Alishan forest railway in Taiwan from Chiayi to Alishan via Fenqihu a beautiful railway journey

[@AngKamiSherpa]

Really beautiful I enjoyed watching your video. I was also in Alishan from 21 to 23 December 2023 but sometimes the weather is good sometimes bad but I like the trees and all the beautiful scenery. Originally I am from Nepal and I am a mountaineer. In Nepal. But I lived in New York for 20 years and then I moved here. Taiwan 2017 .Taiwan is really beautiful and the people are very nice. Have you been to Penghu Ireland? Please visit here if you haven't been. It is a very beautiful place. It has been seven years since I came to this place. I live here, Penghu and if you guys come here Penghu,I take you around.🙏🏻🙏🏻🍀🍀🍀

[@125600]

This was so helpful! We will be visiting soon and taking the same route up the mountain, staying one night in fengchihu. Great video!

[@Trainviking]

Great to hear. Enjoy your time there, Taiwan is awesome.

[@TheMaartian]

Absolutely gorgeous! Added to my bucket list! I lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S. for 8 years before moving to France. My house was at 2 331 meters ASL. When the temperature in Phoenix was 45°C, the temperature in Flagstaff was 30°C. It was a great place to live, but Alishan is much prettier.

[@Trainviking]

So nice, yeah the difference can be big in the mountains. With the temperatures you're mentioning the mountains can be a great escape as well.

[@polsufilm]

Your video is really engaging. I rarely finish 30 minute videos but this one is really entertaining that it felt quick. Thank you for your informative video. 😊👍🏻

[@Trainviking]

Thank you, that's really nice to hear. Sometimes if I'm too enthusiastic I feel like I'm telling too much, but my main goal is to make people understand the railway product more. Although at this moment I'm reviewing a video where I definitely need to adjust my talking hahaha.

[@TaiwanAmmayi.164k]

Beautiful

[@michaelhall8586]

Can’t wait to visit Taiwan one day!

[@Trainviking]

It's absolutely worth visiting. Because it's not super big, its also very doable to see a lot.

[@FinancialIndependenceEindhoven]

Fantastic video! I will be taking this railway in mid March, so your vlog was mighty helpful, especially the part about the buses. Let’s see if any more train stations towards Alishan will be operational by then.

[@Trainviking]

Thank you so much, this is exactly where I make these video's for. Hope you enjoy your time in Taiwan.

[@gracea33]

you need to update this! the train line to alishan is now opened! :)

[@Trainviking]

I know, hopefully I can make a new video this year.

[@marijedijkma4793]

Super all this info! We will take the train tommorow and also some busses. Thank you for sharing!

[@Trainviking]

Hopefully this has been helpful to you 😀

[@Sossossosso-b7h]

Hi! Could I please ask you how the trip went? I am considering going in the coming weeks and would like to know if it is easy to go to Alishan?

[@Travel-by-Train]

Taïwan looks very cool to Travel by Train 🍒🍒🍒

[@Trainviking]

It absolutely is.

[@Travel-by-Train]

I should try soon to go

[@jfilmtravels]

The old trains will not retire and neither will new trains replace the old, sadly. The 福森號 （the new one you showed）and 栩悅號 are both new trains completed in 2023. The former have completed testing while the latter was unveiled on 26 Dec 2023. Operations of both will be outsourced to tour companies who will run the service as a tour package. This probably mean no free and easy tickets which is a shame and I feel a missed opportunity. Currently, no operator has announced it will take up the contract, so hopefully Alishan forestry will run them themselves. The full line is scheduled to be reopened by 3rd quarter this year after multiple delays. Originally scheduled to reopen in 2021 it was delayed by Covid to Dec 2022, where it is delayed again by a lack of explosives due to the Ukraine war to July 2023. They have since pushed the deadline to 2024 with reports of the new tunnel 42 nearing completion. Im personally waiting for it to reopen and I hope peace persist in the region so that I can experience the Chiayi to fenqihu (stay one night), fenqihu to Alishan itinerary by train. Lastly, zhushan has always been a sunrise station only in recent times, even pre Covid. I haven’t heard of any official plans for regular service except for charter trains. A shame indeed. Otherwise, very well researched and I learnt new things too from this video (especially about the buses, they always change schedules and routes, which is annoying). Hopefully, more foreigners and people can appreciate the beauty of Taiwan and the unique culture in Taiwan. It would be amazing if Taiwan and its unique culture receives the respect it deserves amidst all the global tensions! Anyway enjoy your trip!

[@clymcel]

This was incredibly useful for planning my own trip to Alishan next year! Thanks for making this video :) Given that you did not have a good experience taking the bus up to Alishan from Fenqihu, would you recommend the other direction (taking the bus from Alishan to Fenqihu, and then from Fenqihu down to Chiayi)?

[@Trainviking]

I haven't mentioned it clearly in the video but I guess the bus is fine during the week, in the weekends it's just crazy. Also during holidays it might be a bit less good. Also for the bus from Alishan to Chiayi if you take the early busses this should be fine. I understood there are trains now on the entire route and this year I actually plan to take the Alishan train again. Anyway, Fenqihu is still worth visiting, that's for sure.

[@anjaguirre]

Can you suggest the hotel where you stayed in Alishan? And how and where can we book it?

[@doo847]

Question, is it better to sit on the left or the right of the train? :D Which side has better views? THANKS!

[@Trainviking]

Actually I think this doesn't really matter, it's all beautiful.

[@nickloong]

Is Alishan worth all the transportation hassle just to get there? Honest opinion is much appreciated! 😅

[@Trainviking]

I think this is really a personal thing I think it's worth it however I can imagine you might skip it. I really liked it, but there are tons of other nice spots in Taiwan.

[@ich-d1h]

Did You hear anything about a reopening date for the rest of the line between Fenqihu and Alishan station?

[@江糧旭]

@@ich-d1hRumor among our local rail fans has it that it is scheduled to reopen June this year. However it never been officially announced.

[@江糧旭]

As a Taiwanese, I think this video do Alishan justice. You can do a judgment by it.