Yilan County (宜蘭縣)-Jiaoxi (礁溪)

Jiaoxi is a hot spring town. It's locate at east north side of Taiwan. Taiwan government build a tunnel connect East north to West north of island, now just need two hours drive from Taipei to Yilan, it's also on the way to Hualian ( 花蓮), therefore ,the traffic is very bad in the weeken,so i suggest start early in the morning. You can go there by train or bus, which run very regular.
There are many things you can do in Yilan, hiking in the mountain, experience drinking tea in the very beautiful surrounding tea farm on top of hill.

The foods are great in Yilan too. We went to this seafood restaurant,which only take reservation,if you show up that day,they won't take you in,because they want to control freshness of vegetables, fishes they serve. The price is very cheap,it's around NT$900-1200. The chef create dishes for you denpend on what price you order, we payed NT$900/each,think at lest 8 dishes,at the end we could not finished,and had to take our desert home.

The other interested place to visit is King Car whisky factory,which is very big you can spend few hours here.They have factory tour,after the tour,they let you try their whisky. And if you would like to try their coffee, the 2nd floor has beautifull view,and nice sitting area.

There are many minshus (民宿) & hotels in Yilan. It seems Minshu pop up everywhere in Taiwan last few years,they provide room & breakfast at very reason price. we stoped at this Ya-Lu minshu for tea, and enjoyed his beautifull & quiet surrounding. The owner is very friendly,and show us their rooms,which are very nice,and comfortable. Here is their website

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