As slow travelers, we have time to leisurely explore places and discover lesser-known hidden gems. And thanks to picking Taiwan as our home for the foreseeable future, we can still enjoy slow traveling as the country is one of the very few that managed to actually keep the virus outside of its borders.
Taiwan has kept us pretty busy exploring in 2020 as we’ve done already two around the island month-long trips (read: Life ‘Stuck’ in Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic – June’s edition) and have been able to extensively explore many places that are accessible from Taipei. From our exploration, we’ve stumbled upon a few places that are not widely known but has blown us away by their beauty.
In this article, we will cover one of them: the countryside town of Houbi and share the itinerary we took as it is really worth visiting if you have the opportunity to visit Taiwan.
If you aren’t familiar with Taiwan, make sure to check out everything we had to say about Taiwan!
How much time do you need to spend in Houbi District?
One day should be plenty of time to visit Houbi, especially if you rent a bike as this will give you plenty of opportunities to bike around.
What did we do?
We enjoyed biking through Houbi as much as we did biking through the popular east coast countryside of Chishang! You experience a lot of the countryside scenery with rice paddy fields, lotus flowers and beautiful trees but without the touristic feel. The bike paths in Houbi are also really well organized and well-maintained. We’ve been really pleasantly surprised by the biking infrastructure in Taiwan and Houbi did not disappoint. We basically biked most of the bike paths around Houbi and checked out some of the major sites along the way. We biked for about 21 miles (or 34 km) in about 3 hours (not including stops).
We did a loop that started from the Houbi train station (where we picked up our bike rentals) and went through the major bike paths in that order: purple -> orange -> red -> orange -> purple -> brown -> orange and purple. (see map below)
Our itinerary
Cozy Bike Rental
- We picked up our bike at the Cozy Bike rental shop that was on the left side of the Houbi train station when exiting the station. The lady there was really nice and rented bikes starting at 30 NTD / hour. Her bikes are quite comfortable even though at first sight they might look a bit rusty!
- From the train station, we then followed road 172 until we reached the beginning of the bike path. This is probably the less pleasant part of the ride due to car traffic. You can’t miss the entrance (on your left) of the bike path as the next picture can prove:
Xiaonanhai Scenic Area
- We then followed the purple path all to way to the entrance of the lake on a really well maintain bikeway as it is always the case in Taiwan.
- When the purple path ends, we connect with the orange path (on the left) that took us all around the lake counterclockwise. We made the first stop halfway to a nice rice patty field area that can make for a great break as they have a nice picnic table with some shade.
- Since it was early for us, we kept going until we reached a nice viewpoint of the Haitian temple where you can park your bike and hike on a nice circular walk (Xiaonanhai Circular Walk) to go all around the temple while following the lake.
Tip: This can make for a great lunch stop if you have packed your lunch with you.
- We then continued around the lake by following the red path (Shiaonanai bikeway) while still enjoying great views.
Red Cotton Tree Road
- We returned to where we left the purple path earlier and kept going straight (instead of going right back on the purple path) this time following the orange path all the way to Red Cotton Tree Road. During the spring this area can be quite popular and crowded as the trees turn red and make for some nice pictures.
- We then reversed our route for a little bit until we crossed the purple path again and turned right. This led us all the way to the end of the purple path that then connects to the brown path.
Zhumen Yuxue Ice Shop
- Before the brown path makes a 90 degrees turn, we decided to keep going straight to an ice cream shop worth stopping by 竹門鈺雪冰枝店 (location: https://goo.gl/maps/69kPcjZzzzbVWbSi8). They sell popsicles for 10 NTD (~0.30 USD) up to 20 NTD (~0.60 USD). They also have lots of shaved ice desserts like this passion fruit shaved ice dish that cost us 25 NTD (~0.85 USD)
Yufeng Zhumen Green Tunnel
- After this nice break, we kept going on the brown bikeway and passed through the green tunnel on the way to the town of Baihe. This tunnel is actually formed by trees that arch to form the shape of a tunnel and is a nice shady ride.
Baihe Town
- We went to the town of Baihe to have lunch because there aren’t a lot of restaurants elsewhere. We arrived there around 2 pm so most places were already closed. We managed to find one open but we recommend to either pack your lunch or get there between 12-2 pm. Other than having lots of restaurant options, we don’t necessarily recommend going out of your way to visit the town of Baihe.
Lily Pond Area
- Once done refueling with some nice local dishes, we kept following the brown bikeway that brought us to a number of Lily ponds where we stopped for a few pictures. Unfortunately, we just missed the blooming season but it was still a beautiful sight. If you happen to catch the season, Baihe Lotus Park might be worth a stop.
- We then wrapped up the loop by reconnecting with the orange page (by turning left on the purple path) which then connected us to the initial section of the purple path we started from. We kept on the purple path until we reached the beginning of the bikeway.
- Once back on road 172 we biked all the way back to the rental shop.
Rice Paddy Exhibition
- Once we returned our bike, the lady mentioned a local exhibition a few hundred meters from her shop. We checked it out and were pleasantly surprised by what we discovered.
Here is a recap of our route including the elevation profile which was really flat (300 ft of elevation in total).
Trip miles total 21 miles, 3 hours.
How to get to Houbi?
We suggest making Tainan your base if you plan to come to Houbi because it is a nice and affordable hub to explore other cities in the southwest part of Tainan. Chiayi is another option if you happen to be there.
If you are coming from Tainan, you can get to Houbi using the local train departing Tainan that will cost you about 60 NTD (~2 USD) on the way per person and will take about 1 hour.
How much did we spend?
Well Taiwan being a very affordable country to live in (read: TBD), we did not really spend much for what turned out to be one of our favorite biking getaways from Tainan!
TL;DR; As a couple, we spent a total of 20 USD on this day trip.
| Category | Total Cost per person | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | 120 NTD (~4 USD) | This is for the train from Tainan to Houbi |
| Food | 65 NTD (~2 USD) | This covered for ice cream stop + our lunch stop in Baihe |
| Bike rental | 120 NTD (~4 USD) | This includes 4 hours of bike rental |
| TOTAL | 305 NTD(~$10 USD) | It cost us just 10 USD per person for an amazing journey biking in Houbi. |
Others tips?
Here are our tips for anyone that is planning to visit the Houbi District and wants to save time and money while having the best possible experience:
- Check the weather – Biking in the rain is no fun. Make sure it won’t be raining on the day you plan this adventure.
- Avoid the weekend – We were surprised to see very little people during our getaway. Weekdays are usually less crowded than a weekend since you usually avoid the locals that usually work during the week.
- Enjoy the off-season – We assume people come here during Spring to see the flowers in bloom according to some pictures we found on the Internet. While this might make for slightly better pictures, we aren’t sure if it is worth trading our empty bike lanes for the busy ones. Your choice 🙂
What do you think about Houbi? Did you know about it? Would you like to spend a day there and enjoy this nice bike journey?
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