Nantou Wild River Hot Springs - Elite Hot Spring Introduction
Today, we traveled along National Highway 6 to Nantou in search of wild hot springs. After passing through Puli and Wushe, we turned onto the Taiwan Provincial Highway 14乙 towards Lushan. Along the way, we saw signs for Chunyang Hot Spring and descended into the river valley. We noticed a path at the riverbed where tourists had been stranded during the last heavy rain, as well as a red steel bridge under construction. Locals informed us that the hot springs have been buried, though they mentioned the discovery of small hot springs flowing from the rock walls nearby, alongside a pool dug by an excavator that was not very clean. We decided to turn back and continued past the fork leading to Lushan Hot Spring. Not far from the sign for Xibao Tribe, as we entered the Jying Village, we saw a small sign on the right. Following a narrow concrete road down, which only allowed one small car to pass, we passed by a dwelling in indigenous style. There was a red sign indicating that this community is a Class A regulated area and entry requires an application, among other notices. The road conditions worsened as we proceeded straight; lower vehicles might have difficulty navigating, and we encountered construction trucks going uphill. Fortunately, we were able to reverse to a bend to allow for passing and continued down to the Lover's Suspension Bridge area. We parked at a fork near the Lover's Suspension Bridge, where we found a small area that seemed to be undergoing scenic renovation. Later, we discovered online that parking fees used to be charged here, but since we came on a non-holiday, no one was present. Occasionally, construction vehicles passed by, but it wasn't necessary to park in that specific area; some people parked further up the roadside according to online posts. After parking, we walked upstream around the rock wall beside the Lover's Suspension Bridge and discovered two pools surrounded by stones. One pool had a higher water temperature while the other allowed creek water to flow in to adjust the temperature. The flow of hot spring water was quite abundant, and with the beautiful nearby scenery, my classmates quickly began soaking in the pools while I just dipped my feet. I was puzzled as to why everyone believed the Jying Hot Spring had disappeared. After some online research later, I found out that there used to be many more pools here along the stream, and the largest pool of the Jying Hot Spring might have been buried. However, for us, having access to such beautiful wild hot spring pools was satisfying. I also discovered that some people had visited Jying Hot Spring recently, but they soaked in a pool about six hundred meters higher up, which we can explore on our next visit.
