2022年6月6日 台北象山小登山 A half-day rambling around less traveled spots of Taipei Mt. Xiangshan

岩に刻まれた不二法門　Engraved letters of Bufamen

台北の象山は台北101ビルのすぐわきで、台北を訪れる観光客も足を延ばす身近な山である。筆者も自宅から3，4㎞の場所なので11年前の初回から、何度も訪れている。山は住宅地のすぐわきから立ち上がる。付近の住民などのよい憩いの場所でもある。今回は、台北市親山步道ではない、あまり訪れられない場所を歩いた。こうした、住民たちが歩く道は、かなり多く存在する。3月末に同種の道を歩いた。今回も非官製道を歩き、象山の別の一面を垣間見た。まだ梅雨の時期で、午後から天候が変わるということなので、早朝に向かい昼前に歩いて帰宅した。それほど、身近でもある。

Rambling route

Mt. Xiangshan (象山), one of the peaks of Nangang-shan (南港山) range of mountain, stands just by the Taipei 101 tower. It attracts not only local hikers but also tourists as well. Its summit is just at 184 meters above sea level and there is a nice trail system maintained by the Taipei government. Local residents nearby follow other small non-official trails to their destinations for morning exercise or so as if their own backyard. There is no signage for such trails and most hikers do not venture into them. But they often reveals interesting spots that are less visited and less known.

A view of the 101 tower and its neighboring buildings

I made a hike to visit such less known spots of Nangang-shan in March. This hike was also for such purpose. The weather forecast said that it would start raining in the afternoon, which in fact did, and my hike was just for morning. My home is in a walking distance so I walked back home after coming down.

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Wuxing primary school bus stop

The three-day holiday of  Dragong boat festival (端午節) this year was blessed with fine weather. As it drew to an end, news media was busy reporting another wave of heavy rain would come soon and last for a week. I did not go for hiking during this holiday because the traffic would be very congested and so many people around, which might as well cause infection of omicron virus. A prospect of a week long rain would be very depressing. So I came up with a plan to visit a nearby mountain for a half day. Mt. Xiangshan is very handy for this purpose. It would be more fun to visit less visited spots of it, not just following its official stone paved trails.

Xiangshan trail head

Cat by the trail

A bus on a Monday early morning is almost empty with a couple of passengers only. I get off at Wuxing elementary school bus stop (吳興國小站) at 6:30 and cross an almost empty Zhuangjing road (莊敬路). A short walk brings me to a trail head of Mt. Xiangshan.  The sky above is still blue and fine. Soon after I step in one of the most traveled routes of Xiangshan, a cat is busy cleansing her face on a platform by the junction. I take the right trail at the junction and soon find an opening of a narrow trail on my right. This is the one I am going to follow.

Take the right dirt trail

Trail is pretty clean

It is a dirt path and its track is pretty clean. It traverses along a side of the mountain and leads to a bottom of seemingly inhabited houses in a few minutes. I go up between dilapidated houses and shinny steel tanks. The path reaches a top with an abandoned house and turns to right to connect another dirt trail, which gradually goes down, splitting a path to its right at a halfway, to connect a paved road at its bottom. I then take left and follow the paved road to its end. The road with white calla lilies on both sides passes by a pond with noisy frogs. As I advance, a dog is barking at me, whose owner is hastily telling not to bark. The road gets narrow and climbs to a temple called Qingjing-shan Tudigong(清靜山土地公). The small temple perches on a narrow mountain terrace with an extended steel-made floor on its front. At a little after 7:00 there is no other visitor here.

Pass by abandoned houses

Take the left trail to go down

Going up to the temple above

清靜山土地公

This small temple has a special feature: eye-catching engraved letters of Buerfamen (不二法門)  on the rock at its side. Large human faces are also engraved next to it. "Buerfamen", a word derived from Buddhism means a way to absolute righteousness. The temple in fact worships two separate religions, Buddhism and Taoism, which is very common in temples and shrines all over Taiwan. I go up steps by the engraved letters to an upper level. 

A view from the temple extended front yard

Looking over the highway and Miagaotai abvoe

I keep on going up, passing by a vegetable garden and an abandoned structure, to a bottom of a split-rock passage (一線天, meaning a thread of sky). On my way up I am pleased to find that the entire Chatian mountain range (插天山脈) shows itself over a mountain ridge in front. You can identify a series of peaks from Mt. Zhulu-shan (逐鹿山) all the way to Mt. Nanchatian-shan (南插天山). Mt. Shitzitou-shan (獅子頭山) stands in front. This location is exactly above a tunnel of the highway liking Xinyi district (信義區) and Muzha district (木柵區) and happens to be opposite to  Miaogaotai (妙高台).

Chatianshan mountain range in the distance

Yixiantian with steps between split rocks

Stone steps are placed between the tall split rocks and leads to a platform above. This place is called Haohanpo (好漢坡, meaning strong men's slope). Engraved steps on a rock surface let you get onto a trail above, which passes by a small hidden shelter erected by local people and eventually leads to a toilet just below the summit of Xiang-shan. There are a few people doing exercise at a platform next to the toilet. I reach the summit at 7:35 and have a short break. The summit now has a nice new bench with a roof and a pole with the peak name in front.

好漢坡

Coming out to a toilet under the summit

Xiangshan summit

Steep staircase to go down

I wonder which way to go and decide to visit another Yixiantian (一線天).  I take a trail leading north to Yongchungang hill (永春岡)  and pass by a shelter facing the 101 tower. A young couple of seemingly coming from Thailand are there chatting. There are few hikers coming up and pass me. I come down to an open platform facing north where an elderly man with a naked body is shouting. A steep stair way leads down to a junction at a lower level. At 7:50 I take a left trail. The trail traverses along the mountain side and comes to another yixiantian cave in a few minutes, by which stands an explanation board of it.

Take the traversing trail

Another Yixiantian

A small path divers to right by the rock

You can go along this trail all the way to the junction just above the trail head that I passed this morning. Instead I take a small non-official passage down at a large exposed rock to a lower level. A small badminton court is placed on a platform and a few people are playing there. I then climb back to the traversing trail and follow it for while to get to Yongchunting (永春亭) junction. An elderly woman is practicing Taiji (太極). 

Local people playing badminton

Yongchunting junction

Firework deck

A trail  to Yanhuo (firework) deck (煙火平台) departs just behind the large Yongchunting shelter. I follow it to the end and get onto the platform. This is the nearest point to the 101 tower. This is a spot where those well-known firework pictures of 101 tower are taken so it has gotten the name.

A path down to Xiangshan park

Forest classroom

There is a scant path leading down from the deck side. I follow it down for a while. A map shows a dotted line of path down to Xiangshan park below. Soon vegetation gets thick. I have no tool to cut branches with me today and give up to go further down. Returning to the deck, I take another non-official trail which opens its month at twenty meters so away from the deck. This trail goes parallel to the official trail above and gets to an open platform named Forest classroom (森林教室) just below Yongchunting junction. I then get up to Yongchunting again and have a break at 8:50. Nice wind blows through and it feels so good for my perspiring body.

Back to Yongchunting junction

Down to the trail head

The final leg of my hike is just to get to the trail head where I started. I followed the stone paved trail down to the trail head. I get there a little after 9:10 and take a right road towards Xiangshan park. Office workers are coming up one after another to nearby buildings. Passing through the park I further walk all the way home.

Back to the trail head

This hiking around the Xiangshan took only 2 hours and 40 minutes inclusive of all breaks. The total ascent was 335 meters and the distance 3.7 kilometers. It was a very easy hike indeed. It started raining in the afternoon after I got home. There are yet many non-official trails around Nangang-shan. I am going to try them all on other occasions. It is simply fun to ramble along them.