Tourism Administration, Republic of China (Taiwan)-Taiwan Tourism Administration's Taiwan Tourism Information Website

East Longitudinal Valley National Scenic Area - Hegang Visitor Center

This area has been called "a land of milk honey." Traveling down Provincial Highway No.9, all you see on both sides are green farm fields stretching to the mountains. The national scenic area stretches from Mugua River in Hualien to the north to Taitung City and covers a total of 138,386 hectares, encompasses mountains, valleys, and hot springs, together with fields of rice, daylilies, pomelos, tea, and sugar apples in rich abundance. Berms crisscross the land, dividing it into fields; waves of rice billow as cows graze in pastures and fish and shrimp cavort in the streams. The contentment-filled inhabitants are warmly hospital in their rustic way, and the stream beds are littered with precious stones. Truly, this is a paradise on earth.
The valley is home to four of Taiwan's indigenous tribes: the Amis, Atayal, Bunun, and Puyuma. Aboriginal culture is among the most important and most representative of the East Rift Valley's precious resources.

Matai'an Wetland Ecological Par

Matai'an Wetlan Ecological Park is situated at the foot of Maxi Mountain in Guangfu Township of Hualien, sitting by the Central Mountain Range, surrounded by mountains on three sides. The Park is a natural marsh wetland with an area of nearly 100 hectares. "Vataan" (Matai'an), is how local Amis people call pigeon peas, and Amis people have been treating the peas as their good luck charms, which they carry with them and plant them everywhere. Therefore, the area has been named with the meaning of "a place with many pigeon peas grown here". Inside the Park, there are as many as nearly a hundred kinds of aquatic plants - among them all, the yellow water lily, with small yellow petals, is Taiwan's endemic species. And there are also even surprisingly more kinds and quantities of birds, frogs, damselflies, dragonflies, as well as fish, shrimps, and shellfish in the water. In the recent years, Matai'an Wetland Ecological Park has been famous for cultivating summer lotus fields. In midsummer time, when the lotus leaves cover the landscape and the lotus flowers in full bloom, large groups of visitors would be attracted here, and the wooden pathways offer the best spot for them to walk along and closely appreciate the beauty of the lotus flowers.

Chike Mountain

Chike Mountain is located at the top of the Coastal Mountain Range at an altitude of 900m. And the name "Chike" comes from the period of Japanese Rule when "Chike" trees were grown all over the mountain. The Chike tree is a big evergreen broad-leave tree with tough tree trunk, which was once made widely renowned as it was exported to Japan for making gun stocks. And now mountains of citron daylily are grown here; citron daylily is also known as "worry-free plant" – as people visit here, look over hills of golden-yellow color, and enjoy the comfortable breeze, they would feel as if all their worries and sadness are gone.

Liushishi Mountain

There are two citron daylily mountains in Hualien, and Liushishi Mountain in Fuli Township is one of them, which is famous for its sea of citron daylily all over the mountains. During August and September each year, following the winding mountain roads up, visitors would see that amidst the woods and green meadows, rolling hills of bright yellow are dancing near and afar. Once reaching the top of the mountain, visitors would be able to look over the magnificent and splendid sea of flowers stretching into the distance, which are even more dazzling and attractive alongside the blue sky, the clouds, and the mist. Once climbing up to the gazebo, visitors would be able to look over the Quality Rice Farming Area in the East Rift Valley. All the sceneries at the Valley, as stunning as those found in Switzerland, would be before visitors' eyes. With the comfortable and cooling weather at the intermediate altitude, the East Rift Valley has also been known as "Taiwan's Little Switzerland".