Some places exist for postcards, others for bucket lists. And then there’s Taitung - a place that slips under your skin and refuses to leave. Taiwan’s east coast has no interest in showing off, no carefully curated moments begging for likes. It’s wilder than that, freer. It’s where the mountains meet the Pacific, where indigenous cultures thrive, and where the rice tastes, inexplicably, more like rice than anywhere else on earth.
Taitung is the Taiwan that highways forgot, the quiet rebel in a world of incessant noise. And that’s exactly what makes it unforgettable.
Chishang 池上 : Rice God
Chishang is what happens when nature and patience sync up in perfect rhythm. The most beautiful rice-growing region in Taiwan - perhaps the world - not a tripadvisor exaggeration. Ask a local, and they’ll tell you with unshakeable certainty: their rice, grown in the mineral-rich soil of the East Rift Valley, isn’t just food. It’s art. Softer, more fragrant, with a chew that borders on spiritual. Q God!
But beyond taste, Chishang is about immersion. The fields open up into an endless green sea, stitched together like a quilt against the backdrop of misty mountains. As you traverse the famous Brown Boulevard on a bicycle, rice plants ripple in the breeze - each gust crafting fluid patterns and designs, as if the wind itself wields a paintbrush.
My first time in Chishang - summer of 2023. Ted took me on a scooter, and we carved through fields so vast, it almost felt like your eyes were being cleansed with a green color I’ve never seen before. It was intoxicating.
And when harvest approaches, these fields transform from green to gold, a visual so stunning, even the land seems to hold its breath. Cloud Gate Theater holds a performance here yearly - a dance as fluid as the rice stalks themselves, each movement echoing the rhythm of the valley. Exuberant and breathtaking.
read about Cloud Gate here
https://www.cloudgate.org.tw/en/node/584
Luye 鹿野 : Tea and the Art of Quiet
If Chishang is a song, Luye is a pause - a deep breath between verses. Known for its highland tea farms and sweeping vistas, it’s a place that makes you sit down quietly and just sip. The tea here - delicate, aromatic, imbued with crisp mountain air—is the kind that doesn’t just warm you; it rearranges you. Because it’s not just about drinking it. It’s about patience. Craft. Transcendent.
In the spring the following year, we rode our scooter, winding up mountains to catch breathtaking views of the fertile land stretching below. Tea plantations, carved into the hillsides like stairways to the clouds, painted the landscape in a thousand shades of green. At the summit, you can see where the rivers convene, the meeting point of land and sea framed by the kind of quiet that’s almost deafening.
Every summer, Luye transforms into a canvas for the Taiwan International Balloon Festival. Picture hot air balloons bursting with color rising gently over valleys as dawn spills over mountains—a reminder that sometimes the most profound views emerge not from towering heights but from quiet corners of existence.
Our stay at Cloud Zen - a serene homestay tucked away between farmlands and mountains - was nothing short of rejuvenating. Our gracious hostess Lai Lai curated an experience that encapsulated Taitung's endearing qualities. Breakfast was a vibrant vegan plate crafted from vegetables and fruits grown right outside our door. I highly recommend booking in advance as they're quite popular.
We were lucky enough to spend some time with the Taitung Slow Food Association, helping them craft new vegan flavors and guiding them on all things plant-based. A 2-day workshop filled with lectures, culinary challenges and scrumptious farm to table dining experiences, set in the picturesque grounds of Cloud Zen.
Dulan 都蘭 : Salt, Sand, Surf
Head east toward the ocean, and you’ll find Dulan, a village that accidentally became Taiwan’s surf capital. The Pacific here roars, tossing waves at the shore like a dare. The breaks are fast but forgiving, perfect for anyone willing to throw themselves into the tide and learn.
Dulan isn’t polished, and that’s its charm. Artists, musicians, and wanderers have drifted here, forming a community that’s part Canggu, part something else entirely. At sunset, the beach bars fill with sandy-haired surfers and sunburned travelers, cold beers in hand, sharing stories that may or may not be true. Music spills from open-air venues—a little reggae, a little folk, a little whatever the guy with the guitar decides to play.
Some places demand itineraries. Dulan demands surrender.
The Beating Heart of Indigenous Taiwan
Taitung isn’t just geography - it’s history, written in the voices of its first people. Home to seven of Taiwan’s 16 recognized indigenous tribes, it’s a place where culture isn’t a relic - it’s alive, pulsing in every drumbeat, woven into every basket, sung in every story.
Attend an Amis harvest festival, and you’ll understand. The drums begin - low, steady, commanding. The ground vibrates, and then the voices rise - layered, urgent, echoing through centuries. Dancers form circles, feet pounding in rhythm with something older than memory. This isn’t a performance. It’s an invitation to feel the pulse, to let it move you.
In Taitung, you don’t just observe culture. You soak in it. And that’s what makes it memorable.
The Soft Magic of Taitung
Taitung washes over you like a wave caught at the right moment. It's a sunrise over rice fields, a song sung in a language older than memory. It’s simplicity, sincerity, a space to breathe. And once you’ve felt It deep down, going back to the noise feels impossible.
Taitung doesn’t merely linger in memory; it settles deep within your soul.
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Phil
Taitung : Taiwan's Great Escape
PS. words I would use to describe Taitung - soul cleansing, peaceful, alive!
In many ways, Hawaii is like it, feelings of exhiliration and surrender - in awe of nature. I would choose to live in Taitung, if given the opportunity.
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