I recently had the chance to come back to revisit the Maokong Gondola, this time on a much better weather. Away from the clouds and mist I could finally see what was outside, and enjoy the terrific views.
(that’s Chih Nan Temple there, on the mountain on the left)
In the shopping area between the Taipei MRT and the Maokong Gondola was a terrific dancing lion show. I’ve seen quite a few of those lion dances in Taiwan and HK, but this one was especially well done with lots of humor and great time. Watch the performance here :
Back to the Maokong Gondola. David introduces the cable car on Taiwanderful :
The Maokong Gondola (貓空纜車; Māokōng lǎnchē) is a four kilometre long cable car system in the mountains south of Taipei. It runs between the Taipei Zoo and Maokong with intermediate stops at the Taipei Zoo (inside station) and Zhinan Temple (指南宮; Zhǐnán Gōng).
You can take a short ride on the gondola to visit the Taipei Zoo or you can go further to Zhinan Temple and Maokong. There are hiking trails further up into the mountains from both these places. Maokong is famous as a tea growing area and has many tea houses where you can drink tea and enjoy the views of Taipei.
Here is some of what you can expect to see on the cable car from Chinan Temple up to the Maokong tea plantations:
By the time I made it all the way up to the Maokong tea plantations is was already sunset, but that only made the atmosphere more magical.
It’s a really good spot to sit down, enjoy the grand views of Muzha and Taipei, and have yourself a hot cuppa tea…
I didn’t know that was it till I visited that area again, but I suddenly recalled that I actually visited that area 5 years ago on my first trip to Taipei. Strong memories from back then on my first fascination with Taiwan. It all came back to me in an intense dejavu. It’s great that Taipei has this so close by, I absolutely love that area.