Alishan National Scenic Area

Alishan refers to a mountainous resort area in Chiayi County, southwestern central Taiwan, centred on a series of peaks, valleys and forest ecosystems that begin at approximately 2,000 metres elevation and rise toward the 2,663-metre summit of the main peak of the Ali Mountain massif. The name means "Ari's Mountain" in the old Formosan Siraya language, a reference to the indigenous groups who have inhabited the area for centuries before Han Chinese settlement and Japanese colonial intervention.

The Alishan Forest Railway is the defining feature of any visit: a 71.4-kilometre narrow-gauge line originally built by the Japanese Colonial Government in 1912 to transport cypress and cedar logs from the mountain forests to the coast. The railway ascends from the tropical lowland forest at 30 metres above sea level in Chiayi city through four distinct climate zones to its terminus at the 2,451-metre Alishan Station, making it one of the few mountain railways in the world that traverses such a dramatic vertical range in a single journey.

The Shayoung to Alishan segment is the most spectacular, with its series of 72 tunnels, 51 bridges and 28 switchbacks — the latter a result of the "spiral engineering solution that gains elevation by looping the track through tunnels in the mountainside rather than following the direct slope. The switchbacks at Zhao Wuping and Shan Mei are particularly memorable, requiring the train to reverse direction before continuing uphill.

The sea of clouds that forms below Alishan's peaks on cool mornings, especially from October through March when stable high-pressure systems sit over the Taiwan Strait, is considered one of Taiwan's three great scenic phenomena alongside the Kenting coral reefs and the Taroko Gorge marble walls. The effect is best observed from the peaks immediately before sunrise, when visitors gather at the official viewing platform for the Alishan sunrise event timed to the seasonal sunrise.

Above the railway, the Shizenaiging Trail leads through ancient Formosan cypress groves, some specimens estimated at over 3,000 years old, with trunk circumferences of 20 metres or more. The trail continues to the 1,400-year-old Shizenaiging Giant Tree, a massive fallen Hinoki cypress whose decomposed crown now forms a natural amphitheatre. The moss-covered ground, the sound of running water and the filtered light through the canopy give the impression of walking through a primary forest that has never been disturbed.

The Alishan Forest Railway has been classified as a narrow-gauge heritage railway by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture and was partially reopened in 2023 after the repairs following Typhoon Morakot in 2009. The Zhuoshui Corps of the Forestry Bureau operates a scheduled service from Chiayi to Alishan (four hours each way) and a shorter shuttle between Alishan and Shanshan; the full route is subject to weather closures during the plum rain season in May and June.

The Alishan Forest Railway's 71.4-kilometre ascent through four climate zones in a single ride is a unique railway engineering achievement with no direct equivalent in East Asia.

The sea of clouds phenomenon at sunrise, visible from the official viewing platform, is among Taiwan's most photographed natural events.

The ancient Shizenaiging Trail through 3,000-year-old cypress groves gives access to old-growth forest that predates any human activity in the area.