The Danlan Ancient Trail is mainly located within New Taipei City. Chen Kuo-chun, Director of the New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Bureau, stated that to revive the century-old Danlan mountain path, the trail system’s route is scheduled to be finalized by the end of next year, with trail restoration to be completed by the end of 2019.
The Danlan Century Mountain Trail is suitable for promoting long-distance, low-carbon hiking. He emphasized that the current top priority is to tidy up the trails, collect relevant historical materials and stories, and present the historical facts as completely as possible. The trail restoration will follow construction principles of “restoring the original ancient path, using local materials, and ensuring ecological permeability,” in order to minimize the impact on the environment and historical heritage spaces.
Chen Kuo-chun admitted that the Danlan cultural and historical research as well as trail restoration require substantial funding, and although New Taipei is a directly governed municipality, it cannot bear the costs alone.
Taipei City has largely motorized the Danlan Ancient Trail within its jurisdiction due to urban development. Chen Kuo-chun believes that the three counties and cities—New Taipei, Keelung, and Yilan—that host sections of the Danlan Ancient Trail can jointly submit plans to the central government to seek funding. “We should all use the same signage to present the historical and cultural significance of the old Danlan trails, allowing international visitors to enjoy a consistent trail experience.”
For the mountain villages along the Danlan trails, New Taipei plans to use hiking trips to guide tourists to the settlements for meals and grocery shopping, thereby boosting residents’ income; abandoned elementary schools in remote areas can also be transformed into tourism service stations. Chen Kuo-chun pointed out, “Bring tourism in, and the settlements will come alive.”