Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eating
Activities
Hot Springs
Taian's alkaloid carbonic waters are clear, tasteless and almost odourless. They are re-
putedly good for treating skin problems and nervousness. Your skin will certainly glow
after a soak, and with three spring sources there's plenty of water to go around. Most
places offer good discounts on weekdays and in the low season, May to September.
Cedarwood Villa
HOT SPRING
MAP
(Zhúměi Shāngé Wēnquán Huìguǎn; 941 800;
www.cedarwood-villa.com.tw
;
per hr
NT$800-1000)
Though slate walled and not made of cedarwood at all, this quiet and styl-
ish hotel offers large marble soaking rooms with huge windows overlooking a superb
stretch of Taian's mountain. It's the kind of place you take someone special to.
The hotel has rooms for overnight stays, and is found on its own on the side of a
mountain up a rough side road.
LEI CHA
If you pronounce it incorrectly,lei cha(léi chá) sounds like 'tired tea', but this
hearty brew was designed to do anything but make you sleepy. It was a farmer's
drink, rich and thick and full of nutrients and calories. In the old days, Hakka farm-
ers would drink it both during and after work in the tobacco fields in order to fortify
their bodies. Or so the story goes.
Very likely,lei chais a modern invention (like the Scottish tartan), or at best a
family drink that has been cleverly promoted as an authentic part of Taiwan's
