The tiny town of Xindian in Miaoli’s Shitan Township is not really on most visitors’ radars. In truth, I’m not sure I would have visited it myself if I hadn’t passed through in the course of walking the Raknus Selu Trail. The sleepy Hakka old street is far less polished than some of the more popular tourist favourites, but it’s still worth a visit, if only to enjoy a cup of herbal tea (仙草茶) from one of the street’s several tea stores. While you’re there, this little walk is a good way to stretch you legs and work up an appetite.
Distance: Around 2 kilometres.
Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Difficulty (regular Taiwan hiker): 2/10 – Just for the steps.
Difficulty (new Taiwan hiker): 4/10 – The steps are the only tiring element of this walk.
Total ascent: About 120 metres.
Water: A single small bottle should be enough.
Shade: Patchy shade. I took my hat off about halfway.
Mobile network: I had clear signal throughout.
Enjoyment: There is one view of Shitan, some pretty bamboo scenery, and it’s always fun to read what people have wished for with their wishing tokens.
Bathroom facilities: There aren’t any bathrooms on this trail.
Route type: Loop (or U-shape)
Permit: None needed
Jump to the bottom of this post for a trail map and GPX file.
The walk starts just a short distance away from the main drag of Shitan Old Street. In fact, there are a couple of different entrances to the trail complex, but I picked the one that’s closest to the old street. The entrance is hard to miss since it’s decorated with a large sign bearing the trail’s name.
For the first half of the walk, steps lead you onwards and upwards.
At the first junction, there’s a break in the tree cover and you can see over the little town of Shitan to the hills beyond. This is where you’ll find Minfeng Historic Trail (part of the Raknus Selu Trail).
The junction is marked by the trail’s eponymous bell tower (“鐘樓古道” means “Bell Tower Historic Trail”). The frame of the tower has been decorated with lots of handwritten wishes on bamboo wishing tokens and a box containing both pens and fresh tokens to write on. Naturally, I could not resist, so if you pay this trail a visit, see if you can spot mine.
At the junction by the bell tower, take the right-hand path and keep heading up. Something had massacred a bird along here I’m guessing it was probably some type of bird of prey and a pigeon because were progressively larger piles of increasingly downy grey and white feathers spaced at irregular intervals along the trail.
At the next junction, keep right again. From here, the trail doesn’t exactly level off, but it starts to climb less steeply.
The path is completely surrounded by skinny bamboo, and the dry fallen leaves meant I heard even spiders shifting as I got too close to them.
At the high point of the loop, a spur trail on the right leads up to a pavilion. (There’s no view, just a clearing in the bamboo.) The steps head down steeply from here, and before long, I found myself on a flattish gravel path.
Far off in the distance, I spotted Xieling Temple (協靈宮) and the carpark/foodcourt complex in front of Lingtung Temple (靈洞宮), which is where I would later spend the night.
At the next junction, I turned left onto a farm track and then followed that downhill past the other ends of the side trails I’d passed earlier and all the way back down to the road.
The track comes out close to a holiday house, and if you follow the path past the hiking lions to cross over you can take the little cut-through steps to arrive back at Shitan Old Street. If you have time, I strongly recommend getting some herbal tea (仙草茶) from this shop. I had a cup with half ice and it was exactly the kind of refreshment I needed.
How to get to Zhonglou Historic Trail
Google Maps address: The walk starts and ends at Xindian Old Street in Miaoli’s Shitan Township. You can probably find roadside parking somewhere nearby if you drive around a bit.
GPS location: N24 32.370 E120 55.280
Public transport: The 5657 leaves Miaoli Station bound for Xindian Old Street a couple of times a day (at 9:20 and 17:00, Monday to Friday, or 9:00 and 17:40 on weekends). There is also a free community shuttle bus which runs from close to Miaoli Station to Xindian Old Street twice a day, departing at 10:00 and 16:00. This is a free service.
Nearby trails:
Zhonglou Historic Trail Map
GPX file available here on Outdoor Active. (Account needed, but the free one works just fine.)
Taiwan Trails and Tales 