Bitan Scenic Area is a really famous place in Taipei city. To go there, take the MRT to Xindian station (green line) which is the closest.
People usually go there to relax because it’s a really peacefull place close to the river. This part of the river is called the « Green Lake » because of its greenish colour.
Located in a pleasant scenery , there are some river activities like paddle boat that I already did with my 2 nieces.
It’s not that amazing, but it’s a nice activity to do before taking a fresh drink just next to the river.
I just wouldn »t recommend it when it’s really really hot, because the boats are in plastic and it can become pretty warm in there.
Next to the river, you will find some nice coffees, restaurants and terraces with a view of the lake’s steep cliffs and the green mountains.
Walking along the water, you can see lots of birds. If you know the species, feel free to share !
In Xindian old street, you can find a night market selling a great variety of food.
There is also the Bitan Suspension Bridge which connects to the other side of the river and you can have some nice walks through the mountain over there : the HeMei Mountain trail.
Hemei Mountain is a 3.2 km trail through the mountain that goes along the river (though you don’t see the river all the way). The walk is really easy compared to other walks in the mountains around Taipei.
At one point during the walk, you have a really nice view of Bitan.
I did this trail twice and I always saw super nice Butterflies. The second time I saw this amazing butterfly !
I remember coming across just one person; funny, considering the many people we saw on the other side of the river, but the better for us.
The really cool thing about this trail is the many wooden boardwalks. Usually taiwanese trails are made of stairs and stone paths but here there are a lot of wood stairs which makes the trail even nicer.
No worries about the heat and sun, almost all the hike is well shaded.
If you follow the river’s eastern side, at one point, when the jungle part is finished, you will come accross the Xindian Old Ferry. It was a great surprise, because we didn’t have to come all the way back by the same path. We could take the ferry for NT$20 and go back to Xindian.
The first time I was in Bitan, the crossing of the river was really quick, and I don’t remember; not because of the ferry, but I happened to see a dead bird hanging in an electric wire together with many other strings attached to it, maybe old fishing lines that got stuck there, I don’t know. The bird was just above the river, like you can see on the picture (not with THE bird, I spare you that part) and it’s really a shame because I suppose it could have been easily avoided.
But well, not a very joyful conclusion to this nice trail, but my love for animals has taken over.
But the second time I’ve done this trail was this year (2023, the time before was in 2016) and I was happy to see the wire had been removed, so no dead birds hanging. So this time everything went fine and I didn’t finish the walk in a bad mood 🙂
If you go to the Bitan Scenic Area just to relax it’s perfect, but I just wanted to let you know that, if you’re not that amazed by this area, you have a really nice shady walk just next to it.