Taiwan’s Most Beautiful and Fragrant Scenic Area – Zhang Longcheng of Xilaya: Wants More People to Know About Siraya

Reported by You T-Ru / Special Feature & Photography

Zhang Longcheng, Director of the Xilaya Scenic Area Administration, is probably one of the most sought-after scenic area officials by the media. Having previously worked in Dapeng Bay and Penghu, he used storytelling marketing to double the annual tourist volume for both of these Taiwanese outlying islands. Now in charge of the Xilaya Scenic Area, he has introduced the slogan “the most beautiful and fragrant scenic area,” hoping to attract the attention of Taiwanese travelers to Xilaya with the briefest possible introduction.

Named after the Siraya culture in the Pingpu language, this scenic area is the largest in Taiwan by land area, covering 16 townships and districts. It boasts abundant and diverse natural produce, farms, and hot springs. “Our strongest suit is rural tourism—we have floral scents, fruit aromas, rice fragrance, and coffee aroma all year round, with rich agricultural output,” said Zhang Longcheng.


▲Zhang Longcheng, Director of the Xilaya Scenic Area Administration.

Diverse and rich, yet hard to pinpoint a defining feature, Zhang Longcheng admitted during an interview with reporters that Xilaya’s biggest shortcoming is that “when people hear ‘Xilaya,’ they don’t know what it is.” He confessed that when he first took office and attended an event, he worried about being asked about Xilaya by the media, so he asked his team for a three-minute presentation—but ended up unable to highlight any key features.

“That’s why we came up with the slogan ‘the most beautiful and fragrant scenic area.’” The area contains five reservoirs with abundant moisture and stunning views; it has Taiwan’s lowest-altitude beautiful sea of clouds; and there’s the “Beauty Hot Spring” at Guanziling, making up the three most beautiful elements. For the most fragrant, the Jianan Plain offers rice aroma, floral scents, as well as kapok, lotus, and cherry blossoms; for fruit aromas, there are mangoes, longans, star fruits, and oranges; and for coffee aroma, there’s Dongshan coffee. “Most importantly, there’s also the fragrance of human warmth—humanity is very fragrant.”

For future promotion, one direction should be advocating for a “summer hot spring soaking culture.” Zhang Longcheng said that since taking over the Xilaya Scenic Area Administration, he has been soaking in hot springs almost every morning. “In the past, I’d time my sessions, but now I make sure to sweat during each soak, doing it three times in a row with breaks in between to let my body temperature cool down.” The entire scenic area includes four hot spring zones, two of which are mud hot springs—a rarity worldwide. And the feeling of sweating in the summer is something hard to enjoy in other seasons.

When talking about the entire scenic area, the place Zhang Longcheng recommends the most is where he was first struck by the awe of Dapu Reservoir. “The first time I went was in the evening. I turned off the boat engine, and the entire area was enveloped by the chorus of cicadas—a serene feeling washed over me.” The reservoir was so quiet that he took off his shoes and dipped his feet into the cool water. “It was literally a paradise on earth—astounding. How could such a place exist in Taiwan?”