press the spiral so it looks like a thick pita and fry it until lightly browned. It turns out very delicious!
Such a pastry can of course also be found in many restaurants in the area, especially at night markets.
Wufengqi Waterfall
A tall waterfall with two stages: the first stage is a low waterfall with a pool at the bottom, and the second stage is a tall waterfall with a gazebo next to it. From the uppermost parking lot closest to the waterfall, it is about a two-hundred-meter walk uphill with very few stairs.
Touring the City of Suao
The city of Suao is located in the southeastern part of the valley in Yilan County along the ocean coast. It is a port city full of fishing boats, and as a result, there are many seafood restaurants, especially around the port area. At the port, you can also find two temples with all their beautiful and magnificent decorations. In one temple, the saints' faces are made of coral, and in the second temple, the saints are made of jade and gold. One of the temples has three floors, and you can go up to the top floor for a nice view of the fishing boats in the port.
Night Market
Taiwan is known for its vibrant night markets thanks to cheap food prices and the successful, delicious variety they offer. In Yilan County, there is a night market that is one of the largest and most crowded in Taiwan, located in the city of Luodong. Anyone arriving in the area in the evening is recommended to visit, eat there, and perhaps buy something in its many shops.
Address: No. 100 Gongyuan Road, Luodong Township
Short video about traveling in Yilan County :
Guided tour in Taiwan to book from Viator:
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