Chinan National Forest Recreation Area Introduction
If you love exploring history, you absolutely cannot miss the Chinan National Forest Recreation Area: the old locomotive, logging machinery, historical photographs, and countless artifacts preserved in this small park by the Liyu Lake in Hualien seem to encapsulate the essence of the 1960s. Chinan is one of the three legends in Hualien's forestry history: the starting point of the Ha-lun Mountain Railway. Starting in 1930, the Japanese planned and the Nationalist government expanded, creating the nearly 50-kilometer-long railway empire that was the pinnacle of Hualien's forestry. Until a comprehensive logging ban in 1989, the remote Ha-lun work station was dismantled, leaving it isolated from the world, with only the Chinan transfer station transformed into a forest recreation area, allowing people to reminisce about this era of forestry. In addition to its history, the forests of Chinan primarily consist of mulberry and camphor trees, interspersed with tree species such as wax tree, and the eastern endemic plant, the Aconitum, is often found among them, making it a great choice for people to get close to nature. Visiting the Chinan National Forest Recreation Area allows you to understand the evolution and prospects of forest management under different historical contexts amid the atmosphere of a forest bath intertwined with history.
Photo provided | Hualien Branch
Photo provided by Hualien Branch
