Ride the Alishan Forest Railway into Taiwan’s cypress mountains

What the experience is

The Alishan Forest Railway was built under Japanese rule to bring timber down from the mountains of central Taiwan. Logging ended long ago, and the line became one of the island’s best-known excursions. Typhoon Morakot cut it in 2009, and for fifteen years trains ran only part of the way. In July 2024 the main line reopened after the completion of a new tunnel.

The journey from Chiayi, at about 30 metres, towards Alishan, at 2,216 metres, covers some 71 kilometres and takes several hours. The train leaves from its own platform at Chiayi station and crosses farmland before the climb begins. At Dulishan the track winds round the mountain in a spiral. Higher up the train reverses several times through switchbacks, running forwards and backwards up the slope. The vegetation changes on the way from tropical to subtropical to temperate forest. Most trains pause at Fenqihu, an old depot town known for its railway lunch boxes. Services are few, and which trains run through to Alishan and which stop at Fenqihu or Shizilu varies, so check what a given ticket covers.

From Alishan station, short branch lines continue into the forest recreation area. The best known is the pre-dawn Zhushan line, where passengers watch the sun rise, with luck over a sea of cloud.

The cypress train

A tour train, the Formosensis, with interiors of Taiwan red cypress and large windows, is sold as a day tour with meals through travel operators, not as a scheduled service.

When to go

The line runs through the year. The cherry blossom weeks of March and April are the busiest. Typhoons in summer and early autumn can close the line at short notice.

Good to know

Chiayi is about an hour and a half from Taipei by high-speed rail. Seats are limited and are booked in advance through the railway’s official system, with tickets collected at the railway’s own window outside Chiayi station; they sell out quickly, and the booking window and payment rules have changed, so check the current procedure. Many visitors take the train up, spend a night at Alishan for the sunrise, and return by bus. Timetables and fares should be checked with the railway before planning.

Why OKYTO recommends it

It is a mountain railway of the heroic period that still climbs more than 2,000 metres in an ordinary seat, at a pace that lets the forest change outside the window.