The Lishan Hotel is so beautiful it captivated a Japanese girl, who decided to stay and work there.

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

Taiwan’s highest palace-style hotel, the Lishan Hotel, officially began operations in February this year. The charm of its traditional Chinese palace architecture, with its classic vintage appeal, was irresistible even to a Japanese girl. Ota Chisayo from Hokkaido, Japan, was deeply enchanted when she first visited the Lishan Hotel in early December last year, and decided to stay and work there. She can now serve as a competent tour guide.

▲ The Lishan Hotel features Chinese palace-style architecture. (Photo fromLishan Hotel (Taiwan's Highest Palace Hotel) Facebook Fan Page)

At first, Ota didn’t know that the Lishan Hotel was once the “Chiang Kai-shek Guesthouse,” a building with a special historical background. She was simply drawn to the fact that Lishan’s climate and environment resembled her hometown of Hokkaido, and she also found the gorgeous palace architecture very beautiful — which set her on the path to working at the Lishan Hotel. After working for more than eight months and experiencing all four seasons, what impressed her most besides the beautiful scenery was the friendliness and warmth of the Taiwanese people, which made her like the place even more.

▲ Exterior and interior views of the palace-style architecture. (Photo from Lishan Hotel (Taiwan's Highest Palace Hotel) Facebook Fan Page)

The area around the Lishan Hotel is often shrouded in mist, and it even boasts the renowned “Eight Scenic Spots of Lishan.” The famous Wuling Farm is also nearby, attracting large numbers of tourists year-round. A fruit vendor who has been running a stall in the area for nearly 40 years said that because it’s a historic building, the area around the hotel used to be heavily congested with traffic, sometimes requiring them to stay open all day. However, in recent times, due to unstable road conditions on the Central Cross-Island Highway, visitor numbers have declined compared to the past.

The hotel management stated that starting in September, they will collaborate with e-go bus company to launch a direct scenic tour bus to the Lishan Hotel, with fixed daily departures from Taipei Main Station. They are also planning to integrate the cherry blossom season at Wuling Farm and fruit and tea picking activities at Fushoushan Farm into a unified travel route, allowing tourists to save one to two hours by taking the scenic bus.

▲ The beautiful view from the Lishan Hotel. (Photo from Lishan Hotel (Taiwan's Highest Palace Hotel) Facebook Fan Page)

The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has also invested funds to build a four-season flower viewing park and an 1.8-kilometer cherry blossom trail in Lishan. Once the cherry blossom trail is completed by the end of this year, visitors will be able to walk from the Lishan Hotel toward Fushoushan Farm during the cherry blossom season and enjoy seas of blooming cherry blossoms.

[Lishan Hotel]
Address: No. 91, Zhongzheng Road, Heping District, Taichung City
Phone: (04) 2598-0887