Sun-Link-Sea (Shanlinxi) 杉林溪: Discover Taiwan’s Amazing Forest Resort

Background:

Sun-Link-Sea Forest Ecological Resort (杉林溪森林生態渡假園區), located in Zhushan Township, Nantou County, at an elevation of 1,600 meters, covers 34 hectares and is known for its cool climate, lush forests, and rich biodiversity. Established in 1979 by the Sun-Link-Sea Recreation Company, it features famous scenic spots such as the “Ten Views of Sun-Link-Sea,” “Ten Forest Trails,” and “Six Famous Flowers.” Originally a logging camp in the Alishan forest area, it became a forest recreation area in the 1970s and gained fame for its imported peonies, earning the nickname “Taiwan’s Kingdom of Peonies.” After severe damage from the 1999 921 earthquake, it reopened in 2003 with a new tunnel for access. In 2010, it was renamed as an ecological resort and later established Taiwan’s first privately-run Nature Education Center, certified by the Environmental Protection Administration. The resort includes waterfalls like Songlong and Qinglong, geological features like Tian Di Eyes and Stone Wells, as well as flower gardens, hiking trails, and ecological forests, making it one of central Taiwan’s premier destinations for leisure, education, and nature tourism.

Price:

Scenic Area Entrance: 350 NT per person
Parking: Around 100 NT per day for cars
You can book tours for a discount on Klook here, KKday here, or Trip.com here.

Hours:

Scenic Area: 7 AM to 9 PM

Shuttle Bus: 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Cherry Blossom Season:

Cherry Blossoms can be seen in the park from February to late March. Check out our full guide to Cherry Blossom Season in Taiwan here. 

Firefly Season

Firefly season is roughly from May to June. Check out our Taiwan firefly spotting guide here.

How to get around Nantou:

As always, we recommend renting a scooter as the best way to see Taiwan. However, you can also get a great deal of Nantou by taking the train to Taichung and then switching to an inter-city bus, or local bus. Getting around in a car is also a convenient option, as there is plenty of parking pretty much everywhere in this less crowded county. 
Scooter Rental: Looking for scooter rental in Nantou? Search Klook here or KKday here to search for options. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here. 
Car Rental: If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search Qeeq here, Klook here, KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here. 
By Bus: You can book tickets to travel to Nantou via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
By Train: You can book tickets to Taichung via high speed rail (HSR)  on Klook here or KKDay here, or book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here, then switch to a bus to Nantou. 
Bicycle Rental: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan’s landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can search on KKday here and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here. 

Tours: 

You can find more tours of Sun Link Sea on Klook here or KKday here. 

​There are many tours and activities available in Nantou, such as river Tracing, paragliding, Shanlinxi Forest Recreation Area 杉林溪, Cona’s Chocolate Castle, Shuiyuan Suspension Bridge, JOJOZOO Park, and Aowanda Forest Recreation Area.
You can find more tours of Nantou on Klook here or KKday here. 

Where to Stay:

You can book camp sites or cabins at Shanlinxi using their website here, but they are not the cheapest.

We have stayed at and recommend Jenq Yang Hotspring Hotel (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Trip.com here, or Klook here), a hot spring hotel near the mystical Lushan hot spring, and Maple Leaf Holiday Villa (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Trip.com here, or Klook here), a lodge with a great view and within walking distance of Cingjing Farm. I also have stayed at and recommend Kirin Villa (you can book on Agoda here), a mountain resort in Puli near Sun Moon Lake. 
Looking for a hotel? Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here. We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality accommodation on the islands.

Map:

Check out the map above.

Drone Footage:

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360 Aerial Panorama:

Our Journey:

I have been to Sun Link Sea twice and enjoyed it both times. It is best to get there early and leave before the last shuttle bus runs (4:30 PM). If not, it can be a long walk to the entrance.
Overall, this place is one of Taiwan’s natural wonders, especially Songlong Waterfall.

Scenic Area Entrance: 350 NT per person
Parking: Around 100 NT per day for cars
You can book tours for a discount on Klook here, KKday here, or Trip.com here.

See above for a guide map of Shanlinxi taken from their website.

Welcome sign to Sun-link-sea. I must say, the entrance fee to Sun-link-sea is quite expensive, especially when compared to other government-owned forest recreation areas. It might be worth it to camp here or stay at one of their guest houses, especially if you are coming with your family.

Small Earth God Temple near the entrance.

If you come via car, you must park at the entrance and then take one of their shuttlebusses or walk around the park.

Another view of the main parking lot.

Main visitor area with restaruants and shops.

You should know that no outside food is allowed in any of their eating areas. We ended up finding some rocks to sit on outside to eat the picnic lunch that we had brought.

Last view from the parking lot as the fog rolled in.

We saw a shuttle bus and hopped on, because we did not know when the next bus would come.

Passing the Red House “Honglou 紅樓”, which is a recently built historic-looking building with shops and offices, and maybe hotel rooms, I’m not sure.

We took the shuttle bus all the way to the end of the road, to Songlong Rock Waterfall.

Songlong Rock Waterfall 松瀧岩瀑布

Songlong Rock Waterfall is the premier and primary attraction at Shanlinxi. You can’t miss it. It is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Taiwan. There is a small pond and suspension bridge in front of it, and a large cave behind it.

Clouds rolling in.

Closer view of the waterfall.

Some wildlife.

More wildlife.

A Phallic pole with Shanlinxi written on it.

They introduced the guy in the black hat as the township leader of Caotun I think.

View of the man-made bridge and pond in front of the waterfall.

This suspension bridge is just known as 99 bridge or Jiu Jiu bridge.

Even though it is man-made, the pool here is gorgeous.

Songlong Waterfall reflecting off the pool.

Another view of the waterfall.

This is also a popular selfie spot.

It is very picturesque here. Worth the wait.

Lots of little fish in the pond.

Songlong Rock Waterfall.

The trail goes into the cave and ends up in front of the waterfall.

View inside the cave.

View from inside the cave looking out.

Waterfall in view.

This part of the trail is pretty wet, and it is easy to get splashed here.

You can see the trail winding down here.

Another view taken with my phone. Gorgeos views.

Another view from inside of the cave.

Coming up to the waterfall.

Here you will get wet.

Here you can see little holes in the rock face.

View looking back at the pond.

View of the waterfall.

View looking skyward.

View of the pond from here, which has been eroded away after thousands of years.

Another view of the falls as we walk away.

View of the Songlong Rock Waterfall Area from the air. Droning is prohibited here except if you are far away from the road in certain areas. Check the drone map.

Wide view.

View downriver.

Fog rolling in.

Another view of 99 Suspension Bridge.

More attractions in Sun Link Sea. We originally planned on hiking to Tian Ti Yen, but we decided it was too far with kids.

Last view of the bridge.

Do not pay attention to that object in the background.

生男育女
(“Give birth to boys or girls”)
遊戲說明先知
(“Instructions for the game / ritual”)
先求香 插金爐
→ First, offer incense and place it in the censer.
走石階 門當頭
→ Walk up the stone steps to the gate.
料三問 查陰陽
→ Ask three times to check the Yin and Yang (to divine or predict the baby’s gender).
伸雙手 向前走
→ Extend both hands and walk forward.
偏左生男 偏右生女 靈驗祈安
→ If you lean to the left, it means you’ll have a boy; if you lean to the right, a girl — it’s a folk way to divine the result and pray for safety.
最後一句：
信也不信 不信也信
→ “Believe it or not — even if you don’t believe, you might end up believing.”

It’s a playful folk ritual board. Visitors can “test” whether they’ll have a boy or a girl in the future.

Next, we waited 30 minutes for the next shuttle and made it to the next garden area.

There were some shops along the road here.

Another view of the bus stop.

Sun Link Sea Flower Area 杉林溪花中心

On our way to see the flowers.

Entrance to the flower area.

Rock art.

Rocks and flowers.

Green tunnel.

Clouds rolling in.

Another view of the garden area.

Pavilion area.

Fake Torri Gate.

Maple trees in front of a koi pond.

More koi.

Kids feeding the koi.

Front side of the torri gate and a bonzai tree.

Next, we took the bus all the way down to the red house.

View of the baroque-style red house.

These buildings were built in classic Taiwan Old Street style.

Another small garden nearby.

This river is actually a lake.

Another view of the river pond.

Making our way back to the parking lot.

Getting closer.

We spotted this beautiful stone bridge.

View from the top of the bridge.

Another view of the pond and tons of fish.

Fog tends to roll in in the afternoons especially in the summer.

Soon, thick fog rolled in and we couldn’t see anything.

Almost white-out conditions.

A break in the clouds on the side of the road.

Last view of the amazing mountain scenery as we went down the mountain.

Xitou Monster Village 溪頭妖怪村

Further down the road, you can check out Xitou Monster Village, which is a Japanese monster-folklore-themed village in the mountains of Nantou, in front of Xitou Nature Education Area. Here you can find lots of restaurants, hotels, and Japanese monster-themed structures. It is almost like a trip to Japan without leaving Taiwan. Check out our full guide to Xitou Monster Village here.

Xitou 溪頭

Xitou, officially known as Xitou Nature Education Area (溪頭自然教育園區) is a forested nature park in Nantou County Taiwan. The park includes a forest sky-walk, bamboo forests, forest experiments, over 70 species of bird, and a monster themed village. It is a great day trip for nature lovers and hikers, and a unique way to enjoy Taiwan’s ecology. Check out our full blog on Xitou here.

You can book tours to Sun Link Sea for a discount on Klook here, KKday here, or Trip.com here.

Check out our full guide to Nantou County here.
Check out our guide to Taiwan here.