Ruitai Historic Trail — Attraction in Meishan Township

8 am, late April, 2024. I left my scooter at the Rueli trailhead and headed up the stairs with a thermos of high mountain oolong. The downpour (大雨) was over, but it continued to drizzle lightly in the forest. Birdsong, a bamboo grove, a tropical sea of lush, vibrant green. Roots, stones, last year's leaves. ... After an hour and a half of climbing, with a dry thermos, the doubt began to creep in. But then, suddenly, the trail flattened out and became paved. A few minutes later, I see a truck and a woman. 你有水吗？有！We do our customary introductions. She is an Indonesian bamboo harvester and, since I don't speak Bahasa, we have a little chat in Mandarin. Terima kasih! Sama sama..

The rest of the route to Fenqihu is not so interesting, so it's difficult to give a rating. 5 stars for the initial climb from Rueili, 3 stars...

It seems there is a bit of confusion as many of the reviews reference the 奮瑞古道 which is a separate branch off this one about 1km in. The Ruitai trail is a 5.2km loop. Anyway, I got the 0750 tourist bus from Chiayi which took about 2 hours and this was a nice hike up through a tea plantation and bamboo forest. The Ruitai trail splits with the right branch going up the Hero Slope, there is a warning for good reason as there are 800 steps which are quite steep. You reach the summit and it's an easy drop back down the other side. If you're not so fit, take the left path when the trail divides as the Hero Slope is no joke. The whole thing took 2 hours and 10 minutes. Be aware that there are two buses in the afternoon, one to Dalin via Taiping Suspension Bridge at 1310 and the tourist bus back to...

Excellent hiking trail full of surprises. The added mist made it mysterious. I would reccomend starting on the fenqihu side as near the end it opens up to tea fields. but you will need to arrange transportation on the other side from Ruli as public transport is limited, so you don't have to hike back that would be difficult. Definitely...