2 hour hike - 5 miles and a lot of fun
Giant Scenic Platform
The Xitou giant tree was a Formosan cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis), one of the representative species growing in the cloud forest at moderate to high altitudes in Taiwan. It had stood on the top of boulders with hollowed trunk for thousands of years after through all kinds of natural disasters. The structurally weakened tree finally collapsed on September 11th, 2016 as the result of the aging and weather factors.
Sky Walk
This is the first sky walk in a forest in Taiwan. The walkway is 180 m long and 22.6 m (that's seven stories!) above the ground. The green forest canopy cleanses the air naturally and provides habitat and shelter for epiphytes, tree-dwelling animals, insects and fungi. From the walkway, you can experience life in the treetops and observe how it changes with the four seasons.
I did go on the bridge but only to add more steps to my hike, I was looking up the whole time and trying not to stop. I am afraid of heights and it gets really bad when I can see how high I am when the floor beneath me is see-through! Although the whole time I was hoping to see some Ewok!!
Xitou Monster Village (溪頭怪物村 or 松林町).
A torii, a traditional Japanese gate most often found within a Shinto shrine, stands at the entrance of the village, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred. Cute Japanese monster statues are all over this small village and red lanterns hang on the eaves, making it a brilliant place for photography. Restaurants and souvenir shops are named after different kind of Japanese monsters.
The story of how this little village came about is a touching one. During Taiwan’s time under Japanese rule, Kubota (久保田) and Katsuichi Matsubayashi (松林勝一) were close friends and worked together in Xitou. Kubota was Japanese and Matsubayashi was Taiwanese. Even after Japan lost WWII and Kubota had to go back to Japan, their friendship stayed strong. Kubota ran a bakery which he called Matsubuyashi Kubota with his wife and tried to make their life better after WWII in Japan. However, years later, the bakery was destroyed by fire and his wife died. Later, when Matsubayashi heard of the story by mail, he sent some money to Kubota. In 1974, Matsubayashi received another mail from Kubota, telling him he had a wooden sculpture and wanted to give it to Matsubayashi as a present. In the end, they couldn’t meet each other in Japan for one last time. Before Matsubayashi died, he told his descendants to finish his last wish and in 2009, their descendants finally had the chance to make it happen. Now, the wooden sculpture is placed in Ming Shan Resort behind the Monster Village. In order to commemorate their friendship, Ming Shan Resort built this village and named it after Matsubayashi.
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