CHIAYI COUNTY
Located in the south-central part of Taiwan, Chiayi is the 6th largest county. With an ocean to the west and mountains to the east, it has 3 national scenic areas: Alishan, Southwest Coast, and Siraya national scenic area. Famous for its sunrise views, cloud formations, old trees, cherry blossoms, trails, valleys, and waterfalls. Ummm…. Probably the most memorable thing that happened to me in Chiayi was when I was looking for parking and I found a parking lot and this Taiwanese dude was there and he was yelling at me for some reason, or maybe he was just yelling while looking at me the whole time I entered the parking lot, looked for parking, parked my car, and exited the lot. I have visited this city several times, but nothing really stood out for me. There are nice parks. There is a place during spring where you can look for fireflies which is cool. (UPDATE JUNE 2022) Anything around Alishan is dope, dope, dope! I did one of my most amazing drives going to Alishan. I will share it in the “best drives” section! Also, (JUNE 2022) I was somewhere in Chiayi city, or near it, wandering the streets and there was some sort of festival for the Tiger Lord? There were girls who were supposed to be dancing on top of cars, but they just covered themselves with umbrellas. The highlight was setting hundreds of firecrackers off at the same time and lion dance performances. It was super random for me, but cool! Overall, Chiayi was mildly impressive, however, going to the mountain's rivals Nantou.
座落於台灣中南部。嘉義是第六大縣。西面迎海東面迎山。有三個國家級風景區:阿里山，西南海岸，西拉雅風景區。以日出景致聞名，雲海，老樹，櫻花步道，山谷，瀑布。嗯，其實我最記得的是。當我找停車場想要停車時，有個台灣男人因某種原因對我咆哮，或是他只是想要對我大叫。進停車場，找車位，離開，全程只要他看到我，他就對我叫。我曾經來過嘉義幾次。但沒什麼很吸引我的東西。有很棒的公園，春天可以看螢火蟲(於2022，6月更新)。阿里山附近的景色真是超超超棒。當我開往阿里山，沿途幾乎是我最棒的一趟路程。我也會把它分享在"最棒的駕車路線"那部分。我到嘉義市的某個地方或是靠近嘉義市，在街上閒晃時剛好看到虎爺?的慶典。有一些女生本來要在車頂跳舞但她們用雨傘躲太陽。最高潮的部分就是放了數百發的煙火，還有舞龍舞獅。我真的沒意料到但真的很棒。總而言之，嘉義市區有點吸引人，然而，山上更是棒呆了!(2022,6月)
I found this place wandering the streets after the dude yelled at me at the parking lot. It's a nice little park with some interesting art installments.
森林之歌:我在被車場那傢伙大吼後發現了這個地方。這是個很棒的小公園，有一些藝術作品。
This is what the Taiwanese call a ghost house or haunted house. It's got a lot of mosquitos first of all. I think it's an interesting place overgrown with vegetation and worth checking out. I like the architecture. There is a coffee shop right next door, too. They just made a movie about this location. I did not see it. I was told the translation for the movie title is “Min Xiong Haunted Houses.” I think that's the lamest title for a movie. I hope that's wrong.
It is a big blue high heel shoe. I didn’t see a church. Meh…but cool to see if you’re nearby. At this point I am just trying to give Chiayi a little more respect.
高跟鞋教堂: 這裡是一個藍色高跟鞋的形狀。我並沒看到教堂。嗯...近看是滿酷的。此刻我對嘉義多了一點敬佩。
Ummm, some place that has some pretty cool artwork. There's a lot of places like this in Taiwan.
3D壁畫:嗯嗯嗯，是一個有很多藝術作品畫在牆上的地方。在台灣有很多類似的地方。
This place has a lot of murals on walls that you can see. There are lots of these kinds of places in Taiwan.
南崙彩繪村: 有很多壁畫。台灣有很多類似的地方。
I didn’t go into this temple, nor know anything about this temple, but this is where I saw the Tiger Lord parade with all the firecrackers, ladies “dancing”, and lion dance performances. It was lively and fun to experience.
新港奉天宮: 我並沒有走進寺廟，所以不清楚寺廟裡的任何事，但這裡就是我看到舞龍舞獅，放煙火，和女生跳舞的地方。很生動有趣的體驗。
I was with a friend who wanted to take me here. I think it was free. People were nice but I wasn’t too interested in this.
白人牙膏觀光工廠:這裡是一個朋友帶我來的。應該是免費參觀，人很友善但我不太有興趣。
You can't really lose out on Taiwan parks. This place is no different.
嘉義公園:你不能錯過台灣的公園。這地方沒甚麼不同的。
I came to this lake at night and there was music playing from somewhere and lights and some cool structures. I enjoyed sitting in my car watching the lights and walking around a bit.
蘭潭: 我是晚上來這裡的。有音樂演奏，有燈光，有一些很酷的東西。我滿享受坐在車子裡，欣賞這些燈光，然後走一小段。
This was a nice place to walk around and be in nature while being in the city. I saw lots of turtles and fish. It's nice and quiet!
嘉義植物園: 這裡是一個很好散步的地方，會讓你感覺在大自然裡。我也看到很多烏龜跟魚。美好且安靜
Alishan deserves its own spot. It is a place where many people come to see the sunrise. I will admit, I wasn’t that impressed when I went there, but it's a super popular destination. OG Taiwanese photographers told me the best time to catch the dopest sunrises are during the end of fall and during winter. I went in late October. I actually enjoyed being in the mountains and hiking near my homestay in bamboo forests. The area is nice! Whether you see the sunrise or not, it's a place of beauty! Go here! I’m from Cali and I felt like I was hiking in the Marin Headlands or Muir Woods. It was amazing for me! Everything around here is platinum, and the weather is so nice for a Bay head!
阿里山:阿里山完全可以有一整個版面。很多人來這裡看日出。但我必須承認，我並沒有非常驚艷。但這裡是一個很熱門的景點。在那裏我遇到一個年長的攝影師。他說拍日出的最好時機是秋末及冬天。我是十月底到那裡的。我真的很享受在山裡的感覺，漫步在民宿旁邊的竹林，不管你有沒有看到日出，這裡都是充滿美的地方。一定要來!我是加州人，這裡讓我感覺像在馬林海岬或穆爾伍茲國家紀念森林。我很喜歡阿里山，超級值得來，天氣也相當好。
This was a banger! I stayed in a hotel in Alishan park for this hike…I mean walk. You need a permit to do this walk and it continues on. You can camp out here and you probably should. It's beautiful. It was an old railway system made by the Japanese to transport lumber; I believe. It does not function anymore. I went with a group of people, and it was fun and easy. It's all level ground involving following the train tracks. There is one scary part where you have to use a rope to climb up and down. It's not too bad, and I hate those things. You are going through tunnels, a cave in and it requires some caution. Walking on tracks that act as bridges. (Taiwan does a good job of making them easy to walk on.) As you continue it gets more and more naturesque. Moss covered rocks and train tracks, less people, and the sounds of nature. I was in heaven. Weather conditions change from sunny to super foggy. It's a very picturesque place. I lost my group and walked way beyond what we were supposed to walk. I finally figured I passed everyone and once I hit an uphill decided to turn back. I was really happy to find out they came looking for me and they were rewarded by the beauty, and I felt special. ;) I call it a walk because an old Taiwanese couple laughed when we said hike. They said it was a walk. I agree. GO here! You will thank me later.
這裡超超棒的! 為了這次健行...嗯應該是散步，我住在阿里山裡的一個旅館。這個路線必須先申請，核准後才可以進入。你可以露營，我也覺得應該要。很美。這裡是舊鐵道，為日本人所建，以前日本人拿來運送木頭。現在已經不能用了。我是與一群人去的，路線很容易走也很有趣。一路都平路及火車軌道。有一個比較可怕的點，必須要拉繩上攀及下來。也不是太糟。但我恨這種地形。你會穿越隧道，有一個洞穴，必須小心一點。走在像橋的軌道上(台灣維護得很好，所以很容易走)。當你繼續走下去，就越來越原始自然，苔癬覆蓋石頭及軌道，更少人，大自然的聲音讓我覺得在天堂。天氣從晴朗變得超濃霧。使得看起來像在畫裡。我跟團體走散，走得太遠，後來我才發現我已經超過每個人。當我到達一處上坡，然後決定折返時，我很高興發現他們來找我，他們的回報就是這片美景。我覺得很特別。我把它稱為散步是因為一對年紀稍大的夫婦因為我們說這是健行而笑了。他們說這是散步，我同意。一定要來這裡。你一定會感謝我!
This is where you can find fireflies during spring. Find a place to park, walk on the concrete pathways and wait until night. I have never seen fireflies in the wild, it was a beautiful experience!
在這裡，春天你可以看螢火蟲。找一個可以停車的地方，走在水泥路上，然後等到夜晚。我從沒看過野外的螢火蟲，這是個美麗的體驗。
This was a sandbar with ruins. It's way cooler at low tide. Has an apocalyptic feel to it with its rundown empty buildings and gnarled trees. I loved it!
這是個沙洲，有廢墟。低潮時看起來比較酷。廢棄空蕩的建築，粗糙的樹，有種末日感。我愛這裡。