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Get away from it all on Taiwan’s east coast – hot springs, fried flowers, indigenous villages, and mountains

We visit Taimali Township, travel the Flower Route and eat fried daylilies, ascend Kinchen Mountain and watch the fishing boats come in at Sanhe in the last of our three-part series on the east coast of Taiwan

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Aboriginal costumes in Taimali, Taiwan. Photo: James Wendlinger

It’s a midweek afternoon, and a few local men are having a barbecue on the long Taimali Beach in Taiwan’s Taitung County. My friend and I have stumbled across them on our third and final stretch of our trip exploring the country’s less trodden east coast – following a stop in Doulan and Green Island.

Taimali Township, a collection of rural villages, sits along an expanse of high-cliff coastline, by the winding Number 9 highway, with a huge expanse of soft black sand below. Word has it swimming is banned here due to a voracious undertow.

The men are sheltered from an early winter wind in a thicket of palms. A good amount of a bottle of kaoliang winer has already been drunk, and they are red-faced and in good humour.

Locals have a barbecue by the beach in Taimali, Taiwan. Photo: James Wendlinger
Locals have a barbecue by the beach in Taimali, Taiwan. Photo: James Wendlinger
“People aren’t supposed to swim here,” says the one manning the grill, handing us a piece of freshly cooked pork, “but sometimes they still do.” We stay for a while, making small talk, listening to the waves crash on the shore, then – deciding not to chance the water – continue on our way.

We head on a scooter for Taihe Village, a few kilometres south. From in front of Taimali train station, visitors can watch the sun rise over the eastern horizon.

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A twenty-something solo traveller from Hong Kong, Samuel, is there already, taking in the surroundings.
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