Soaring with the wind—super comfortable！ A small cycling trip through Hualien’s Wuling Green Tunnel

Text and photos by /Mimi Han

Cycling through the Huatung Valley is truly a delightful experience. First, the air is fresh, and second, the valley is sheltered by the Coastal Range and the Central Mountain Range. Winters here aren’t too cold, while summers depend on your chosen route—but either way, you can enjoy stunning mountain and river views, local farmland landscapes, and frequent glimpses of local culture, making it a high-value cycling paradise.

To find a scenic, enjoyable, and cool cycling route in the Huatung area, I checked the official website of the East Rift Valley National Scenic Area Administration. I discovered that the Wuling Green Tunnel—one of the nine great cycling routes in the valley—is less than 5 kilometers long, and is almost entirely shaded by huge camphor and casuarina trees, making it a wonderfully cool ride.

Even better, if you visit on the second Saturday afternoon of each month, you can explore the famous “Taitung 2626 Rural Market.” It features stalls from small farmers in towns such as Chihshang, Guanshan, Luye, Haiduan, Yanping, Pingtung, Donghe, and Jinfeng, selling tea, coffee, seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as cultural and creative handicrafts. You can also hear the vendors share the stories behind their produce. Plus, you can rent an OBIKE on-site to cycle the round trip at a very low cost. The route is easy to ride, the shade is refreshing, the market is fun to explore, the produce is affordable, and the weekend afternoons are delightfully relaxing. Moreover, the forest air along this green road is incredibly fresh—it’s just comfortable and carefree. Add a cup of coffee, and you’ve got a perfect holiday.

The route map provided by the Scenic Area Administration clearly marks all the scenic spots along the cycling path, along with explanatory text for each, which is extremely handy for someone like me who doesn’t want to do a lot of advance research.

The lush, tree-covered green tunnel was originally part of the old Route 9. After Route 9 was widened—with curves straightened out—this mountain-adjacent section became much quieter. Surprisingly, the old camphor trees were not cut down during the expansion, preserving this green paradise. Thanks to the efforts of local residents and the development association, a market was opened, irrigation channels were cleared, old trees were restored, and tourists started to come.

Riding north, passing through Lukiao Creek and Mingye Bridge, you’ll arrive at the Formosan sika deer conservation area. The name “Luye” (literally “Deer Field”) originally became famous for its wild herds of sika deer. However, due to overhunting, their numbers drastically declined, and it’s only thanks to recent conservation efforts that they’ve been able to recover.

The honesty shop is always open since there’s no need for someone to man it. The empty space next to the shop has been turned into a parking area for OBIKE bikes. Just like the spirit of the honesty shop itself, everything about OBIKE is DIY.

The multicolored steamed bun shop, run by a veteran, uses natural coloring from red beans, pumpkins, green tea, purple sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and cocoa to dye the buns, making them look absolutely delicious. It’s now managed by the second generation. The first-generation owner, affectionately called “Beibei,” was among the mainland Chinese immigrants who came to Taitung to farm after the Japanese withdrawal, and made indelible contributions to Luye’s agriculture and animal husbandry.

Honesty Shop

Address: No. 83, Yongling Road, Route 9, Luye Township

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