What's on in Alishan (Alishan National Scenic Area), Taiwan through the year

Peak crowds — Lunar New Year crowds, Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in Taiwan

• Holiday

  Lunar New Year crowds

  25 Jan – 25 Feb · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  The whole of western Taiwan drives up for the holiday week. Rooms inside the recreation area are gone months out and the shuttle queue at Chiayi runs long. Source ↗

Still on: Sunrise and sea of clouds (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Lunar New Year crowds, Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in Taiwan

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Lunar New Year crowds (25 Jan – 25 Feb (usually)), Sunrise and sea of clouds (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Alishan Cherry Blossom Festival, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Alishan Cherry Blossom Festival

  10 Mar – 10 Apr · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Thirty-odd varieties open in sequence around the station, the Yoshinos in the middle of March. Some 150,000 people come up for it and the highway is under traffic control from six in the morning at weekends. Source ↗

• Nature

  High-mountain tea harvest

  15 Mar – 30 Apr · usually

  Pickers work the steep tea gardens above the cloud line for the spring flush, prized as some of Taiwan's most fragrant oolong; roads through the plantations get busy with buyers before it tapers off by late April. Source ↗

Still on: Sunrise and sea of clouds (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Alishan Cherry Blossom Festival, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Firefly season

  10 Apr – 15 May · usuallyFireflies

  Alishan holds about a third of Taiwan's fireflies and the peak is a few weeks from mid-April. It is a night walk at 2,000 m, so around 8°C once the light goes. Source ↗

Still on: Alishan Cherry Blossom Festival (10 Mar – 10 Apr (usually)), High-mountain tea harvest (15 Mar – 30 Apr (usually)), Sunrise and sea of clouds (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Firefly season (10 Apr – 15 May (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Busy — Summer break in Taiwan, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Typhoon and landslide season

  1 Jul – 15 Oct · usuallyTyphoon seasonClosures

  The mountain road and the forest railway are the first things to shut when a system parks over the island. Repairs can take a season, so check the line is running before you plan around it. Source ↗

Busy — Summer break in Taiwan, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Typhoon and landslide season (1 Jul – 15 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Typhoon and landslide season (1 Jul – 15 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Sunrise and sea of clouds

  15 Oct – 15 Apr · usuallyFog season

  The cool half of the year is when the Zhushan sunrise train is worth the 4am alarm; in summer the cloud is usually rain instead of a floor below you. Source ↗

Still on: Typhoon and landslide season (1 Jul – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Sunrise and sea of clouds (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Sunrise and sea of clouds (15 Oct – 15 Apr (usually))