3 Amazing Places in Taiwan You Didn't Know Existed

The Dome of Light
The Dome of Light | © Billy1125 / Flickr
Ciaran McEneaney

Taiwan is home to some well known, incredibly beautiful locations but there are also some lesser known spots that you should see. Here are three such secret spots where the traveler with a penchant for photography will find some amazing opportunities.

Shuiyang Forest

Taiwan is blessed with a wide variety of National Parks and hiking trails. The eeriest, and some would say most photogenic, of the latter winds through the old forest at Shuiyang. The locals sometimes refer to it as “fallen heaven” which is quite apt as the scenery is a result of a natural landslide caused by the terrible earthquake of 1999.

Eerie Shuiyang Forest
The landscape in Shuiyang Forest
Camping on the river bank at Shuiyang Forest
Hiking in Shuiyang Forest
Shuiyang Forest

A well-known location for camping, this serene forest is a wonderful place to get away from the bustle of the city-based attractions in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung.

Shuiyang Forest, Alishan Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan

Rainbow Family Village

Local army veteran Huang Yung-Fu decided that his neighborhood looked a bit drab and so took a paintbrush and started to add color to his surroundings. The result is a wonderful sea of colors in an otherwise average city district.

Yellow (Rainbow Village)
Welcome to Rainbow Village
Rocking Rainbow Village
Colorful pathways in Rainbow Village
Grandpa Rainbow
Blue Rainbow Village

Also known as Grandpa Rainbow’s village, this once quiet neighborhood in Taichung City is now one of the city’s top tourist attractions.

Rainbow Family Village, 22 Lane 56, Chunan Road, Nantun District, Taichung, Taiwan

The Dome of Light

It looks like any other subway station in the world from the outside but this is a station like no other. Home to the largest work of glass art in the world, Formosa Boulevard Station holds the honor of being one of the only MRT stations in Taiwan that is a tourist attraction in its own right. In fact, it’s a must see on any sightseer’s trip to the southern port city of Kaohsiung. Designed and built by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata, the Dome of Light commemorates the birth of Taiwan’s democracy.

The Dome of Light
Beautiful flowers in The Dome of Light
Under water scenes in The Dome of Light
Birds in the trees, The Dome of Light
Central columns, The Dome of Light
Bird of Paradise, The Dome of Light

Regardless of the masses of commuters that pass under the artwork, this station is a place where a feeling of serenity and calm can be enjoyed in the throng of this busy city.

The Dome of Light, Formosa Boulevard MRT station, 115 Zhongshan 1st Rd, Xinxing District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

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