Working Holiday Experience by小媛

♚  Working holiday experience in AN LAN JIE by 小媛 ♚

Working holiday abroad (also called work & travel ) is getting more and more popular in Taiwan and I don't want to miss the boat!


During the leisure time I had in summer vacation, I went to AN LAN JIE to have my working holiday.I didn't know that hostels in Taiwan was so different from any other country before. Although the concept was from the west but hostels in Taiwan ingeniously combined it with the unique Taiwanese friendliness.

Moreover, to my surprise, I could also watch the sunrise from Alishan at AN LAN JIE !

One of my wishes during working holiday in Chiayi was to watch the sunrise from Alishan and I didn't expect I could make it happen on the fifth day.

As we decided to go to Alishan all of a sudden, where to spend nights was the most critical thing we had to deal with. There was always a large crowd of people in Alishan. For those who wanted to make the trip more time-saving, I suggested them to have accommodations the preceding night. According to Cost Performance Index (CPI), the price of spending nights in Alishan was much expensive.

p.s. The road conditions of Alishan was not so stable and some roads were one way streets so staying there the night before was suggested!


There were trains to Alishan from Central Chiayi in the past but now people could only take buses there.

After spending two more hours on the bus, we finally arrived Alishan Forest Recreation Area.

We rushed to Alishan Forest Train after we finished check-in.
The picture below was Alishan Station ( the terminal station)

There were three railway branch lines: Zhaoping Line, Shermuh Line and Zhushan Line. Zhushan Line was where people could watch the sunrise.

After buying tickets to Shermuh Line, our trip to Alishan for the first began.

One the way, we paid attention to the age of each Shermuh (divine trees).

The tree age of each one was astonishingly old!

We walked and walked along the path to Zhaoping Station.However when we finally arrived there, the last train had already gone! Then we went back to the terminal station along the original path; all of us were cold and hungry. (sigh)

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4:00 am
We had already lined up in front of the station.
Although it was so cold, there were still a lot of people. (excited !)

While reaching Zhushan, everyone was waiting for the sunrise.

Even though the Sun didn't showed up, the view was shockingly gorgeous! The best endorsement of Alishan's amazing scenery of sunrise was everyone got here and experienced personally.

It was getting bright but the sky seemed to give no hint of the sun that should appear from clouds.We all felt a little bit disappointed but the scene of endless sea of clouds stretched across the horizon had ready satisfied us.

When we were about to leave, we found that this was the highest railway in Taiwan, a location at an elevation of 2451 meters above sea level. No wonder it was chilly cold here.

Before our trip to Alishan had come to an end, we had some group photos in front of the terminal station, saying goodbye to Alishan.
I was greatly sure that I would be back here someday!