Situated in Maolin Township of Kaohsiung County at an altitude of 750 m at the southernmost tip of Central Mountain Range and currently governed by Liugui branch of the Forestry Research Institute, Shanping boasts a complete forest ecological system and is an important bird-watching area in southern Taiwan. Hence the name "Birdwatchers' Paradise." There are a total of 134 bird species here, the residents of which make up two third of that of the total number on the entire island.
The four original tasks of workstation of Shanping are: 1. Shanping Nursery Garden is an important place for growing seedlings. 2. The sunbathing field for Cinchona. bark. 3 Arboretum. 4. The most important forestry research base in southern Taiwan with experiment and research projects still underway that serves as a post for researchers to rest their feet and exchange results of their studies.
In Shanping, there are slate houses, bamboo arboretum, arboretum, nanmu exhibit (Phoebe nanmu), landscape plants exhibition area nursery garden, deciduous trees exhibit zone, Cinnamomum kanehirae Clonal Orchard, botanical garden in the Tengchuan area, and stream ecology exhibit zone. In addition, there are a total of 139 species of butterflies here, so don't miss it.
（Traffic information is subject to change. Please check with the transportation station before departure.）
By Car: 1. Exit highway at Dingjin Interchange and connect to No. 10 National Highway. Exit at Yanchao Interchange and take Prov. Hwy 22. Drive past Ligang, Gaoshu, and turn left after Dajin Bridge. Drive ahead along Prov. Hwy 27 Line and there it is.
2. Get on the Southern Second Highway from Tainan and exit at Yanchao Interchange. Connect to No. 10 National Highway and exit at the Cishan end. Drive past Meinong and Liugui and then take Prov. Hwy 27.
By Air: 1. From Taipei International Airport fly to Kaohsiung on Mandarin Airlines. 2. From Hualien Airport fly to Kaohsiung on Mandarin Airlines. Kaohsiung International Airport
THSR: Take the THSR to Zuoying Station, transfer to the bus. ZuoyingStation Tourist Attractions
By Bus: 1. No public transport takes visitors directly to Shanping. Going there by car is advisable. 2. Take Kaohsiung Bus (leaving from Fongshan to Liugui four times on a daily basis or from Kaohsiung to Liugui approximately every 50 minutes) and get off at the Liugui station. Take a taxi and head south along the No. 185 line. Take the left side road when seeing a forked road at approximately 2.5km. Drive on for 10 km and there it is. Liugui Station of Kaohsiung Bus: +886-7-689-1021 3. If you have a reservation at the Shanping Hostel, you can take the Kaohsiung Bus to Liugui first and transfer to Shanping Hostel's shuttle bus to go up into the mountains.
Kaohsiung County Travel